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August 17, 2010 1:17 PM
ABA Considers Accrediting Overseas Law Schools
Posted by Claire Zillman
An American Bar Association committee has recommended that the ABA consider accrediting law schools outside the United States, according to a story in Am Law Daily sibling publication The National Law Journal.
The committee--composed of law professors, attorneys, judges, and law school deans--distributed its report to state supreme court justices, ABA leaders, and top law school administrators last week, the NLJ reports.
In the report, the panel said that--with state supreme courts and bar associations are under mounting pressure to make decisions about whether to admit foreign lawyers--expanding the ABA's accreditation would "provide additional guidance for state supreme courts when lawyers trained outside the U.S. seek to be allowed to sit for a U.S. bar examination," the NLJ reports.
Broadening the ABA's accreditation overseas would be in line with the globalization of the legal profession, the committee said. The panel cited figures from the National Conference of Bar Examiners that show between 4,000 and 5,000 foreign-trained lawyers sit for the bar each year in the U.S. If the ABA continues to limit its accreditation to the U.S., the committee wrote, states will be inconsistent in how they admit foreign-trained lawyers, according to the NLJ.
One possible downside to accrediting international school, according to the committee: doing so could expand practice opportunities for lawyers trained overseas, while providing no reciprocal benefit for U.S. law school graduates. There could also be political fallout if the ABA failed to accredit a government-sponsored law school, reports the NLJ. The committee said that foreign law schools, not the ABA, should pay for the cost of overseas accreditation.
The committee was appointed in June; the ABA's Council on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar will consider its recommendations in December.
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This must be schtick
Comment By Tim - August 17, 2010 at 2:27 PM
"doing so could expand practice opportunities for lawyers trained overseas, while providing no reciprocal benefit for U.S. law school graduates."
This part hits the nail on the head; this on top of the ABA's overseas outsourcing opinion. The ABA is trying to destroy the American legal profession by inviting low cost foreign competition.
Comment By Publius - August 17, 2010 at 2:42 PM
What exactly does the ABA do for the typical practicing American lawyer?
Comment By richie rich - August 17, 2010 at 2:45 PM
The ABA doesn't do anything for the average lawyer. In fact, it should be abolished. It is clear, the first letter in the name is deceptive. They care nothing about the average American lawyer. In fact, it is clear, these people are trying to destroy the profession. Maybe it should be renamed DCAAL (Don't Care About American Lawyers)
Comment By Ann Clark - August 17, 2010 at 6:13 PM
"What exactly does the ABA do for the typical practicing American lawyer?"
Nothing. The ABA is for-profit, so they add as many law schools as possible to the payroll and to hell with the 30% of the profession who are unemployed right now.
Comment By Laywer Pete - August 17, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Actually I think it's fair. American lawyers are recognised abroad in many countries and on the basis of their education and experience permitted to take qualifying transfer exams to become lawyers in other countries (I for example became a solicitor in England & Wales after establishing I had been in practice two years, passed the QLTT exam, and obtained a certificate of good standing from the Florida Bar). Foreign lawyers however are not permitted to take the bar exam in I believe almost all US states. The ground most cited is they have not gone to an ABA approved law school. It sounds ridiculous, how can on one hand you have american lawyers demanding rights to become lawyers in more and more countries then at the same time saying to foreigners they cannot do the same in the USA unless they had gone to a law school approved by an organisation which refuses to consider law schools outside the country.
Comment By Kevin Burke - August 20, 2010 at 3:46 AM
Good idea for permanent resident foreign Lawyers that pass the Bar exam and will practice in the U.S.A.
Comment By Latina - August 27, 2010 at 1:53 PM
With businesses working more closely international firms I think it would be incredibly beneficial if american standards are integrated into international law schools.
Comment By Court Reporter Europe - March 31, 2011 at 6:29 PM