It was only a few months ago that the ABA’s vote to end the LSAT requirement (or any standardized testing requirement) in law school admissions was the big news. As we warned at the time, that was only a committee vote that put the matter on the agenda for the ABA House of Delegates, and, like it has in the past, that’s where the proposition died.
The House vote rejected the proposal, but that doesn’t mean Sisyphus has stopped pushing that rock. As reported by ABA Journal, the matter has been resubmitted to the House of Delegates:
Regarding the admissions test standards, discussion was part of the council’s public session, but not listed in the agenda. The suggestion came from the council’s strategic review committee.
“Obviously, we respect the House of Delegates. Our feeling on this is that there is more education to be done,” Daniel Theis, chair of the council’s strategic review committee, said Friday.
Under ABA rules, proposed revisions to law school accreditation standards and rules are sent to the House for concurrence up to two times, but the council has the final decision on matters related to law school education.
So, yes. It’s back to the same body the rejected the proposal just weeks ago. The measure will be voted on at the ABA Annual Meeting in August. And I’m sure that means the same debate about diversity and the need for testing that circled around the first two times the proposed elimination of the standardized testing requirement was floated will rear its head again.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.
