Future lawyers in Texas could face a major change, as the state’s supreme court has been calling for significant reform.
The Supreme Court of Texas announced in April that it was seeking public comment on whether to end its longstanding requirement that aspiring lawyers graduate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school to be eligible for admission to the Texas bar. This requirement, in place since 1983, has come under review amid broader national debates over the role of the ABA and its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) standards.
But now, the deans of a bunch of Texas law schools are urging the court not to go down this route.
Republican DEI Skepticism Targets ABA
The Texas Supreme Court’s order followed a similar inquiry initiated by the Florida Supreme Court in March. Both courts, composed entirely of Republican-appointed justices, cited concerns about the ABA’s diversity mandates and its “active political engagement” as reasons for reconsidering the ABA’s role in legal education. The ABA’s diversity and inclusion rule, Standard 206, requires law schools to provide “full opportunities” for “racial and ethnic minorities” and to maintain diversity with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.
Mounting pressure from the Trump administration and Republican officials has targeted the ABA’s DEI standards. In January, 21 state attorneys general urged the ABA to drop its DEI requirements. The Trump administration further restricted political appointees’ participation in ABA activities. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi called for eliminating the ABA’s DEI standard, describing the ABA’s status as a government-designated accreditor as problematic.
In response to these pressures, the ABA announced in May that it would suspend its DEI standards through August 2026 as it considers permanent changes. “This is a victory for common sense!” AG Bondi declared. “We are bringing meritocracy back to the legal system.”
Deans Answer Invitation to ‘Comment’
On April 4, the Texas Supreme Court issued an “Order Inviting Comments on the Law School Accreditation Component of Texas’s Bar Admission Requirements.” The court essentially asked the public to opine on whether to “reduce or end” reliance on the ABA for law school accreditation and what alternatives should be considered. This highlighted the need to balance high-quality, cost-effective legal education, access to legal services, public protection, and accountability in the governance of the legal profession. Comments were due by July 1.
As the comment period closed, deans from eight of Texas’s ten ABA-accredited law schools submitted a joint letter to the Court strongly supporting continued reliance on ABA accreditation. In their letter, the Texas law deans warned that eliminating ABA accreditation could have many downsides.
They argued that ABA accreditation ensures a “nationally recognized framework for quality assurance and transparency; portability of licensure through recognition of ABA accreditation by all 50 states, which is critical for graduates’ career flexibility; consumer protections and public accountability through disclosure standards; and a baseline of educational quality that correlates with higher bar passage rates and better employment outcomes.”
The deans warned that abandoning ABA accreditation would “impair the ability of Texas law graduates to secure employment outside of Texas, lower Texas law schools’ overall employment rates, and harm Texas law schools’ national reputations.” They noted that 12% of Texas law school graduates in 2023 began their legal careers in other states, and that 736 graduates of non-Texas law schools secured employment in Texas that year.
The deans also addressed concerns about the now-suspended DEI standard, noting that the ABA’s diversity rule is under revision to comply with federal and Texas state law. They advocated for collaboration with the ABA to address regulatory concerns rather than abandoning national accreditation.
Mobility, Tuition, Employment
ABA accreditation is recognized by all 50 states as the standard for legal education. This system enables graduates of Texas law schools to seek licensure and practice law, not just in Texas, but potentially anywhere in the country. The deans highlighted that this portability is crucial for graduates’ career flexibility. According to 2023 data from the National Association for Law Placement, 12% of Texas law school graduates began their legal careers outside of Texas. Since the vast majority of jurisdictions require a degree from an ABA-accredited law school for bar eligibility, those graduates could face significant barriers to practicing in other states if Texas were to move away from ABA accreditation, This would not only limit graduates’ professional opportunities but could also harm Texas law schools’ ability to attract students who value national mobility.
The deans also noted that if Texas law schools had to comply with both the existing ABA accreditation standards and a new, separate set of standards created specifically by Texas, it would create a dual compliance regime. This would likely increase administrative burdens and costs for law schools, as they would need to satisfy potentially conflicting requirements. These increased costs could be passed on to students in the form of higher tuition, increasing the cost of an already expensive legal education.
The deans also pointed out that Texas benefits from the influx of graduates from other ABA-accredited law schools nationwide. In 2023, for example, 736 graduates of non-Texas law schools secured employment in Texas. If Texas law schools were no longer ABA-accredited, it could chill the recruitment of out-of-state graduates into the Texas legal market, depriving the state of a valuable pool of legal talent needed for its economic growth and to meet the legal needs of a growing population.
ABA accreditation also ensures robust data collection and public disclosure on bar passage rates, employment outcomes, and other key metrics. This information is critical for prospective students to make informed choices and for maintaining public accountability. The deans warned that without ABA accreditation, there would be less transparency and comparability, further reducing the competitiveness of Texas law schools.
ABA accreditation, they argued, “has served Texas—and the nation—well for over a century and provided effective accreditation for Texas law schools for decades. The system is not static, but dynamic and open to thoughtful evolution.”
Alternative Views
Not all schools were represented in the joint letter. Robert Ahdieh, Dean of Texas A&M Law, refrained from signing the majority letter. He told Reuters that, regardless of the court’s decision, maintaining the portability of Texas law degrees is “critical.”
Robert Chesney, Dean of the law school at the University of Texas at Austin, did not sign the joint letter, either. Instead, he penned his own submission to the Texas Supreme Court. In it, he provided a detailed historical analysis of Texas’s bar admission rules and urged the Court to consider “alternative pathways for ensuring law school standards to help pave the way for innovative, lower-cost approaches to legal education.”
Chesney encouraged the court to “re-open the door, at least a bit, to innovative alternatives” given the current “climate of innovation, change, and cost concerns.” He suggested that while ABA accreditation should remain a sufficient condition for bar eligibility, it need not be the only path, and that Texas could develop its own benchmarks for approving law schools. “It seems the Texas thing to do,” he wrote.
What to Expect
The Texas Supreme Court has not indicated when it will decide on the ABA accreditation requirement. As the Lone Star legal community awaits the Court’s decision, the consensus among most Texas law school deans is clear: maintaining ABA accreditation is essential for the quality, reputation, and mobility of Texas legal education.
Related Resources:
- ABA Sues to Defend Law Firms Affected By Trump's Executive Orders (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- ABA Halts DEI Standard for Law School Accreditation (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
- Why Law Firms Still Fear Going Fully Remote (FindLaw's Practice of Law)
