ABA Considering Foreign Schools

Ashley Caggiano

The American Bar Association has recently squashed the idea, pending further review, by a unanimous vote of the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. In 2008, Peking University of Transnational Law in China attempted to gain accreditation from the ABA. Jeffrey Lehman is Peking University of Transnational Law's chancellor and founding dean. He was previously dean of the University of Michigan Law School and president of Cornell.

The ABA's immediate past president, Carolyn Lamm, is cautious about the idea, but recognizes that globalization is occurring in the law practice:

It would be incorrect...not to assign any value to territorial reach of the ABA's accreditation role. As we all recognize, the practice of law in any jurisdiction requires an understanding of culture, customs, and societal values of that jurisdiction. Culture, customs, and societal values underlie the manner in which laws are made and enforced, and the manner in which the judicial system develops to interpret the laws. Some of this can be taught; some must be experienced and understood or the advice provided will not be reliable.

Most other comments on the recommendation of foreign law schools gaining ABA accreditation were not in favor of the suggestion. However, there are plenty of foreign-trained law graduates that that take the United States Bar Exam. Between 4,000 and 5,000 foreign-trained law graduates, according to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, take the exam in California or New York every year.

Downsides to accrediting international law schools may outweigh the positives. Firstly, many opponents site the lack of benefits United States graduates would gain from the accreditation; foreign lawyers will gain the chance to work in the U.S., but American lawyers will not have the opportunity to work elsewhere. Political fallout is another downside if the ABA did not recognize a government-sponsored school.

One advantage of international law schools gaining accreditation comes from the idea that United States law schools are the ''gold standard'' of legal education and, by including foreign schools, those schools have the potential to improve students' training which would benefit the entirety of the legal world.

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Currently, the Council has decided to continue to consider extending accreditation to foreign law schools. The Council stated, ''Consistent with the first recommendation of the Kane Committee report and in view of the comments received by the Council with respect to that report, I move that the Council continue with its consideration of the approval of foreign law schools and engage in our consideration appropriate public and private stakeholders.'' They have not decided, however, to accept any applications for approval until they have come to a formal decision.

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