ABA to Require Law Schools to Meet Specific Bar Passage Targets

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar has released Proposed New Interpretation 301-6,  Commentary (Parts One, Two, Three, Four), and Hearing Transcripts.  From the National Law Journal:  New ABA Rule Would Alter Law School Accreditation Requirements, by Leigh Jones:

The ABA has proposed a new definition for the way in which law schools must comply with the requirement that they prepare graduates to pass the bar examination. For schools already accredited but undergoing a periodic review, the proposal in general would require them to meet one of two standards:

• They would need to show that, in at least three of the most recent five years, first-time test takers passed at no more than 10 points below the first-time bar passage rates for graduates of other law schools taking the bar in the same jurisdiction.
• Schools unable to meet the first requirement would need to demonstrate that 80% of their graduates who took the exam anywhere in the country passed within three attempts, within three years of graduation. Provisionally accredited schools would need to show the same pass rates in two of the three most recent bar exams. Provisionally accredited schools would also have available the second alternative.

For prior TaxProf Blog coverage, see here.