National Law Journal op-ed: HBCU Law Deans Say ABA Bar-Passage Rule Changes Will Hurt Profession's Diversity

National Law Journal op-ed:  HBCU Law Deans Say ABA Bar-Passage Rule Changes Will Hurt Profession's Diversity, by Dannye Holley (Former Dean, Texas Southern), Danielle Holley-Walker (Dean, Howard), John Pierre (Dean, Southern), Felecia Epps (Dean, Florida A&M), Phyliss Craig-Taylor (Dean, North Carolina Central) & James Douglass (Interim Dean, Texas Southern).  Excerpts:

"The proposed changes to the American Bar Association's bar-passage standard, set to be decided this week, have been the subject of great debate. Some, like Daniel Rodriguez and Craig Boise, deans of Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and Syracuse University College of Law, respectively, have written in support of the proposed changes to Standard 316. But these proposed changes come at a time when bar-passage rates in many states have been declining, and there are many unanswered questions about the impact of the adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam. Furthermore, at a time when the legal profession continues to struggle with a lack of racial and ethnic diversity, many of the schools that will be impacted by this change are schools who enroll large minority student populations."

"There is ample evidence of the recent drop in bar-passage rates across the country. The 2015 bar-passage rates suggest that under the new standard it is very likely that a significant number of law schools accredited for decades by the ABA could be automatically deemed to be out of compliance and at risk of losing their accreditation."

"For example, in written comments submitted to the ABA earlier this year, the National Black Law Students Association, citing the ABA 509 law school disclosures, stated that the accreditation of more than 60 schools could be put in jeopardy if this proposal was adopted, including more than 20 law schools at which minorities comprise at least 30 percent of total enrollment."

"Next, the proposed changes to Law School Standard 316 will place an undue burden on law schools associated with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and other law schools committed to admitting a significant number of students of color."

"As we well know, diversity in the law remains a challenge. Stanford Law School professor Deborah Rhode has noted that 88 percent of licensed lawyers are white, making the profession less diverse than medicine and engineering, in which 72 percent and 81 percent of licensed professionals are white, respectively."

"HBCU law schools have been responsible for a significant and disproportionate percent of the African-American and other new lawyers of color added to the profession annually. . ."

"[T]here has been no disparate-impact study conducted by the ABA to assess how the proposed standard will impact law schools with large percentages of minority law students. No new standard should be considered without making this assessment."

"In summary, we are disappointed that the ABA, without conducting a disparate-impact study, appears to be moving forward with a change to the bar-passage standard that may have an adverse impact on our law schools. Being found to be out of compliance with this new ABA accreditation standard would have seriously negative impacts on our law schools. It would make it difficult for us to recruit students, faculty and the donors that are needed to sustain our academic program —programs that help to promote diversity in the profession and access to justice for underserved communities."

As I have stated before, I don't understand how admitting students to law school who probably won't pass the bar helps the diversity of the legal profession.  All this does is saddle poor students with massive law school debt.

The legal community needs diversity to properly serve underserved communities.  However, as I have said before, the only way to do this is to better educate minority students.  (here)  Look at what North Texas and FIU are doing to accomplish this goal.

(Scott Fruehwald)