Welp.
They’ve
done
did
it.
The
Texas
Supreme
Court
has
officially
ended
its
overt
reliance
on
the
ABA
to
accredit
its
law
schools.
From
now
on
(or
until
they
outsource
the
responsibility
onto
someone
else),
the
Lone
Star
State’s
Supreme
Court
will
call
the
shots
on
which
law
schools
are
qualified
to
crank
out
its
future
lawyers.
Bloomberg
Law
has
coverage:In
the
Jan.
6
order,
the
Texas
Supreme
Court
noted
that
it
intends
to
ensure
that
law
degrees
from
schools
in
Texas
are
portable
to
other
states,
and
vice-versa.
It
also
doesn’t
plan
to
impose
any
additional
burdens
on
law
school
accreditation,
it
said.
The
court
said
it
would
consider
returning
to
a
multi-state
accreditation
entity
that
isn’t
the
ABA
“should
a
suitable
entity
become
available.”
While
it
is
nice
to
know
that
the
state’s
supreme
court
plans
to
do
something
about
degree
portability,
they
could
have
come
with
more
than
concepts
of
a
plan
—
portability
is
literally
the
biggest
issue
with
breaking
off
from
the
ABA.
Perhaps
Florida
and
Tennessee
will
wait
to
see
if
Texas
successfully
irons
out
the
quirks
before
they
sever
ties
with
the
ABA.
Further,
I
can’t
wait
to
see
what
Texas’s
cert
qualifications
look
like
once
they’re
standing
on
their
own
two
feet.
For
now,
the
schools
that
are
already
on
the
court’s
good
side
just
need
to
stay
in
compliance
with
ABA
standards
316,
502(a)-(c),
503,
and
509
to
maintain
approval.
Is
this
a
hint
of
what
“ending
reliance
on
the
ABA”
means?
Copy
and
pasting
existent
ABA
standards
and
deleting
the
parts
about
women
and
other
minorities
not
being
included?
Just
reads
like
a
short-lived
accreditation
version
of
Bender’s
theme
park.
The
only
other
notable
change
is
that
the
Supreme
Court
stated
that
the
ABA
no
longer
accrediting
a
law
school
does
not
necessarily
mean
that
the
school
wouldn’t
be
in
good
favor
with
the
Court.
That
is
a
nice
buffer
of
safety
for
Texan
lawyers
practicing
in
Texas,
but
remind
me,
how
does
that
square
with
the
promise
of
portability
again?
Good
luck
to
the
Texas
Supreme
Court
and
all
of
the
students
struggling
to
learn
RAP
at
Texas
law
schools.
And
if
things
ever
get
rough,
just
remember
—
it
probably
would
have
been
easier
if
you
just
let
the
ABA
do
its
job.
Texas
Supreme
Court
Takes
Over
Law
School
Accreditation
From
ABA
[Bloomberg
Law]
Earlier:
Texas
Plans
To
Cut
Law
School
Accreditation
Ties
With
The
ABA
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.