The Accreditation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar recently reported that it has sanctioned the University of Kansas School of Law for violating the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools.
The committee found that the law school violated Standard 105-1, Interpretation 105-1 (4) and Standard 308 in launching an American Legal Studies LL.M. degree in January 2012. The school admitted two students to the program before obtaining the committee’s acquiescence to assure that the program did not interfere with the school’s approved J.D. program.
The committee imposed a public censure on the law school, which must post the censure document prominently on its website home page for one year. The censure is also posted on the website of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.
The committee also imposed a $50,000 monetary penalty based on the finding that the law school made erroneous statements and withheld information during the ABA’s consideration of the matter. The committee also noted the risk at which the law school placed the students they admitted to the program before obtaining acquiescence from the ABA.
The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and its accreditation committee are recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the national accrediting agency for programs leading to the J.D. The section’s 14,000 members strive to improve legal education and lawyer licensing by fostering cooperation among legal educators, practitioners and judges through workshops, conferences and publications. The section also studies and makes recommendations for the improvement of the bar admission process.
