Cooley Law School and American Bar Association settle compliance lawsuit

Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School and the American Bar Association have settled litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The lawsuit will be dismissed with prejudice by agreement of the parties.

WMU-Cooley has been fully approved by the ABA continuously since 1978.  WMU-Cooley filed suit following a finding in November 2017 that the law school was out of compliance with a subpart of one ABA standard. The ABA asked the law school to submit information to show that it was in compliance, and the ABA determined that the school was in compliance after reviewing that information, in March 2018. 

In August 2018, the ABA granted the law school acquiescence to open a 60-credit program on Western Michigan University's main campus in Kalamazoo.

“On behalf of the law school, we are very happy to put this lawsuit behind us,” said WMU-Cooley Law School Interim President Jeff Martlew. 

“The circumstances that led to the litigation have been largely resolved and there was simply no point in continuing. Importantly, we have had very cordial communication with representatives from the ABA Council on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar.  WMU-Cooley is committed to pursuing a collaborative approach in working with the Council, to continue meeting ABA standards.”