The Council of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar met both virtually and in person in San Antonio, Texas, on Feb. 21 to consider matters on its agenda, including recommendations, reports and other issues. The Council took the following actions:
The Council is currently in the process of reviewing and amending Standard 206 to ensure that it complies with federal law, while still achieving the goal of ensuring access to legal education for all persons. During its Feb. 21 meeting, the Council reviewed the latest draft of Standard 206 and considered potential changes to ensure compliance with the recent executive orders and the U.S. Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague” letter dated Feb. 14, 2025. The Council intends to submit this draft with revisions to the ABA House of Delegates in August 2025, as previously planned, after which it anticipates the new Standard will be in full force and effect. The latest draft was revised following a second Notice and Comment period, which ended on Jan. 6, 2025.
In the meantime, the Council decided to suspend the existing version of Standard 206 until Aug. 31, 2025, when the adoption of the revised Standard is anticipated. A separate statement regarding this suspension is located here. As explained in the statement: “These decisions by the Council help to ensure that the revision of Standard 206 continues moving forward, while allowing the Council to integrate legal developments and forthcoming guidance from the Department of Education. The Council’s commitment to ensuring access to legal education to all people, including those who have been historically excluded from the legal profession, has not changed. However, the Council intends to ensure that the schools can comply with this standard consistent with applicable law.” The Council acted to suspend current Standard 206 pursuant to Rule 2(d), which authorizes the Council “to adopt emergency policies and procedures in response to extraordinary circumstances in which compliance with the Standards would create or constitute extreme hardship for multiple law schools.”
The Council asked the Managing Director to issue a Guidance Memo informing schools that literal compliance with the wording setting forth the protected categories in Standard 205 will not be required. The Guidance Memo will remind law schools of their continuing obligation to comply with federal and state nondiscrimination laws and provide any other appropriate guidance for law schools, especially those undergoing accreditation reviews. The Guidance Memo will also reinforce that the Council does not require law schools to take actions to comply with the Standards that are inconsistent with applicable law. The Council also requested that the Standards Committee review the existing version of Standard 205 as part of its ongoing work.
In closed session, the Council considered individual school matters. The outcomes of those matters that are not subject to the confidentiality provisions of Rules of Procedure 47-51 of the ABA Standards and Rules of Procedures for Approval of Law Schools will be publicly reported after decisions are communicated by letter to the affected schools.
(https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2025/02/council-of-legal-ed-continues-review-206/)
