Overview
- Florida’s Supreme Court voted 5–1 on Jan. 15 to amend bar-admissions rules so the American Bar Association is no longer the sole accreditor determining who may sit for the state bar exam.
- The revised Florida rule allows programmatic or institutional accreditors recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and approved by the court to qualify graduates for the bar.
- On Jan. 6, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that its approval alone can accredit law schools for bar eligibility, ending the state’s reliance on ABA accreditation.
- Florida’s order keeps graduates of ABA-accredited law schools eligible to take the bar, with no dominant alternative accreditor yet and open questions about interstate degree portability.
- The ABA said it will continue promoting national accreditation standards, while Justice Jorge Labarga dissented in Florida, warning that replacing the ABA with unknown alternatives could be detrimental.