ABA Legal Ed Council votes to drop law schools’ LSAT requirement

An American Bar Association panel advanced a proposal to make standardized admissions tests optional at accredited law schools, Reuters reported.

On Friday, November 18, 2022, the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar voted to drop the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and other standardized tests as requirements for law school admissions. The council also voted to add a yearly evaluation of admissions rules and procedures to Standard 501.

According to Reuters, the organizations that design both the LSAT and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) urged the council on Friday not to drop the rule, expressing concern that doing so may result in law schools accepting students who are unlikely to succeed despite paying for their education.

Councilmember Daniel Thies said the use of admissions tests is not required by any other professional school accreditors, and this has not resulted in a “race to the bottom” to admit unqualified students.

Thies stated that:

“The goal is to open up innovation — finding other ways that might complement the current admissions processes to move us ahead in legal education on diversity and a host of other considerations.”

Currently, the ABA Standard requires that all accredited law schools use a “valid and reliable” examination to assess candidates for admission. For many years, the LSAT was the sole standardized test that automatically satisfied that requirement, however, the ABA added the GRE as a viable alternative in November 2021.

When the ABA House of Delegates meets in New Orleans for its midyear meeting in February 2023, it is anticipated that the proposal will be presented there for discussion. If adopted, the changes would not be implemented until the fall of 2025 – allowing time for law schools to prepare new admissions strategies.