The American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is adding new reporting requirements for law schools releasing information about their graduating classes, the ABA announced last week in response to a letter from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.
In her letter, Boxer accused the association of failing to adequately ensure that law schools release more reliable data about what their graduates can expect, including information about job prospects and salaries. Two lawyers who have already filed lawsuits against two law schools also announced that they have intentions to file class-action suits against 15 more schools. The suits claim that the law schools have been knowingly dispersing misleading data such as inflated employment figures for graduates of their programs.
The new reporting standards will require law schools to release additional information about their graduates' salaries, employment location and employment type, as well as whether their jobs are short-term or long-term, according to an Oct. 20 press release from the American Bar Association.
The release explains that new requirements will fall under Standard 509 of the Standards of Approval for Law Schools, which requires schools to release data about placement rates among other "basic consumer information." The ABA organizes and releases the information for use by prospective students, and law schools which fail to properly report information risk losing accreditation from the ABA.
"In making the change, the section suggests the reporting will be more accurate, timely, complete and specific than in the past," the release said.
The standards will also require law schools to release their information earlier so prospective students will have more timely information on which to base their decisions. "The 2011 graduating class data will be reported in the summer of 2012, fully one year earlier than in previous years," an Oct. 17 ABA release stated.
The new reporting standards will not have a significant effect on the information released for prospective students by the University's Law School, however, said Stephen Parr, senior associate dean for administration. "We have a lot of [the information the ABA is requesting] because we also report similar information to the National Association of Law Placement," he said. "We want to be fully responsive to anything the ABA wants us to report."
Parr added that the Law School displays most of the information about its students' post-graduation employment on its website.
The new standards will require more work from the Career Services at the Law School, Parr said. "Any request for information takes more staff time," he said.
Parr also noted the new standards may affect smaller, regional law schools more than larger, national schools like the one at the University.
"Placement at the national law schools is stronger," he said.
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