American Bar Association

Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar

Revised Standards for Approval of Law Schools August 2014

Chapter 3 – PROGRAM OF LEGAL EDUCATION

Standard 301. OBJECTIVES OF PROGRAM OF LEGAL EDUCATION

(a)A law school shall maintain a rigorous program of legal education that prepares its students, upon graduation, for admission to the bar and for effective, ethical, and responsible participation as members of the legal profession.

(b)A law school shall establish and publish learning outcomes designed to achieve these objectives.

Standard 302. LEARNING OUTCOMES

A law school shall establish learning outcomes that shall, at a minimum, include competency in the following:

(a)Knowledge and understanding of substantive and procedural law;

(b)Legal analysis and reasoning, legal research, problem-solving, and written and oral communication in the legal context;

(c)Exercise of proper professional and ethical responsibilities to clients and the legal system; and

(d)Other professional skills needed for competent and ethical participation as a member of the legal profession.

Interpretation 302-1

For the purposes of Standard 302(d), other professional skills are determined by the law school and may include skills such as, interviewing, counseling, negotiation, fact development and analysis, trial practice, document drafting, conflict resolution, organization and management of legal work, collaboration, cultural competency, and self-evaluation.

Standard 303. CURRICULUM

(a)A law school shall offer a curriculum that requires each student to satisfactorily complete at least the following:

(1)one course of at least two credit hours in professional responsibility that includes substantial instruction in the history, goals, structure, values, and responsibilities of the legal profession and its members;

(2)one writing experience in the first year and at least one additional writing experience after the first year, both of which are faculty supervised; and

(3)one or more experiential course(s) totaling at least six credit hours. An experiential course must be a simulation course, a law clinic, or a field placement. To satisfy this requirement, a course must be primarily experiential in nature and must:

(i)integrate doctrine, theory, skills, and legal ethics, and engage students in performance of one or more of the professional skills identified in Standard 302;

(ii)develop the concepts underlying the professional skills being taught;

(iii)provide multiple opportunities for performance; and

(iv)provide opportunities for self-evaluation.

(b)A law school shall provide substantial opportunities to students for:

(1)law clinics or field placement(s); and

(2)student participation in pro bono legal services, including law-related public service activities.

Standard 314. ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING

A law school shall utilize both formative and summative assessment methods in its curriculum to measure and improve student learning and provide meaningful feedback to students. Formative assessment methods are measurements at different points during a particular course or at different points over the span of a student's education that provide meaningful feedback to improve student learning. Summative assessment methods are measurements at the culmination of a particular course or at the culmination of any part of a student's legal education that measure the degree of student learning.

Standard 315. EVALUATION OF PROGRAM OF LEGAL EDUCATION, LEARNING OUTCOMES, AND ASSESSMENT METHODS

The dean and the faculty of a law school shall conduct ongoing evaluation of the law school's program of legal education, learning outcomes, and assessment methods; and shall use the results of this evaluation to determine the degree of student attainment of competency in the learning outcomes and to make appropriate changes to improve the curriculum.