American Bar Association considers accrediting foreign law schools
20 August 2010
The American Bar Association (ABA) is considering whether it should, for the first time, accredit overseas law schools. A crack committee of law professors, attorneys, judges and law deans has been assembled to consider the issue in advance of a decision to be made in December.

Between 4,000 and 5,000 foreign-trained law graduates take the bar exam in the US each year - with the majority opting for the New York and California versions, according to a report in The National Law Journal. And the idea is that accrediting foreign law schools, or those that follow an American model at least, will make it easier for state supreme courts to make decisions on which overseas lawyers they admit.

This may be music to the ears of UK grads keen to forge a career in the Big Apple or experience the beaches courts of the Sunshine State. But it's not such great tidings for US graduates who will emerge from law school in the States with $100k of debt to their name - and have to compete in an over-crowded market against students with degrees from the likes of Cambridge, The Sorbonne and The University of Tokyo.

Foreign lawyers get ready to flood the US market

The ABA recognises that downside for US students, but points to the advantage of spreading the greatness of the US legal system throughout the world. According to the committee, "if we believe that the American legal education model is the 'gold standard' for legal education world-wide and that well-trained lawyers are critical to the global economy, then a willingness to expand accreditation to schools is a way to improve the training of lawyers globally and contribute to the modern economy and the international legal profession".

Which marks a stark contrast with the increased protectionism of the UK...