American Bar Association Responds To Cooley Law Lawsuit
The American Bar Association (ABA) has filed a motion for summary judgment against Western Michigan University’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School in its fight over Cooley Law’s accreditation status.
Inside Higher Ed reports that the ABA’s motion for summary judgment follows a November lawsuit brought by Cooley Law after the ABA published a letter stating that the school was not in compliance with accreditation standard 501(b) — a standard that requires law schools to not admit applicants who do not appear capable of satisfactorily completing its program of legal education and being admitted to the bar. According to the ABA, the motion for summary judgment highlights a number of issues at Cooley Law, including low LSAT scores and plummeting bar pass rates.
“The record amply demonstrates that Cooley has done just that, admitting many students who do not appear capable of graduating and being admitted to the bar, implicating the [ABA standards’] purpose to protect students from investing in an education that does not deliver,” the motion states.
Cooley’s lawsuit against the ABA
According to Inside Higher Ed, Cooley argued that the ABA had illegally published the letter. In its lawsuit, Cooley asked a federal judge to force the ABA to “pull the letter in question from its website and withdraw copies sent to the U.S. secretary of education, the Higher Learning Commission and state regulators in Michigan and in Florida, where Cooley also has a campus,” Inside Higher Ed reports.
“WMU-Cooley also will face a loss of applications and matriculations, which are almost incalculable and certainly irreparable,” Cooley Law stated in court filings.
Cooley ultimately lost the first round of litigation in December after a federal judge declined to issue the restraining order telling the ABA to pull the letter.
The ABA has stated that the council had “substantial evidence” that Cooley was in violation with accreditation standard 501(b) and that, according to the Higher Education Act, the ABA was required to publish the letter detailing Cooley’s issues.
Cooley Law finds ABA admission standard unlawfully vague
James Robb is Cooley Law’s general counsel. He tells Law.com that Cooley Law intends on responding to the motion for summary judgment. He says the ABA’s admission standard is unlawfully vague in not defining which students “appear capable” of graduating and passing the bar.
“This leaves the law school to guess what it must do to comply with [the admissions standard],” Robb tells Law.com. “The ABA’s approach is akin to ticketing the driver of a car for speeding when no speed limit is posted.”
Here are the highlights, provided by Law.com, from the ABA’s motion for summary judgment. In the motion, the ABA restates factors as to why it found Cooley Law to be out of compliance.
- Cooley’s first-time bar pass rate dropped from 76 percent to 48 percent over a seven-year period and hovered between 15 and 22 percent below the state average from 2012 to 2015.
- Many of the school’s students with low LSAT scores and grade-point averages were not even sitting for the bar.
- The percentage of students coming to Cooley with LSAT scores of 143 or lower more than doubled over six years, accounting for more than half of the class.
The ABA has requested that Cooley Law provide more data on the law school’s compliance with admission rules by February 1. Law.com reports that if the information provided doesn’t establish the school’s compliance, Cooley Law may be formally sanctioned.
Cooley Law’s case follows the ABA’s crackdown of 10 other law schools since 2016. According to Law.com, North Carolina Central University School of Law was notified this month that it was out of compliance with admission standards.
Sources: Inside Higher Ed, Law.com, American Bar Association
