Letter to the ABA regarding rules that restrict experiential learning in law school

SUMMARY

The New York City Bar Association has written to the American Bar Association urging that the prohibition on law schools giving academic credit to students who work for private employers be eliminated, primarily because “it greatly restricts the number of opportunities for experiential learning, prevents the student from being paid for valuable work and lacks justification.” The Council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar sets accreditation standards for law schools in the United States.  As the letter states, law school applications have substantially decreased over the past ten years, while tuition and student debt have risen. Law school revenue has been declining, as have job prospects for law students. In response to this crisis, the City Bar created the Task Force on New Lawyers in a Changing Profession, which, among its recommendations, suggested that law schools focus on the goal of training more “practice-ready” graduates, by experimenting with different changes to the curriculum. The Task Force urged the development of “Bridge to Practice” programs that provide dynamic, practical experience for third-year law students.  Despite the expressed willingness of several private employers to participate in Bridge to Practice programs, efforts to implement them in the private sector have been greatly limited due to ABA Standard 305 and Interpretation 305-2, which states that “A law school may not grant credit to a student for participation in a field placement program for which the student receives compensation.”