By: Pamela Edwards
I had the honor of being the moderator of a panel titled “The
LSAT, U.S. News and Minority Admissions,” on January 7,
2005, during the American Association of Law Schools (“AALS”)
Annual Meeting in San Francisco. Three weeks prior to the
discussion date, Brian Kelly, Executive Editor of U.S. News &
World Report, withdrew from the panel. Mr. Kelly’s withdrawal,
marked by the placement of an empty chair on the dais during the
panel discussion, will hopefully serve as a catalyst for the legal
academy to confront the challenge of candidly reassessing the
weight given to U.S. News & World Report, including
the causal connection between the emphasis placed on the
publication and the role of the LSAT in law school admissions
decisions.
Law schools continue to rely heavily on the LSAT in making
admissions decisions despite the prevalence of studies and law
review articles that indicate the value of the LSAT as a predictor
is overrated. Thus, law schools continue to award and deny
admission, which is the first step towards entering the legal
profession, for entire groups of potential students based on a
measure that has limited utility in determining whether the
applicant would be a successful attorney.
The magazine has stated that it focuses on LSAT scores in its
rankings because such emphasis reflects the heavy reliance law
school faculty and administration themselves place on the
test. As one commentator noted, “[t]he LSAT is the most
important factor in law school admissions.” Emphasis on LSAT
scores creates a circular causation chain: law schools rely heavily
on factors that will most influence their rankings, but the
rankings are based on the factors upon which the schools most
heavily rely. This begs the questions of who is really deciding the
importance and weight of the individual criteria considered in
admissions decisions.
Part I of this Article analyzes the role in which the legal
academy has cast the U.S. News & World Report. Part II
considers whether the legal academy exaggerates the importance of
the LSAT, and concludes that it does. Part III explores why an
over-emphasis on the test can be detrimental to the legal
community. Part IV reviews the history of the LSAT in law school
admissions and considers the development of the present-day
emphasis on the test. Finally, the Article concludes with the
author’s recommendations to law schools on how they can regain the
role of setting values and priorities for the legal community.