By: John Nussbaumer
In a recent edition of the St. John’s Law Review, John
Nussbaumer argued that ABA accreditation practices have a disparate
impact on African-American students. The studies presented in
that article were limited because of his relative inability to
identify schools under review by the ABA. Since that
article’s publication, this information has become more readily
available. This article supplements the former article by
adding two in-depth case studies. During the 2002–03,
2003–04, and 2004–05 school years, there were twenty schools that
had 25th percentile LSAT scores of 151 or less and that were under
review by the ABA Section of Legal Education Accreditation
Committee and Council. Nussbaumer follows these schools over
that period, tracking the school’s 25th percentile LSAT scores, the
number of African-Americans in attendance at those schools, and the
percentage of the schools’ student populations that were
African-American. By way of control, he also follows all
nineteen fully or provisionally ABA accredited law schools in
California during the same three-year period. Comparing the
two studies, Nussbaumer finds that the ABA accreditation process
pressures schools under review to sharply increase their 25th
percentile LSAT scores, and that this increase directly results in
a large decline in the African-American population at these
schools. For Nussbaumer, these statistics prove that the LSAT
is too heavily relied upon in the law school admissions
process. He argues that, unless changes are made, the status
quo will continue to prevent qualified African-Americans from
joining the legal profession.