No Admission for Graduate Of Unaccredited Law School

The Nebraska Supreme Court held today that a graduate of a law school not approved by the ABA may not seek admission without examination. The applicant had attended Western State University College of Law. and had satified Nebraska’s MPRE requirement. He had passed the bar and been admitted in Georgia in 1992. He is a member in good standing of the Georgia Bar. He moved to Nebraska in 2006 to be near to his ill parents.

Western State is now accredited. The court permits waivers for graduates of foreign law schools. However,

there is a criical distinction between graduates of foreign law schools and graduates of nonaccredited U.S. law schools. The ABA does not evaluate foreign law schools for accreditation; thus, there is no way for citizens of foreign countries to attend an ABA-accredited school in their own country.

The court declined to adopt the suggestion that it evaluate credentials of such applicants on a case-by-case basis. The requirement that a domestic graduate attend an ABA-accredited institution is non-waivable. (Mike Frisch)