The ABA was founded to approve and authenticate respective American institutions that offer education to students in the field of law. The association, comprised of a panel of experienced lawyers, establishes standards with which each law school in the country must comply to receive ABA certification. According to the ABA, its approval process helps ensure students admitted to these schools can pursue their law studies in sound legal education programs conducted in optimal academic environments.
The ABA is responsible for giving accreditation to law schools that fulfill the ABA's requisite standards. To receive accreditation, a law school must submit a request to the association by written application. The ABA will then evaluate the school with reference to the enumerated standards, including a rating of the school's curriculum, adequacy of financial resources, quality of faculty members, and presence and depth of infrastructure and facilities such as law libraries, dormitories, and classrooms.
According to the ABA and accredited law schools, accreditation is a safety measure for prospective students and provides a reliable indicator of institution quality and external recognition. If a school is non-ABA-approved, students will be on notice that the school failed to meet the ABA's standards and, if so, may re-consider whether and why they wish to attend such a school.
Before applying to a law school, students are strongly advised to consult the list of ABA-approved law schools. Most law schools in the United States are accredited, but an estimated 40 law schools are not. Generally, the quality of legal education provided is relatively comparable between the majority of law schools that are ABA-certified and those that are not. However, there are two notable advantages to attending an ABA-certified law school, and corresponding drawbacks to attending a non-approved school.
The principle practical reason to attend an ABA-certified law school is reputation, whether or not warranted; simply put, schools that lack ABA approval are typically perceived by law firms and other employers as easier for students to get into, less reputable, and less challenging. Accordingly, graduating students with J.D. degrees from ABA-certified schools will tend to have a significant advantage over those who do not. Particularly in a competitive job market, this distinction might severely handicap the latter group in obtaining quality job offers.
In addition, graduates of ABA-certified schools are entitled to sit for the Bar Exams of both their law school's state and any other state, irrespective of work experience or lack thereof in that state. By contrast, graduates of non-approved schools are limited to sitting for the Bar Exam of their school's state exclusively, irrespective of how much work experience they have in another state.