Best Practices for Legal Education

Dear SALT Members: 

As you know SALT has been closely following the ABA Standard Review Committee’s proposed changes to the standards regulating law schools.  We wanted to alert you to the proposed revisions to Standard 405 on faculty status, academic freedom and governance.  The three alternatives under consideration are attached to this email and available at saltlaw.org.  You can also find a summary of the Committee’s discussion prepared by Board member Carol Chomsky and CLEA representative Claudia Angelos at saltlaw.org. 

In summary, Alternative A is intended to maintain the current system, although there is some disagreement on the Committee whether the current system requires schools to have a system of tenure.  Alternative B eliminates distinctions between faculty based on teaching responsibilities and requires some form of security of position but does not require tenure nor does it require that all faculty have access to tenure.  Alternative C provides that all faculty must be treated identically but would not require any form of security of position. 

We encourage you to examine the proposals, share them with your colleagues and discuss the potential impact the various alternatives would have on your school and legal education generally.  The next SRC Meeting is scheduled for April 26-27, 2013 in Washington, D.C. and Standard 405 is currently on the agenda. You can find more about the agenda at   http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/committees/standards_review.html 

 If you are interested in submitting comments to the proposed alternatives under consideration, you can do so by emailing your letter to Becky Stretch at Becky.Stretch@americanbar.org.  If you choose to comment, SALT would also like to receive a copy of your comment.  If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact SALT. 

We hope you find this information helpful. 

Jackie Gardina

Vermont Law School

Co-President of Society of American Law Teachers

Visit saltlaw.org to join SALT in creating justice, diversity and academic excellence.

Visiting Professor Santa Clara University 2012-2013

408-551-3000 x6406

View my research on my SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=338824