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Liberty University Law School Receives ABA Accreditation NewsMax.com Wires The American Bar Association (ABA) granted provisional accreditation to the Liberty University School of Law ( http://law.liberty.edu )at the earliest date possible for a new law school.
The law school, in only its second year, was awarded provisional accreditation on its first attempt. To achieve provisional accreditation within 18 months of the first entering class is virtually unprecedented. Following the announcement, Dr. Jerry Falwell, founder and chancellor of Liberty, stated, "This is the second-most important news in the history of the university, eclipsed only by the announcement of Liberty's accreditation by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1980. Provisional accreditation for the law school means that Liberty is in substantial compliance with each of the ABA's Standards for the Approval of Law Schools and has presented a reliable plan to achieve full compliance with those standards within three years.
As part of the accreditation process, the ABA sent a team of experienced deans and professors to conduct an intensive four day-evaluation in September. The site team prepared a thorough 59-page report covering each aspect of the law school in detail.
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During a subsequent meeting in Phoenix in January, the ABA Accreditation Committee reviewed the site team report. After an extensive question and answer period with Bruce Green, Dean of the Liberty University School of Law, and Chancellor Falwell, the 18-member committee concluded that the school of law is in substantial compliance with each of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools.
During its meeting on February 11 in Chicago, the ABA Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar (Council) — which makes the decision on accreditation, subject to review by the House of Delegates of the ABA — also concluded that the school of law was in substantial compliance with each of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools.
On February 13, the House of Delegates ratified the council's action.
Liberty's school of law opened in August 2004 and will graduate its first class in May 2007. New law schools must first apply for provisional accreditation. They cannot apply for full accreditation until they have operated for at least two years with provisional accreditation.
Liberty University is committed to proceeding toward full approval at the earliest opportunity. Most importantly, provisional accreditation grants Liberty University School of Law graduates the same rights and responsibilities as students who graduate from a fully accredited law school. Graduates are allowed to sit for the bar examination in any state. In the words of the ABA, "An individual who graduates while the school is provisionally approved [is] entitled to the same recognition given to ... graduates of fully approved law schools."
ABA accreditation is highly competitive and is attained through a rigorous self study process, site visits, written reports and appearances before the Accreditation Committee and Council. A new law school may not apply for provisional accreditation until the beginning of its second academic year, which occurred for Liberty in August 2005. Normally, the application process takes a full year, but an early site visit and a very positive and timely Site Team report paved the way for the School of Law to have early review by the Accreditation Committee, Council and the House of Delegates.
Chancellor Falwell said, "I firmly believe the development of such a quality law school and the rapid recognition by the ABA could never have occurred without the skilled and professional leadership of Dean Bruce Green. I am doubtful that any new law school has ever been blessed with such a competent founding Dean."
Only 191 law schools are accredited in the country.
Without ABA accreditation, students who graduate from a state licensed law school may receive a Juris Doctorate degree but are not eligible to practice law throughout the country. Most states require that students graduate from an ABA-accredited law school to be eligible to take the Bar exam. ABA accreditation allows graduates to practice law in all 50 states after successfully completing the bar exam.
The accreditation process for ABA accredited law schools is unique and rigorous. Unlike most institutions of higher learning which build the school gradually while seeking accreditation, a new law school seeking ABA accreditation must be highly developed and well funded from the beginning. The first year faculty must be under contract one year before the first student arrives, and when the doors open, the library must contain tens of thousands of volumes. The law school's library already has over 206,000 volumes and several specialty collections. The state-of- the-art facilities provide ample room for growth.
A law school is unique among other colleges within a university because it is required to have a distinct identity with its own separate library, registrar, recruitment, placement and development. Developing an ABA-accredited law school requires a firm commitment by the university.
The school of law currently has 100 students in its first and second year classes. The law school will begin to increase the size of each entering class - up to a maximum student body of 450 - while continuing its selective admission process to ensure that the students are academically qualified and committed to the school's distinctive Christian mission.
The law school facilities are some of the most technologically advanced in the nation with state-of-the-art classrooms and a mock trial courtroom. The site team report noted that the university's commitment to provide and utilize the latest technologies, as well as personnel required to support them, is "extraordinary."
In reference to the relation of the law library to the educational programs of the school, the site team report observed that the school is propelled by a refreshing excitement, energy, and devoted sense of purpose. Some members of the site team commented that they found refreshing the fact that the student body exhibited a high level of enthusiasm and commitment to the school's mission. They lacked the cynicism that many student s exhibit at other law schools.
Liberty is the only law school in the nation to require six semesters of research and writing. In addition to standard law school courses, Liberty requires two semesters in the Foundations of Law. The school of law already has a moot court team and a law review where students hone their legal writing and oral advocacy skills.
The school also has a strong practical component with a high degree of emphasis on lawyering skills. Professor Jim Jeans, nationally recognized as one of the premier law professors in trial advocacy, is one of the founders of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. He came to teach at the Liberty University School of Law as a visiting professor last August, but he was so impressed with the operations he decided to stay permanently. In July, his wife will join the faculty and bring with her 30 years of experience in the U.S. Department of Justice. She will oversee some of the law school's legal clinics.
As part of the lawyering skills program, the school of law will roll out several legal clinics. In one clinic, students will participate with local prosecutors covering a range of cases including online child solicitation. One clinic works in conjunction with the school of law and the Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy, which has a litigation office one floor above the law school. Students can be involved in constitutional law cases that have national implications as they work with nationally-recognized constitutional litigators. The impressive lawyering skills program led one of the members of the Site Team to comment that the school's program could well serve as a model for the country.
Dr. Falwell had the vision to build such a law school when he first founded the university. The law school's expressed mission is to equip future leaders in law with a superior legal education in fidelity to the Christian faith expressed through the Holy Scriptures.
Mat Staver, Vice-President of Law and Policy at Liberty University, said: "Liberty University School of Law is the realization of a dream. The School of Law has a distinctive Christian mission. The law school combines superior legal education in the best of our Western legal tradition. The law is good if it is used properly, but the law can do great harm when it is separated from faith and eternal principles. The law school is training the next generation of lawyers and world leaders to use the law as a fulcrum for good."
The Liberty University School of Law is the eighth college of Liberty University, which was founded by Dr. Jerry Falwell in 1971. The other colleges that make up the university include the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Communications, School of Education, Helms School of Government, School of Religion, Liberty Theological Seminary and the Center for Computer Science and Information Technology. Liberty University is the largest evangelical university in the world.
Readers interested in applying for admission for the fall semester can contact the Liberty University School of Law by phone (434-592-5300) or by visiting the school's website ( http://law.liberty.edu ).
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