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Home Daily News ABA legal ed section didn’t give clear… Legal Education By Stephanie Francis Ward Posted December 13, 2018, 3:14 pm CST Arizona Summit Law School filed an amended complaint on Wednesday against the American Bar Association, alleging that it was not given guidance to come into compliance with accreditation standards. In November, the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar approved a teach-out plan submitted by Arizona Summit, which included a closure date for the end of spring 2020. That followed the law school being placed on probation by the council in March 2017 for being out of compliance with various accreditation standards. “The ABA did not apply to Arizona Summit clear standards for accreditation; did not specify in writing the supposed deficiencies at Arizona Summit; did not consider Arizona Summit’s responses regarding the supposed deficiencies before taking adverse action; did not describe the … [Read more...] about ABA legal ed section didn’t give clear direction, says Arizona Summit in amended complaint

Home Daily News ABA greenlights University of Illinois System… Law Schools By Stephanie Francis Ward Posted December 6, 2018, 4:46 pm CST Susan Montgomery/Shutterstock.com. The Illinois Board of Higher Education and the council of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar have approved the plan for the John Marshall Law School to be acquired by the University of Illinois at Chicago. The state approval was issued Dec. 4, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports, and the ABA acquiesced to the request Nov. 30, according to a letter posted online. One accreditation process remains, Darby Dickerson, dean at John Marshall, told the ABA Journal, and that’s a pending change of control application with the Higher Learning Commission. A site visit is scheduled for February 2019, she wrote in an email, and if the commission approves the application, a closing date is expected for Aug. 1, 2019, with the first UIC John Marshall class starting in fall 2019. … [Read more...] about ABA greenlights University of Illinois System acquiring John Marshall Law School

Home Daily News Does your client need fee financing? New… Legal Ethics By Jason Tashea Posted November 27, 2018, 9:55 am CST Image from Shutterstock.com. Lawyers may refer clients to fee financing companies even if they own a financial interest in the lender or broker, according to a new Formal Opinion from the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Released on Tuesday, Formal Opinion 484 hopes to create clarity regarding attorney fee financing that assists in closing the access to justice gap. “By some estimates, more than 75 percent of low-income and middle-income individuals have legal needs that go unmet for financial reasons,” said Barbara S. Gillers, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility. “Formal Opinion 484 is important because it addresses a way to increase access to legal services for those persons who may wish to or need to finance legal fees in order to retain counsel. The Opinion … [Read more...] about Does your client need fee financing? New ABA ethics opinion provides guidance

Home In-Depth Reporting Department of Labor reverses course on ‘persuader… Report from Governmental Affairs By Rhonda McMillion November 2018 Shutterstock.com Changes to a long-standing U.S. Department of Labor rule that the ABA warned would have seriously undermined attorney-client confidentiality and the fundamental right to effective counsel have been rescinded. Section 203 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 contains a section known as the “persuader rule.” The rule requires employers and their labor consultants to file disclosures with the department when they engage in certain activities or enter into agreements or arrangements to persuade employees on union formation or membership issues. However, the department has long interpreted Section 203(c) of the act to exempt lawyers from the rule’s reporting requirements if they have no direct contact with the employees and merely provide advice or other legal services directly … [Read more...] about Department of Labor reverses course on ‘persuader rule’ change after ABA lobbying

Home Daily News ABA members win elections for state, congressional… Careers By Stephanie Francis Ward Posted November 12, 2018, 11:57 am CST Five years before lawyer Joe Cunningham was elected to the U.S. Congress on Nov. 6, he helped lead the ABA’s Law Student Division as its vice chair of student bar associations. The son of Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham, South Carolina’s new congressperson told the Charleston Post and Courier that his work with the ABA included getting a rule banning academic credit on paid externships overturned, and that helped polish his skills for bringing people together. “In my current job practicing law, 99 percent of the cases I work on end in settlements. Each side comes to the table and a compromise is made to reach a resolution that is for the betterment of all,” Cunningham, a construction lawyer, told the paper. “Right now, though, this tribalism of politics that we are seeing in our nation has got … [Read more...] about ABA members win elections for state, congressional seats