Bar Exam
Grads of non-ABA-accredited law school can sit for Washington state bar exam
Washington state has changed its bar admission rules to allow for graduates of non-ABA accredited schools to sit for the exam. (Image via Shutterstock)
As of Sept. 1, graduates of non-ABA-accredited law schools will be allowed to sit for the bar exam in Washington state after a policy change by the state’s bar association.
Law.com reported Thursday that the change had been formally adopted by the Washington State bar Association’s Board of Governors.
The amended rule broadens the definition of what constitutes an “approved law school” whose graduates would qualify for admission in the state. Under the new rule, graduates of “law schools that other states have recognized as meeting the education requirements to sit for the bar exam in that jurisdiction” would be allowed to sit for the state bar, and applicants would have the burden of proving their law school is recognized by another state, according to the board’s May 1-2 meeting materials.
The ABA council is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the sole accrediting body for U.S. law schools and operates separately from the greater ABA. Most jurisdictions require applicants to the bar to be graduates of an ABA-accredited law school.
“What we’re seeing in Washington is consistent with how several other states have been asserting their authority for years,” Jennifer Rosato Perea, managing director of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, said in a statement sent to the ABA Journal. “This approach affirms council accreditation as the gold standard for quality while also recognizing other law schools or educational pathways that serve the state’s needs.”
Washington’s move comes as the ABA council’s exclusive accreditor status is changing. Since the beginning of this year, the state courts of Alabama, Texas and Florida made moves to break ties with the council. Other state supreme courts, including Tennessee and Ohio, currently are reevaluating ABA accreditation.
In 2024, the Washington Supreme Court approved, in concept, additional pathways to the bar involving supervised practice, but a program has not yet launched. The state is among the first to use the new NextGen UBE during its first administration in July.
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