A Note on Accreditation

LMU has notified the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) and the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners (TBLE) of its intent to open a law school in Knoxville, Tennessee, for the fall of 2009 to offer the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, and will be working with both organizations, as well as the American Bar Association to pursue approval and accreditation. Initiation of the J.D. degree program is dependent upon SACS-COC approval.

On February 24, 2009, we earned approval from the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners for our graduates to be eligible to take the bar examination in Tennessee. University officials have also visited the American Bar Association (ABA). The law school at Lincoln Memorial University intends to seek accreditation from the ABA. The ABA accreditation process will follow once a class has been seated. The desire of many students to either practice outside of Tennessee or simply to have the flexibility in the event circumstances take them outside of the State are some of the reasons we are seeking accreditation by the American Bar Association.

The Dean is fully informed as to the Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools by the American Bar Association. The Administration and the Dean are determined to devote all necessary resources and in other respects to take all necessary steps to present a program of legal education that will qualify for approval by the American Bar Association.The Law School makes no representation to any applicant that it will be approved by the American Bar Association prior to the graduation of any matriculating student.

We frequently receive questions about if/when we will be ABA-approved. The accreditation process usually takes at least two years to earn provisional approval. According to the 2008-09 Standards for Approval of Law Schools:

Rule 4. Application for Provisional or Full Approval

(a) An applicant law school shall submit its application for provisional or full approval to the Consultant after the beginning of fall term classes but no later than October 15 in the academic year in which the law school is seeking approval. If the school is seeking a site evaluation visit in the fall academic term it shall also file, during the month of March of the preceding academic year, a written notice of its intent to do so. A provisionally approved law school may apply for full approval no earlier than two years after the date that provisional approval was granted.

Therefore, the proposed Duncan School of Law at Lincoln Memorial University cannot submit an application for provisional approval until after classes begin in the fall of 2010. Also, we will seek a site evaluation visit for fall 2010 in March 2010, as required in Rule 4.

Another question that frequently arises is, “Will I be able to sit for the bar exam in any state?” The 2008-09 Standards for Approval of Law Schools state

Interpretation 102-10

An individual who matriculates at a law school that is provisionally approved or who is a student enrolled in a law school at the time it receives provisional approval and who completes the course of study and graduates from that school within a typical and reasonable period of time is deemed by the Council to be a graduate of an approved law school, even though the school loses its provisional approval status while the individual is enrolled in the school.

Regardless of this standard, however, it is important to know that individual states are the final authority on whether or not a graduate may sit for that state’s bar examination. Finally, many prospective applicants have asked us, “When will you receive full accreditation?” As stated above, we make no representation that we will be approved by the American Bar Association prior to the graduation of any matriculating student. We do intend to pursue such approval and we are currently formulating our plan to come into full compliance. As stated in the 2008-09 Standards for Approval of Law Schools:

Standard 103. FULL APPROVAL

(a) A law school is granted full approval if it establishes that it is in full compliance with the Standards and it has been provisionally approved for not fewer than two years.