ABA Standard 303 Opportunities and Challenges, Including Divisive Concepts Statutes

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Yosemite A

Floor: Ballroom Level

The 2022 amendments to the ABA Law School Accreditation Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools added new requirements to Standard 303 that require law schools to provide substantial opportunities for students to develop a professional identity and to provide education on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism. The form or content of the required opportunities is not prescribed in Standard 303, but the Standard appears to recognize that law clinics and field placements are uniquely placed to offer opportunities for law students to develop cross-cultural competency and to experience the role of the profession in eliminating bias, discrimination, and racism individually and systemically. Interpretation 303-6, moreover, explicitly identifies these as values integral to membership in the legal profession. Accordingly, they are values that should be intentionally explored as part of the student’s professional identity development pursuant to Interpretation 303-5. This interpretation therefore integrates cross-cultural competency and anti-racism into professional identity formation. While Standard 303 confirms the importance of incorporating critical topics on identity and bias into the law school curriculum, it may also present unique challenges for clinicians. The new mandates precipitated strenuous objections from numerous legal academics that they encroached on the independence of law schools to set their own curriculum and policies and violated the academic freedom of individual faculty. Conversely, these same requirements seemingly have implications for faculty in states with laws that restrict discussion of identified “divisive” concepts. Attendees will have an opportunity to share best practices on implementing ABA Standard 303; to discuss the implications of, and interactions between Standard 303 and divisive concepts laws and other threats to representation, academic freedom, and free speech; to consider strategies and opportunities to adapt current practices and/or create new activities; and to reconcile competing requirements, enhancing core values and guiding principles of our profession.