Putting a Public Face on the Bar - Term Paper Example

Putting a Public Face on the Bar The American Bar Association is a voluntary bar association established in 1878 and comprising of lawyers and law students (Matzko 75). The bar is not specified by any jurisdiction in the United States of America. The association is mandated to set academic standards for law schools in United States of America and formulate model ethical codes, which are related to the legal profession. The association has approximately 410,000 members and is headquartered in Chicago Illinois (Matzko 75). The association has also maintained a branch office in Washington DC. This essay justifies the American Bar Association’s need for a public face (Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz, ch. 10 and 16). The association was founded in 1878 with an objective of advancing the science of Jurisprudence and promoting the administration of justice and uniformity of legislation throughout the United States of America. The reason why the association should be given a public face is that it has severally failed to meet its objectives (Matzko 78). Although critics have come up with different views to argue against the decisions made by the association, less attention has been paid to the criticisms. For instance, the conservative side of the political spectrum criticized the association in 2013 for taking positions on public policies that were controversial. An example is that the association took positions on policies like gun control and homosexuality, which a national association like ABA is not supposed to take positions (Matzko 78). To make the situation worse, the association’s official member favored the abortion rights by forming an alternative organization for National Lawyers Association. The Federalist Society sponsors the organization to publish articles on abortion twice a year. The publication go by the name “ABA Watch” and it reports on ABA’s political activities. ABA needs to be put on a public face so that the common citizen can assess its work and give reviews where appropriate. Matters like abortion are opposed by most American citizens who belong to different faiths, they lack power to amend the bills regarding these policies because ABA has been given a lot of powers, it has not been publicized and it has a final say (Matzko 79). The views of the majority should be given a priority, and this is the reason why ABA should be publicized and its powers reduced. ABA has received various complains that law schools in US are failing to give students realistic career objective, but it all seem to fall on deaf ears. This association has not stated clearly what should be expected of law students in US after graduating (Lindsew 26). Although law schools in the United States of America pay huge amounts of money for school fees, they graduate without the required knowledge and skills of law profession as expected. Some decades ago, law schools in the United States of America were golden tickets, but of late they have turned out to be liabilities for graduates. Every student enters a law school expecting to land a law firm gig, which will pay him as much as $ 180,000 per year. In case, this turns out to be the opposite, these students end up being depressed to a point of death (Lindsew 26). This is because they invest a lot while in school and when they expect to reap from their investments, it turns out to be a disappointment. The whole blame goes back to ABA, which is supposed to provide information about law graduates in the United States of America. This association should issue reports, which should be cited in rankings compiled by the United States of America. In most cases, the association ends up producing inaccurate and misleading data. For example, the association should supply the percentages of graduates employed based on the survey taken after every nine months of graduation. The association usually provides mean figures of salaries instead of medians. This is a sign that only a few students are highly paid graduates who skew high figures; hence creating unrealistic expectations to the students (Lindsew 28). Parents and students in United States of America no longer give law schools the esteem it used to be given some few decades ago. In addition, parents and students who have gone through the misleading syllabus in these schools have been disappointed. ABA should be publicized so that citizens can have their views considered on what is appropriate for the association (Lindsew 29). If citizens act as watchdogs for the association, it is likely to pull up its socks and work toward the satisfaction of the common citizen. ABA has failed to implement the affirmative action, which requires the bar to give law admission preferences to members from minority groups. According to one of the officials in the bar, the rule in the bar allows affirmative action, but does not require law schools to consider race admissions. This has led to the internal challenging of the Bar’s accrediting section from most prominent law schools in United States of America. The Board of Directors of the Law Deans Association has challenged the standards set by ABA on hiring and employing faculty members (Lindsew 29). The board argues that the bar does not consider quality of legal education when employing these members. This has improperly intruded the autonomy of the institution, which seeks to dictate employments terms and conditions. Since the establishment of ABA in the last century, the bar has undergone minimal reviews and reforms. Reviews and reformation of the bar are vital because things keep on changing (Lindsew 28). The educational system that was in existence in early 90s is very different from the current one. The world is dynamic and situations are changing from time to time. For instance, technology has advanced today as compare ton 1900. ABA needs to undergo reformation so that it can fit the modern times. Most of its problems are coming up due to lack of updates (Lindsew 28). The public has a vital role to play in reforming the bar. For instance, the bar officials should go to the public for surveys on matters such as what should be done to improve education system in law schools. Some laws schools in the United States of America have decided to take the matter into their hands because their constant complains seem to fall on deaf ears. For instance, in August 2013, the approval and update of equal opportunity and diversity standards by ABA that required accredited schools in US to demonstrate concretely for a diverse student body with respect for race, gender and ethnicity, negative reactions from conservative groups came up. The groups blamed ABA of entailing law schools in the United States of America to employ along racial line, which is unacceptable in some states (Epstein 73). This is one issue among the many ABA’s numerous accreditation problems brought forward by the public. ABA needs to be aware that if conservative reactions to the diversification of standards, the group can as well go ahead off the reform needed by its accreditation process. The association should not wait for the anger of the public to befall it. These are early signs to reform the association before the angry public decides to take the wrong path in reforming. The reforms anticipated by the association have to involve the public because it is the most affected group in this scenario. The US government and other higher organs, like the judiciary, should assist ABA in transforming its image (Epstein 72). Another department that has decided to take action against ABA is the Department of Education’s General Counsel. The department pursues the diversity issue by keeping it on the front burner, which led to the distraction of ABA’s attention causing a lot of problems to the bar. First, ABA has been accused of perceiving elites. For instance, in 1925 African American lawyers decided to form a National Bar Association after ABA refused to allow them to be members of the association. Second, the association has been accused of taking positions in controversial policies like homosexuality; and third, controversies have hit the US regarding the requirements placed on law schools by ABA. The requirements have been accused of being costly, unnecessary, lacking innovation and being outdated (Epstein 88). Fourth, the rising number of jobless law graduates in the US has raised concern. This is happening while ABA is busy expanding law schools in the US. This incidence led to the 2009 collision of attorney layoffs and if something is not done to correct the situation, the worse is anticipated. ABA has to be lenient in accrediting its policies in law schools. Fifth, ABA has been accused of failing or refusing to stop law schools in the US from publication of misleading information regarding salary prospects and employment. These are just a few accusations brought forward against ABA (Epstein 88). The association needs to go back to its mandate and work according to its mission and objectives. One of its objectives is to provide law schools in the US with accreditation, which should see the schools to go through legal education by being informed about the law, lawyer and judges’ programs as well as initiatives of improving the public’s legal system. Its mission of representing the nation in the legal profession, to serve the public and law profession through justice promotion, professional excellence and respecting the law has not been met in most situations. ABA needs to create a commission to perform an in-depth examination on the amount of school fees charged by law schools in US as well as the funding issues. The association needs also to establish a mechanism, which will institutionalize the procedure of assessment and improvement of legal educational systems. The association should also do away with accreditation standards that have driven the costs instead of the quality of legal education offered in the law schools. The Supreme Court should work in conjunction with the bar to find ways of reducing educational requirements for admission and consider proposals from the public, which can authorize individuals without JDs to provide limited legal services in the association. These are just a few recommendations, which can be implemented by the Association in trying to transform its image. The current dilemma encountered by law firms and legal education in the US is a monopoly over law practice and it can no longer constrain legal services. The limited legal service provider like the judiciary and other competent courts should not sit back and watch ABA collapse. Judges should render reasonable decisions on how ABA should be transformed to continue serving the legal sector in the country. Works Cited Epstein, Lee. The Supreme Court Compendium: Data, Decisions & Developments. 4th ed. London: CQ Press, 2007. Print. Lindsew Luebchow. Gaming the Law School Accreditation Process. Journal of Higher Educational Watch 1.1.(2007): 26-29. Lunsford, Andrea., Ruszkiewicz, John and Keith Walters. Everythings an argument. 6th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. Print. Matzko John , A. The Best Men of the Bar: The Founding of the American Bar Association, in The New High Priests: Lawyers in Post-Civil War America, New York: Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984. Print. Read More