Practice Management

I previously posted about Florida A&M University College of Law receiving ABA full approval, but the ABA has also granted full approval to Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California.

Western State University College of Law, the oldest law school in Orange County, California.  Its full approval follows the ABA Accreditation Committee?s recommendation to its Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admission in early July. In 2005, the school was granted provisional approval by the ABA, signifying substantial compliance with ABA standards and a plan to bring the school into full compliance. A school is only granted provisional approval for a maximum of five years.

Also, Western State University remains accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California (CBE), which permits students to sit for the bar examination in California, and by the Senior Commission of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

Western Law offers a full-time program, which normally can be completed within three years; and a part-time program, which makes it possible for a student to continue at his or her job while going to law school.

ABA approval is vitally important because it ensures that Western Law graduates can not only sit for the California bar examination, but can take the bar exam or otherwise practice in any jurisdiction in the United States.  Portability is increasingly becoming an issue with graduates of law schools in the United States.

There are now 20 law school in California that are in one stage of ABA approval or another.