Future lawyers in Florida are no longer required to attend an American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law school, ending the organization’s “highly partisan” grip on universities as the nation’s only law school accreditor.
Florida Supreme Court to rule on January 15 that “it is not in the best interests of Floridians for the American Bar Association to be the sole gatekeeper deciding which law school graduates are eligible to take the state’s public bar exam and become licensed attorneys in Florida.” The ABA has been criticized for imposing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices on universities in order to maintain recognition, essentially requiring schools to adhere to racial quotas. (RELATED: Exclusive: District cares more about hiring ‘diverse’ and ‘culturally competent’ teachers rather than effective ones)
While ABA-accredited schools will still be recognized, the ruling opens opportunities for any agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to approve law schools in the state.
“At present, the American Bar Association is the only programmatic accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit legal education programs leading to the first professional degree in law,” the ruling said. “The Court acknowledges that additional program accreditors may be recognized for legal education programs in the future and expresses support for that possibility; this amendment is intended to accommodate that finding.”
Good move.
The (highly partisan) ABA should not be the gatekeeper of legal education or the legal profession. https://t.co/dtkZlKdAEv– Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 15, 2026
Earlier this month, Texas announced its decision to strip the ABA’s authority, and other states have similar plans. The Texas Supreme Court, like Florida, has ruled that a law school accreditor “should not have the final say on whether law school graduates are eligible to take the Texas bar exam and obtain a license to practice law in Texas.”
In February 2025, Attorney General Pam Bondi accused The ABA has subjected law schools and students to “unlawful racial and sex discrimination under the guise of ‘diversity’ mandates by forcing schools to ensure that their student and staff bodies are ‘diverse with respect to sex, race, and ethnicity.’” Bondi even suggested that her “status as the sole accrediting body for America’s law schools” could be revoked if she pursued DEI.
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