Panel Looks at Bias Training for Law Students, Assessment for Schools - Articles

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Panel Looks at Bias Training for Law Students, Assessment for Schools

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 6, 2022

The American Bar Association's push for required bias training for law students and its initiative to beef up law school diversity and inclusion rules have disturbed some who say the body is imposing a specific ideology on future lawyers, Reuters reports. Legal blogger and Cornell Law Professor William Jacobson told a panel at the Federalist Society’s 10th Annual Executive Branch Review Conference that the ABA has "stepped out of its lane" and should not impose mandates in the “hotly contested” arena of diversity and bias. Others have criticized the requirement for encroaching on law schools' autonomy. In February, the ABA adopted a requirement that law schools provide training in bias, racism and cross-cultural competency. It is now in the final stages of adopting a revised diversity and inclusion standard that schools must meet regarding racial and ethnic diversity among students, faculty and staff. Law schools would undergo an annual assessment of their inclusivity under the proposal.