Opinion ID: 197918
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: msl's accreditation effort

Text: 12 MSL applied for ABA accreditation in 1992. From the outset, MSL recognized that its practices were discordant with the Standards, yet remained steadfast in its deliberately contrarian mission. 2 At no time did MSL argue present compliance with the Standards or promise future compliance. Instead, it confessed in its self-study that [t]o the considerable extent MSL's goals and methods are innovative, sometimes they deliberately run counter to conventional ABA criteria of accreditation. Not surprisingly, MSL invoked Standard 802 by letter dated January 27, 1993, and requested a waiver of each and every Standard that ... might bar accreditation on the ground that, despite its admitted lack of conformity, MSL provides a high quality legal education that meets the underlying objectives of the accreditation process. 13 An ABA team visited MSL's campus in April 1993. The next month, the site-visit team recommended that the Committee deny accreditation because MSL was in default of myriad Standards. 3 The Committee accepted the recommendation and rejected the application. MSL successively appealed to the Council and to the ABA's House of Delegates, both of which upheld the denial of accreditation.