LOS ANGELES (CN) - The Southern California Institute of Law sued the members of the state Committee of Bar Examiners, challenging new accreditation rules that could cost it its accreditation if fewer than 40 percent of its graduates can pass the bar exam.
The new accreditation rules took effect Jan. 1.
The Southern California Institute of Law "offers an exclusively part-time evening program," with campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura, it says in its 42-page federal complaint.
It sued 22 members and former members of the Committee of Bar Examiners, individually and in their official capacity. The CBE itself is not named as a defendant.
The school claims the guidelines violate its right to due process and free speech.
The complaint states: "Until recently, the CBE did not impose any absolute percentage minimum bar passage rate that a school must maintain in order to preserve its accreditation. Instead, under guideline 6.2 of the Guidelines for accredited Law School Rules ('collectively, the 'Guidelines'), the CBE was historically required to consider eleven different factors when qualitatively and quantitatively measuring a law school's performance.
"On December 2, 2012, the CBE unlawfully deviated from these benchmarks and adopted without rhyme or reason, and contrary to its rule-making authority, guidelines 12.1 and 12.2 promulgated pursuant to new rule 4.160(M) of the Accredited Law School Rules (collectively, the 'rules'). The Rule and Guidelines which became effective Jan. 1, 2013, radically alter the previous standards by imposing a mandatory minimum 40 percent bar passage rate in order for a school to maintain its accreditation, and subject CALS [California accredited law schools], including SCIL, to sanctions, including notice of noncompliance, probation, and the loss of accreditation, for failing to maintain a cumulative bar exam pass rate of 40 percent or higher measured by averaging results over a previous five-year period.
"The new standard is a wooden test that fails to take into account the school's mission, the nature of its student body, the quality of its faculty and academic program, its efforts to maximize students' chances of success on the bar exam, or other factors considered historically during the re-accreditation process. To make matters worse, the new test is applied retroactively. The test requires the calculation to be made over a retrospective five-year period, condemning any school with less than a 40 percent rate in some or all years predating 2013 to the negative impact of the lower rates on its overall average. Schools that do not meet the requirement when they file their yearly reports in 2013 will receive a notification of non-compliance which badly tarnishes a school's reputation. Beginning in 2016, schools that fall below the minimum cumulative bar examination pass rate will be placed on probation and could ultimately lose their accreditation if they do not comply with the requirements by the end of 2017." (Some citations omitted.)
The Southern California Institute of Law was founded in 1986. It says its students "are primarily working adults from low-to-moderate income groups, with approximately one-third of SCIL's student body consisting of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups. For these reasons, SCIL operates evening programs which offer a rigorous academic environment and small class sizes. The programs are flexible and affordable with students currently completing a four-year legal education for a total tuition cost of under $35,000."
Its two campuses have 75 to 100 students and 30 "distinguished faculty members" combined, plus administrative staff, the complaint states.
