TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Dec 8, 2025

In the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order soliciting comments from the legal community, the court asks whether it should "modify, reduce, or eliminate its reliance on ABA accreditation in setting minimum educational requirements for applicants to the Tennessee Bar" and (2) whether "there are any practicable alternatives to ABA accreditation" it should consider. At least three other states are considering this issue as well. Two states, Florida and Ohio, are reviewing their current accreditation requirements, and Florida has formed a workgroup that recently released a report proposing accreditation alternatives. The Supreme Court of Texas in September said it intends to end its reliance on the ABA for law school oversight and instead have the court determine which schools’ graduates can be admitted as lawyers. Feedback on Tennessee's potential modification of law school accreditation may be sent to TBA's newly formed Legal Access & Regulatory Reform Task Force at townhall@tnbar.org as well as directly to the court. Watch TBA Today through the month of December to learn more about the seven points in the Supreme Court’s order and specific ways to engage with the task force. Visit TBA's Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page for more information.