Massachusetts School of Law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Massachusetts School of Law**
Established	1988
Type	Private
Location	Andover, Massachusetts, USA
Website	http://www.mslaw.edu

The Massachusetts School of Law was founded in 1988 in order to develop lawyers who were trained in the professional skills needed to practice law. Its design and curriculum were influenced by the medical school educational model as numerous scholars, lawyers, and judges work side by side in educating students how to become practicing lawyers. Through classroom instruction, simulated client experiences, and numerous live client experiences, students learn to practice law under the supervision of experts in their field. MSL is located in Andover, Massachusetts. MSL does not require the LSAT for admission because the school's administration believes that standardized tests are a poor indicator of the qualities one would hope to find in a successful law student, lawyer, or community leader. MSL administers its own essay examination and interviews every applicant for admission. Graduates must take and pass the Massachusetts, California, or Connecticut Bar Examination before seeking admission to the bars of other states that do not rely exclusively on American Bar Association approval as a precondition to take the bar examination.

1 Accreditation
2 Notable Alumni
3 Sources
4 References

[edit] Accreditation

The Massachusetts School of Law is now fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).In 1990, the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education authorized MSL to grant the Juris Doctor degree. MSL subsequently applied for American Bar Association approval while simultaneously challenging some of the ABA's accreditation standards, arguing that those standards are of questionable educational value, may violate antitrust laws, and needlessly increase tuition costs. MSL refused to comply with these standards, and the ABA denied approval of the school's accreditation. In 1994, the Massachusetts School of Law filed a lawsuit alleging that ABA accreditation practices constituted antitrust violations.As a result of its actions the Department of Justice filed a compaint against the ABA for antitrust violations as well. That lawsuit resulted in a consent judgement between the ABA and the Department of Justice in which the ABA agreed to reform its accreditation process and eliminate some of its law school accreditation standards.

Among the standards used in that process were several related to student-faculty ratio. Under its standards in effect at that time, the ABA refused to count most of MSL’s full-time professors who practiced law, or any of MSL's 85 expert lawyers and judges who comprised MSL’s adjunct faculty members in computing its student-faculty ratio (a standard that has since been changed as a result of the Department of Justice's antitrust action against the American Bar Association). In 1997, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) awarded accreditation to MSL. Many of its graduates now practice law throughout New England and California. With tuition relatively low by law school standards — less than half the average tuition of New England law schools — many of its graduates go into public service, including serving in the state legislatures in New England.

The school continues to battle to strip the ABA of its authority to accredit law schools. Efforts before the Department of Education failed in 2000. On December 4, 2006, Masachusetts School of Law officials asked a Department of Education committee to abolish ABA accreditation, complaining that the ABA's process was harmful to minorities and low-income students. This action followed the publication of a DoE report that was critical of accrediting agencies for being overly concerned about financial and procedural issues and inadequately concerned about the school's success at educating its graduates.^[1]

[edit] Notable Alumni

Arthur J. Broadhurst, (1991), member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1993 - present)
Barry R. Finegold, member of the Mass. House of Representatives (served 1996 - present)