Press Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593

Washington, D.C. (August 19, 2015) – The Section on Clinical Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) has issued a statement on the proposal by the Task Force on Admissions Regulation Recommendations (TFARR) of the State Bar of California to require 15 credits of experiential learning prior to taking the California Bar Examination.
 

“The Association of American Law Schools Section on Clinical Legal Education applauds the Trustees of the State Bar of California for unanimously adopting the proposal of the Task Force on Admissions Regulation Reform (TFARR) to require applicants to have completed 15 credits of experiential education prior to sitting for the California Bar. The AALS Clinical Section is made up of hundreds of legal educators, including many in California who have dedicated their professional lives to preparing students for the practice of law through in-house clinics, externships, and other experiential educational offerings.”
 
“[…] With these experiences and perspectives in mind, we believe that the TFARR proposal, which encourages the integration of 21st century lawyering skills into the core of legal education, presents a significant opportunity to better prepare students to meet the demands of clients upon admission to the bar.”
 
“[…]Overall, the TFARR proposal presents a significant opportunity to improve the overall competency of new admittees to the State Bar of California. As students enter a rapidly changing and expanding legal marketplace, it is incumbent upon the Bar to ensure that law graduates have the doctrinal knowledge and professional and interpersonal skills needed to effectively and ethically represent clients in California. The TFARR proposal would advance this important obligation of the Bar and help legal education fulfill the demands of our students, their future clients, and the legal profession.”

 
A link to the full statement is available at https://www.aals.org/scle-tfarr/.
 
The statement reflects the opinions of the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education and do not necessarily reflect the views of each member of the section or the members of the AALS.
 

About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 180 law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve our many communities–local, national and international.