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A person I know is #1 in her class at a CalBar school. She said she's not going to try to transfer because it's really difficult to transfer from a CalBar school to an ABA school. Does anyone have experience with this? Are there ABA schools that will take #1 from a CalBar school?

Pretty sure you have to look at specific schools - policies seem to vary, some don’t take any non-ABA students, some will let them start over and apply as 1L students, some let them apply but require additional information as well, etc.

I suspect it is going to be fairly difficult, all things considered.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 06, 2022 5:04 pm

Pretty sure you have to look at specific schools - policies seem to vary, some don’t take any non-ABA students, some will let them start over and apply as 1L students, some let them apply but require additional information as well, etc.

I suspect it is going to be fairly difficult, all things considered.

Thanks for this. Damn. The student was legitimately good. I could see her not wanting to start over though.

Appears that whether or not an ABA accredited law school will allow transfer credits from a non-ABA accredited law school is up to the individual ABA accredited law school pursuant to a 1995 consent decree entered in an anti-trust action brought by the US Dept. of Justice against the ABA under the Sherman Act. Individual ABA accredited law schools may accept up to one-third of the credits required for a JD degree from a non-ABA accredited law school.

LLM Comparative Law type programs recognize credits from non-ABA accredited law schools--typically foreign law schools--as a routine matter.

P.S. I checked UCLA & Univ. of San Diego law schools' policies regarding transfers. Only transfers who have earned law school credits at an ABA accredited law school are eligible to transfer credits. In short, check each ABA approved law school for that law school's policy regarding transfer credit eligibility.

University of Iowa School of Law will only accept credits from an ABA accredited law school although there is an exception for credits earned at a foreign law school.

Another issue that may be of interest: Whether a law degree earned at a US based non-ABA accredited law school will enable one to enroll in an ABA accredited law school's LLM degree program.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 06, 2022 4:47 pm

A person I know is #1 in her class at a CalBar school. She said she's not going to try to transfer because it's really difficult to transfer from a CalBar school to an ABA school. Does anyone have experience with this? Are there ABA schools that will take #1 from a CalBar school?

My suggestion is for the person ranked #1 at a CalBar/non-ABA accredited law school to apply as a candidate for admission as a first year law student to any ABA accredited law school that is of interest to him or her. (In addition to outperforming LSAT & GPA numbers, the first in class rank may yield scholarship money.)

Sidenote: Decades ago, AALS law schools were prohibited from accepting credits from any non-AALS member law school regardless of ABA accreditation status. (AALS = American Association of Law Schools)