Florida Ends American Bar Association’s Grip On Law Schools

In a major step toward greater ideological freedom in the legal profession, the state of Florida ended the left-wing American Bar Association’s (ABA) dominance over its law schools on Thursday.

In its nine-page order, the Florida Supreme Court revealed that it has amended the state’s bar admissions rule “to end the rule’s reliance on the American Bar Association (ABA) as the sole accrediting agency for law schools whose graduates are eligible to sit for this state’s General Bar Examination.” (Lawyers are required to pass the bar exam to practice law in each state.)

As noted in its order, the Florida Supreme Court appointed a “workgroup to study this issue” in March 2025, with the group submitting a final report later that year in October. The Sunshine State’s high court approved the rule changes last month, culminating in the release of Thursday’s directive.

“Based on its independent study and its consideration of the workgroup’s report, the Court is persuaded that it is not in Floridians’ best interest for the ABA to be the sole gatekeeper deciding which law schools’ graduates are eligible to sit for the state’s General Bar Examination and become licensed attorneys in Florida,” the court wrote.

The Florida justices contended that the new rules “create the opportunity for additional entities to carry out an accrediting and gatekeeping function on behalf of the Court.” They further argued that in adopting such changes, the court is seeking to “promote access to high-quality, affordable legal education in law schools that are committed to the free exchange of ideas and to the principle of nondiscrimination.”

Those graduating from current ABA-accredited institutions will remain eligible to take the bar exam, and law schools will still be permitted to seek ABA accreditation should they choose to do so, according to the court.

As The Federalist’s Joy Pullmann previously reported, the ABA regularly “advocates for and engages in unlawful racial and sexual discrimination and is a highly partisan actor on behalf of the Democrat Party and other anti-Constitution activists.” The organization, she noted, “deeply affects the U.S. lawyer pipeline and licensing system, accrediting law schools, rating judges, and weaponizing lawyer discipline.”

“Its rabid leftism means the ABA systematically ratchets the entire U.S. legal system against the U.S. Constitution,” Pullmann added.

The group’s left-wing partisanship was an issue raised by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier leading up to Thursday’s announcement. The former said during a public event last week that the ABA “should not play a central role in legal education or the legal profession.”

The ABA’s role as a “gatekeeper” of American law schools is not a concern only in Florida, however.

The Texas Supreme Court announced last week that it is ending the organization’s monopoly over the Lone Star State’s law schools. Similar to their Florida counterparts, the Texas justices declared “that the ABA should no longer have the final say on whether a law school’s graduates are eligible to sit for the Texas bar exam and become licensed to practice law in Texas.”

Ohio and Tennessee are reportedly among other states considering whether to ditch the ABA’s dominance in law school accreditation.