I don’t think the law schools are entirely too blame for the sad state of the practice of law as it exists today. The law schools, however, have done nothing to correct the situation, and that is blameworthy.

I am puzzled by the ABA’s patterns involving accreditation of law schools. We would hear no end of justifiable scorn if judges, elected and appointed, were permitted to preside and rule on cases in which they have a vested interest. Indeed, even if there is no vested interest, but the appearance of such, recusal is the standard practice. The constituency of the ABA’s accreditation activities surfeited with academicians and law school administrators, however, is an example of the fox being placed in charge of the hen house.

Adding more law schools to its approved list, perforce adding to its membership as well, during a prolonged period of oversupplying the need and demand for lawyers, is surely a reflection of poor judgment at least, and probably more to the point, a demonstration of actions motivated by greed and self-promotion.

If the ABA is to be measured by its performance as an organization devoted to enhancement of public service by highly trained and competent persons pursuing a learned art in the spirit of public service rather than a spirit of self-interest and personal aggrandizement, it is failing. If it is instead an organization seeking to bloat itself with dues paying members and offering them a safe harbor in which to avoid public responsibility, it is succeeding and offering sound reasons for ethical and public spirited lawyers to disengage from membership.

Maybe that is why its membership rolls are dwindling and its influence is receding.