Here we are again, another low-ranked, low-performing law school is sick of getting spanked around for its pathetic bar passage rates and the general lack of employment opportunities it confers upon its graduates… and so it claims it is a victim of its own commitment to diversity.

The “diversity” argument is the most cynical screech of the under-performing law school. We absolutely need law schools with a commitment to diversity. We need schools that help overlooked students become lawyers who are willing to serve underserved communities. We do NOT need diploma mills that can’t prepare people to pass the bar, but can saddle them with a lifetime of educational debt.

The argument that a commitment to diversity somehow necessitates a low bar passage rate offends me. You’re teaching black people to pass a test, you have THREE YEARS to do this. Stop acting like you’re trying to teach a dog how to use the toilet.

I’ve written, at length, against this argument before.

But today, the argument is coming from Florida Coastal School of Law, in a lawsuit its filed against the American Bar Association. It claims the ABA acted arbitrarily and capriciously in enforcing the organization’s accreditation standards against the school.

In the subhead of the press release, Florida Coastal tells you how it wants to think about its lawsuit:

School alleges ABA’s actions constitute an attack on diversity

No, just no. Having accreditation standards is not an attack on diversity. Telling a law school “you had one job” is not an attack on diversity. The only “attack” on diversity is preying on the aspirations and hopes of marginalized peoples, and then not preparing them to pursue their dreams while taking their money.

And it’s too bad because other than this trash argument, Florida Coastal kind of has a good case. The ABA’s enforcement regime does seem arbitrary as all get out.

If you really want to know why Florida Coastal is suing, you have to look at Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. Before it was the favorite whipping boy of every elitist lawyer who wants to make fun of Michael Cohen, Cooley was well-known to actual elitists like me as one of the worst law schools in the country/on the planet/in this quadrant of the galaxy.

Cooley also had its accreditation yanked around. But then, the ABA relented. Cooley did almost none of the things one does to get out of ABA jail, but the ABA let them out anyway.

Over at the Faculty Lounge, David Frakt has written the definitive article on what probably went down between Cooley and the ABA:

So here is my theory of what is really going on: the Council’s decision must be part of a settlement between the ABA and Cooley to resolve the lawsuit that Cooley has filed against the ABA. Cooley must have agreed to make significant changes to their admission practices (the key words in the ABA Letter are “concrete steps taken by the Law School with respect to its admissions policy and practices”) and drop their lawsuit in exchange for the ABA finding that the school is now in compliance. Maybe Cooley agreed to pay for the ABA’s legal fees as well. I expect to see an announcement in the near future that the suit has been voluntarily dismissed. Anything else just doesn’t make sense. Presumably, the terms of the settlement are confidential so we may not get independent confirmation of this from either party, nor are we likely to find out the details of the promises Cooley made to the ABA. Our first indications of how much the ABA forced Cooley to raise its standards may not be until the next 509 reports come out in December 2018. But if the ABA gave Cooley a couple of admissions cycles to meet certain admissions targets we may not know until December 2019 or later exactly what was required of Cooley. Meanwhile, Cooley gets to claim that they are in full compliance with ABA Standards right now, which is a complete joke.

And this, my friends, is why you don’t negotiate with terrorists. By letting Cooley back into “full compliance” despite the school not improving in any meaningful way, the ABA put out a clear message that it will fold like a cheap chair if you sue it. Florida Coastal can, rightly, look at the Cooley deal and say, “Well, we’re not any worse than they are.”

It’s not a bad case. I just don’t think that two wrongs make a right. Take a look at Florida Coastal touting its own achievements:

Nor has the ABA acknowledged Florida Coastal’s many recent accolades. For example: the entering credentials of Florida Coastal’s Spring 2018 class were higher than, or equal to, 52 other ABA-approved law schools. Florida Coastal’s first-time bar passage rate for February 2018 was 62.1 percent, fourth out of 11 law schools in Florida, besting highly regarded institutions such as the University of Florida. The school demonstrated a 97 percent pass-rate for the November 2017 MPRE, which ranked first in the state.

And, its National Moot Court Team finished its 2018 competition season first in Florida, and 14th nationally. Most importantly, Florida Coastal has won multiple awards for its diversity and inclusion, including The INSIGHT Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award, for the third year in a row.

I mean, while Florida Coastal wants us to look at comparative numbers, let’s not forgot the objective reality we’re dealing with. Law School Transparency hasn’t updated its numbers for 2018, but here are the entering standards for Florida Coastal this decade. They are pathetic.

The school wants to tout its February bar first-time test-takers’ bar passage rate. February is the date that most people taking it either failed in July — thus not being eligible for “first-time” status — or had some other reason they couldn’t take it in the summer like most people. If you really want to get a sense of Florida Coastal’s bar passage rate, again, here’s the LST graph. It looks like a sad trombone brought to life.

The school touts the MPRE passage rate. Are they serious? Here’s a sample MPRE question:

Can your client pay you in sex?

A. Yes

B. No

C. Is he/she hot?

CONGRATULATIONS ON PASSING THE MPRE.

“And, its National Moot Court Team finished its 2018 competition season first in Florida, and 14th nationally.” I don’t even have a response to this. You’re supposed to be training people to succeed in real court, not fake court, and there is a literal BAR to entry that people need to be prepared for.

Statistically speaking, Florida Coastal is not doing enough to prepare their students to become successful lawyers. That other schools are just as bad should be irrelevant to their mission. That the ABA stupidly let Cooley off the hook isn’t a good reason for the ABA to never try again.

I get Florida Coastal’s thought here. It worked for Cooley, why not us? Ultimately, the ABA has gotten its ownself into this problem, and they’ll have to figure their way out.

The ABA Finds Thomas Cooley In Compliance. But Why? [Faculty Lounge]