Lifting the Veil: An Expose on the American Bar Association's Arbitrary and Capricious Accreditation Process

To understand the flaws of the ABA accreditation process, this article will overview the experience of Barry University School of Law (Barry) with ABA accreditation. Section II will discuss the development and structure of the ABA. Section III will argue that the ABA’s delegation of authority to an internal advisory body to render accreditation decisions, which bind the ABA, is an ultra vires act forbidden both by the laws of its state of incorporation and by the ABA Constitution. Section IV will then discuss the ABA accreditation process as applied to Barry. In Section V, this article will address federal antitrust concerns of ABA accreditation.