The American Bar Association House of Delegates, which determines association-wide policy, will review proposals at the ABA’s upcoming Annual Meeting in August to update model rules governing lawyer/client communications and to change rules and procedures affecting how the ABA accredits the nation’s 204 law schools, according to an ABA press release. The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility is asking the House to approve amendments to the following ABA Model Rules: 7.1: Communications Concerning a Lawyer’s Services; 7.2: Advertising; 7.3: Solicitation of Clients; 7.4: Communication of Fields of Practice and Specialization; and 7.5: Firm Names and Letterheads. The changes in the ABA Model Rules, which serve as recommended guidelines to state regulators, would streamline and simplify the rules and still adhere to constitutional limitations on restricting commercial speech; protect the public; and permit lawyers to use technologies to inform consumers accurately and efficiently about the availability of legal services. For law schools, the most significant proposed change affects the standard requiring a “valid and reliable test” for prospective law students. While a test, such as the LSAT, would no longer be required, language would establish that a school whose admissions policy and practices are called into question is presumptively out of compliance with the standards if it does not require a valid and reliable admissions test as part of its admission policy.
