Law Court On Husson Law: Thumbs Down for Now

For those of you following this issue, on June 3rd the Law Court denied the Husson College School of Law Petition to allow its prospective graduates to sit for the Maine State Bar Examination. The Court identified three major defects in the Petition at this time, but did not foreclose the possibility that a future petition that remedies these defects could overcome the Court's concerns. The three major gaps in Husson's proposal were:

1. Lack of track record to provide a basis for evaluating the quality of the legal education offered. Cf. Massachusetts School of Law, which had been open 8 years before its Law Court petition.

2. Unaddressed concerns about the pedagogical method to be used at the school -- a core group of professional law professors using law school methodology may be required. The current proposal does not address concerns about teaching method and credentials of faculty raised by the Maine State Board of Education review team.

3. There should be a law-school-specific alternative to ABA accreditation, more than mere NESC accrediation, as a baseline requirement. Cf. Massachusetts School of Law review by the Massachusetts Board of Regents of Higher Education (specifically reviewing the level and quality of instruction, the quality of full-time faculty, the size and depth of the library collection, and the qualifications of the law librarian.) The MSBE has no such jurisdiction, but expressed concerns about the Husson proposal along these lines. No review can occur in any event before there is a class that has begun instruction at Husson College School of Law.

There are some interesting reader comments on the Maine Today site related to this case. Also, feel free to comment here!