Reuters, Under Trump Pressure, ABA Poised to Suspend Law School DEI Rule into 2026:

The American Bar Association is set to extend the suspension of its law school diversity and inclusion rule through August 2026 as the organization faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration to abandon it diversity efforts.

The ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar on Friday will consider a recommendation to further defer enforcement of its longstanding diversity rule, which was first suspended in February after President Donald Trump issued a series of executive orders meant to curtail DEI efforts in the government, the private sector and in higher education.

The higher education landscape “continues to change rapidly,” said Jenn Rosato Perea, the ABA’s managing director of accreditation and legal education. “These changes create extreme hardship for law schools seeking to comply with the law and with the accreditation standards,” she said on Tuesday, adding that the ABA will not evaluate law schools’ compliance with the diversity rule while it remains suspended.

ABA Journal, Continued Suspension of Diversity Standard Suggested by ABA Legal Ed Committee:

Addressed to the section’s council ahead of its May 9 meeting, the memo suggests monitoring “emergent developments.” Those include implications of several executive orders, including one April 23 taking aim at higher education accreditors and specifically referencing the council, as well as the ABA’s pending litigation against the U.S. Department of Justice.

Above the Law, ABA Likely To Extend Suspension Of Diversity Requirement For Law School Accreditation

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