Educational Elites Battle Egalitarianism in... Texas!

"That associate is such an idiot! If I need a brief done correctly, I just give it to my paralegal."

Texas just lit a fire under the legal establishment.

A new proposal would allow people to become lawyers without having to graduate from an ABA-accredited law school.

That’s right.

No overpriced diploma.

No gatekeepers in robes pretending to be guardians of justice.

Just the possibility that someone without six figures of debt might get to practice law.

And the legal elite is losing its damn mind.

Good!

Deans from across the country are flooding the media with statements full of panic and paternalism. The American Association of Law Schools issued a breathless, obviously self-serving letter saying the move would “lower standards” and threaten the public.

That’s rich coming from well, lawyers. Don't get me wrong! I love my lawyer friends and the intellectual prowess they possess! But ABA is pushing the concept that dong this would create a problem - as if there are no sleazy, low-life lawyers in the world. There are.

Let’s be honest. This has nothing to do with protecting the public and everything to do with protecting their turf.

Accreditation is their stranglehold on the profession. It lets them decide who counts and who doesn’t. It props up a system that favors prestige over performance and pedigree over potential. It’s a velvet rope around a private party, and if you’re not part of the club, you’re not getting in. Don't think so? How many times have you heard a partner say "That associate is such an idiot! If I need a brief done correctly, I just give it to my paralegal."

I've heard that one more times than I could count.

Meanwhile, the country faces a growing shortage of lawyers in rural areas and working-class communities. Legal services are out of reach for millions. But the ABA and its allies would rather maintain their monopoly than allow innovation or accessibility.

They want control, not competition.

And here’s the part they really don’t want you to think about. Abraham Lincoln—yes, that Abraham Lincoln. He never went to law school. He didn’t graduate from an accredited institution. He studied on his own, passed the bar, and went on to save the republic. Under today’s rules, he wouldn’t even qualify to take the exam.

That should tell you everything you need to know.

There are brilliant minds out there who can’t afford to sit through three years of lectures from professors who have never stepped inside a courtroom. People with real-world experience. People who’ve overcome adversity. People with the kind of grit that no classroom can teach.

Texas is giving them a chance.

Not a guarantee. Not a shortcut. A chance.

And for once, the establishment is scared. Because when you open the gates, the myth of exclusivity crumbles. When you stop confusing debt with qualification, people start asking uncomfortable questions.

Like why law school costs more than a house.

Like why we let the same people who failed to reform legal education pretend they’re protecting the public from change.

This proposal won’t destroy the legal system. It will begin to rebuild it in the image of the people it is supposed to serve.

The walls are high, but they’re starting to crack. And when they fall, we’ll see how many brilliant lawyers were kept out just to protect a brand.

Frederick Shelton is a Market Advisor and Consultant to law firms, legal MSO's and funds on subjects which include legal AI, ABS models, MSO's and M&A. He can be reached at fs@sheltonsteele.com