Duncan School of Law Drops Lawsuit Against ABA Over Accreditation Denial
Lincoln Memorial University’s Duncan School of Law has dropped its federal antitrust suit against the ABA over the denial of its bid for provisional accreditation.
The school, which has also withdrawn its appeal of a decision before an ABA appeals panel affirming the denial of its application, will file a new application for provisional accreditation with the ABA, according to a jointly stipulated order of dismissal filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tenn.
A stay of the litigation, which had been in place while the school pursued its administrative remedies with the ABA, was also lifted Monday to allow Duncan to voluntarily dismiss the case.
Duncan had filed suit against the ABA in December after the governing council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar denied its application for provisional approval. In January, a judge denied the school’s motion for a preliminary injunction and stayed the litigation until the conclusion of the administrative process.
Duncan has already initiated a new application for provisional approval with the ABA, according to a prepared statement (PDF) posted Monday on the section’s website. The ABA will send a site team to the school during the spring semester, it says, after which the team will prepare a report of the facts necessary to determine whether the school is operating in substantial compliance with law school accreditation standards.
The report will first be considered by the section’s accreditation committee, which will make its recommendation to the council. The council will then decide whether to grant the school provisional approval.
