As we discussed Wednesday, the relationship between the ABA Section of Legal Education and NALP has been rocky over the last week. Members from both organizations made statements to the press and bystanders asked whether this would be the end of NALP. Concerned with that possibility, we sent a letter to the Section and to NALP urging the two to compromise.
Now, the ABA Journal reports that NALP and the Section of Legal Education have decided to cooperate:
On Friday, both groups spoke of their long history of collaboration on data collection and production, particularly on employment and placement figures, according to Hulett “Bucky” Askew, the ABA’s consultant on legal education. Both NALP and the council spoke of the desire to continue to work together moving forward.
Although Askew did not confirm whether an agreement had been met on the methodology the section would use to collect data directly from the schools, a prior point of contention for NALP, he did say that the two groups will continue to meet and discuss ways to address the needs of all parties.
This is reassuring news for the Section of Legal Education, NALP, prospective law students, and the legal profession as a whole. We will monitor the situation closely and report on the compromise when more details are known.