ABA puts Thomas Jefferson law school on probation

The embattled Thomas Jefferson School of Law has been placed on probation by the American Bar Association and must take immediate steps to right the ship.

The ABA’s legal education council wrote that its decision, effective as of Monday, stemmed from concerns about the San Diego-based school’s “present and anticipated financial resources, admissions practices, academic program, and bar passage outcomes.”

Those criticized shortcomings have put Thomas Jefferson “in a position where only immediate and substantial action can bring about sufficient change to put the law school on a realistic path back to operating in full compliance within the time allowed by the Standards and Rules of Procedure,” the council wrote.

The school has been given until February 16 to develop a plan to come into compliance with the accreditation standards it is accused of violating.

The ABA’s standards say that a school placed on probation is at risk of having its approval withdrawn.

Joan Bullock, who became Thomas Jefferson’s president and dean last July, said the school was “disappointed” with the ABA’s action.

She said the institution will remain accredited during the probation period and will work to address the ABA’s concerns.

“We have been and will continue to take the steps necessary to demonstrate full compliance with all ABA standards so that the law school can continue its long-standing tradition of educating and empowering our next generation of successful legal professionals,” Bullock said in a prepared statement.

Kyle McEntee, executive director of the advocacy group Law School Transparency, said he was not surprised Thomas Jefferson was placed on probation “given the admissions choices they have made” in recent years.

He highlighted that the 25th percentile LSAT score for its incoming students remained at 141 from 2014 to 2016.

That figure was the worst among the 21 ABA-accredited schools in the state for the fall 2016 class, according to publicly available data.

The median LSAT for the school’s incoming students has consistently fallen and for the class of 2016 was 143, a low number, McEntee said.

The ABA council found Thomas Jefferson was out of compliance with the standard requiring it to only admit applicants who appear capable of completing law school and passing the bar.

The ABA has not posted admissions data for fall 2017 yet.

A Thomas Jefferson spokesman said Wednesday the 25th percentile LSAT for full-time matriculants this fall was 142 and the median LSAT was 144.

Just 31 percent of Thomas Jefferson’s first-time takers passed the July 2016 California bar exam, which was tied for the second worst percentage among the state’s ABA schools.

Those who took the July 2017 California bar exam will find out if they passed Friday, but school-by-school results are generally not distributed until weeks later.

Only 32 percent of Thomas Jefferson’s 2016 graduates landed full-time, permanent jobs requiring bar passage or providing an advantage to a law graduate within 10 months of graduation.

The school has faced several lawsuits from former students who alleged it misreported its postgraduate employment statistics in an attempt to attract students. Thomas Jefferson prevailed at trial last year in the suit brought by Anna Alaburda. Alaburda v. Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 37-2011-00091898 (San Diego Super. Ct., filed May 26, 2011).

Thomas Jefferson’s finances have drawn scrutiny ever since the school moved into a new $90 million building in 2011 and struggled to pay the associated debt.

In 2014, the school entered into a debt restructuring agreement to address the $127 million in bonds issued to build the property and reduce its annual payment to bondholders from $12 million to $6 million.

The ABA found the school out of compliance with the standard requiring it to have sufficient financial resources to operate.

“The ABA is not confident the school can bring in enough money to run a program that can educate tomorrow’s lawyers,” McEntee said.

The school confirmed it remains on the U.S. Department of Education’s “heightened cash monitoring” list.

The federal list says the school is on it due to “financial responsibility” concerns.

“As it has over the past few years, we will continue to steadily improve our financial stability to best serve our students,” Bullock said.

Attorney Sabrina Green, president of the Thomas Jefferson Alumni Association Board of Directors, said she was confident the school would be able to get out from being under probation with Bullock’s leadership.

“She is moving us in the right direction we need to move in as a school,” said Green, managing partner of Stratton & Green in San Diego.

The ABA’s managing director for legal education will send a fact finder to Thomas Jefferson in March “to review the admissions data and admissions methodology provided by the law school, the overall rigor of its program of legal education, and the financial resources reasonably expected to be available to the law school.”

The ABA has directed the fact finder to pay attention to the school’s “belief that it can increase its entering law school credentials as planned and replace the anticipated lost revenue because of smaller classes and increased financial aid.”