How are schools in California able to offer law degrees without being accredited by the ABA?
The ABA (American Bar Association) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers. The ABA formed the Model Code of Professional Responsibility and the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, which California declined to adopt, preferring to adopt their own code, California Rules of Professional Responsibility. As the ABA is voluntary, the lack of participation by the State of California in no way prevents them from offering valid law degrees to their students who pass the bar exam within that jurisdiction.
