November 2023

Beginning in Fall 2023, the American Bar Association will require law schools to have a plan to comply with Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and 303(c) in their program of legal education. NALP has assembled a national work group to develop best practices and provide resources to law schools to implement Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and (c).

This overview includes:

• a toolkit for career services offices;
  
• a brief explanation of the amended standards;
• five steps to learn about the amended standards and how to implement them at your law school;
• a list of initial helpful resources on the amended standards; and
• the work group’s next steps and a call to Career Service offices to share information

Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and 303(c) Toolkit for Career Service Offices

NALP’s ABA Section 303 Professional Identity Guidance Work Group has developed a Toolkit including best practices and other resources to assist law school member organizations in complying with Amended ABA Standard 303. The Toolkit will be updated as new resources become available.

Download the toolkit (PDF)

A Brief Explanation of the Amended ABA Standard 303

Standard 303(b) has been revised to add that “a law school shall provide substantial opportunities to students for … (3) the development of a professional identity.” And a new subsection (c) has been added to Standard 303, providing that “[a] law school shall provide education to law students on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism: (1) at the start of the program of legal education, and (2) at least once again before graduation.”

Professional identity focuses on the special obligations that lawyers have to their clients and society, and should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to successful legal practice. See ABA Interpretation 303-5. Law students must also become familiar with values and responsibilities of the legal profession including the importance of cross-cultural competence to professionally responsible representation and the obligation of lawyers to promote a justice system that provides equal access and eliminates bias, discrimination, and racism in the law. See ABA Interpretation 303-6.

Implementing Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and (c) should entail a whole law school approach both in and outside of the curriculum. The development of a professional identity and education on bias, cross-cultural competence, and racism can be taught in the classroom as well as through institutional leadership, one-on-one coaching and mentoring, and legal work experiences. Career Service offices have an especially important role to play in training and educating our law students in these areas.

Five Steps to Learn about Amended ABA Standard 303 and Implement It Within Your School

1. Educate yourself on Amended ABA Standard 303. Start by reading ABA Standard 303 and the accompanying interpretations available on the ABA website. Also, check out NALP's helpful primer Revised ABA Standards 303 (b) and (c) by Louis D. Bilionis and Neil W. Hamilton in the November 2022 issue of NALP Bulletin+/PDQ.

2. Assess the work you already do that meets the requirements of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and 303(c). Many law schools are already engaging in curricular and extra-curricular initiatives that meet the requirements of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and 303(c).

For example, consider whether your pre-orientation or orientation programs, alumni mentoring or peer advising opportunities, mock interviews, career and practitioner panels, diversity, equity and inclusion programming, or one-on-one counseling and advising offer your law students opportunities for self-reflection, exploration of the values of the legal profession, identification of their individual values and goals, or assessment or development of key skills. These activities and many more are components of professional identity formation and a part of the work of a Career Service office.

3. Recognize that law student professional identity and education on bias, cross-cultural competence, and racism requires a whole law school approach. Share and collaborate.

• Share. Share with your administration, faculty, and students what your Career Service office is doing. You are already doing important work in this area and the Career Service office is instrumental to each law school’s implementation of and compliance with the standards.
• Collaborate. Career Service offices are differently resourced. If your time and resources allow, connect with your administration and faculty to see how you can further collaborate with others in the school on the implementation of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and Standard 303(c). Faculty leading or teaching in clinical and externship programs, the faculty curriculum committee, or the law school’s office of diversity, equity, and inclusion, may be great places to start.
  
  Questions you might ask include:
  1. Is there anyone at the school leading the discussion or initiatives around the implementation of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) or 303(c)?
  2. How do you foresee the involvement of the Career Services Office in the planning and implementation of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and 303(c)?
  3. Do you know if the school is already doing things that comply with the Amended ABA Standard 303(b) or 303(c) by way of programming, clinics, resources, courses, etc.? Share what your Career Service office is already doing!
  4. What do you see as the immediate next steps and how can we help?

4. Connect with other law schools. Other career service leaders are also supporting the implementation of Amended ABA Standard 303(b) and Standard 303(c) in their law schools. Connect with others who are also doing this work. Engage with NALP sections like the Section on Law Student Professional Development or the Section on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Ask questions and share ideas about the implementation of these standards on NALP Connect.

5. Access recommended resources. There are many resources available to support career service professionals, law school administrators, faculty, and students in the development of law student professional identity and education of law students on bias, cross-cultural competence, and racism. The list below is a helpful start. Review these resources, share with others who might be interested, and send your resource recommendations to NALP’s ABA Section 303 Professional Identity Compliance Work Group.

Helpful Resources on Amended ABA Standard 303

• ABA Standard 303 and Interpretation (American Bar Association)
• Revised ABA Standards 303 (b) and (c) (Louis D. Bilionis and Neil W. Hamilton, NALP PDQ, November 2022)
• Advancing Law Student Professional Identity Formation: A Whole-School Approach (Laura Friedman, Leanne Fuith, NALP Bulletin+ January 2022)
• Video: 1L Professional Identity Formation (AALS Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education)
• Video: Upper-Level Prof. Identity Formation (AALS Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education)
• Holloran Center Professional Identity Implementation Blog (University of St. Thomas School of Law)
• ABA Standard 303: Curriculum(c) (University of Buffalo Law School)

Amended ABA Standard 303 Work Group and Call to CSOs to Share Information

NALP formed the ABA Section 303 Professional Identity Guidance Work Group to assess how NALP can support law school member organizations in complying with Amended ABA Standard 303 requiring schools, among other things, to “provide substantial opportunities to students for the development of a professional identity,” required by Fall 2023. The Work Group will be developing best practices and resources to assist member institutions in working with students, faculty, and administration to ensure compliance with Amended ABA Standard 303.

If you have questions about Amended ABA Standard 303 or suggestions for tools and resources that might be useful for the Work Group to consider in its work, please contact Work Group Chair Leanne Fuith (leanne.fuith@mitchellhamline.edu).

The members of NALP’s ABA Section 303 Professional Identity Guidance Work Group are Sarah Beznoska (CSU College of Law, Cleveland State University), Robert Birrenkott (University of North Carolina School of Law), Kate Eklund (UCLA School of Law), Leanne Fuith (Work Group Chair, Mitchell Hamline School of Law), Jennifer Henfey (Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law), Tammy King (Board Representative to Work Group, Washburn University School of Law, Christopher Neal (Temple University Beasley School of Law), Erika Pont (George Washington University Law School), and Robin Thorner (St. Mary’s University School of Law).