Accreditation cloud lifted for Appalachian School of Law

Southwest Virginia’s Appalachian School of Law has satisfied accreditation authorities that it has addressed concerns about qualifications of its new students.

At a Feb. 20-22 meeting, the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar concluded ASL has demonstrated compliance with admission standards. The Council removed the requirements for specific remedial actions it imposed on ASL in December 2017.

Admissions data for 2019 showed improved LSAT scores for the 61 first-years enrolled at ASL, located in Grundy.

“We at ASL are elated about the goals we have attained – we have moved mountains!” said ASL Dean Elizabeth A. McClanahan, a retired Virginia Supreme Court justice, on March 5.

“We are particularly grateful to Dean Emeritus Sandra McGlothlin for her inspired leadership, and to our students, faculty, and staff who have consistently set higher standards on nearly every performance metric used to measure success in the study and practice of law,” McClanahan said.

The Appalachian School of Law remains an approved law school, the ABA Council said.