LSAT Disability Accommodation Plans Under Way, The National Law Journal, August 20 2015
Nightingale, Noel
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LSAT Disability Accommodation Plans Under Way
Karen Sloan, The National Law Journal
August 20, 2015
The Law School Admission Council has until late October—when registration closes for the December Law School Admission Test—to revise its disability accommodation policies.
The revisions stem from an Aug. 7 decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero who upheld a series of changes that will make it easier for disabled test takers to obtain accommodations on the LSAT. Those changes include reducing the medical documentation most applicants are required to produce; allowing evidence of previous accommodations from earlier in an applicant’s academic career; and having an outside expert automatically review applications denied by council staff.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the updated procedures will be in place for the Dec. 5 administration of the exam, though that timeline may be delayed should the council file an appeal.
Council spokeswoman Wendy Margolis on Thursday declined to comment whether the organization plans an appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, but the group updated its website to report upcoming changes.
“[The council] will be revising its test accommodation policies and procedures in accordance with the court’s ruling,” reads a statement on the council’s website. “In the meantime, candidates should continue to consult [the council’s] website for information on applicable policies and procedures for requesting accommodations on the LSAT.”
The parties have until October 6 to file an appeal.
The new procedures will not be in place for the next LSAT administration on October 3, however.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department reported that $6.73 million has been distributed to 2,695 people who applied for disability accommodations on the LSAT in recent years. That compensation fund was established under a May 2014 consent decree between the council and the Justice Department and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, following two years of litigation.
The California agency first sued the council on behalf of disabled test takers in 2012, alleging its LSAT accommodation procedures were too onerous and violated the Americans With Disabilities Act. The Justice Department joined the class action soon after.
In addition to the compensation fund, last year’s consent decree ended so-called “flagging,” in which the council alerted law schools when LSAT scores were earned under extra time.
But the parties continued to clash this year over a set of recommended changes to how the council evaluates requests for accommodation put forth by a five-member expert panel formed under the consent decree.
The council challenged the majority of the recommendations in court, claiming the panel overstepped its mandate and that the proposed changes would harm the credibility of the exam. Spero upheld all the key recommendations, however.
Contact Karen Sloan at ksl...@alm.com.