Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, AGENCY NEWS—FTC endorses elimination of ABA authority over bar exam requirements in Texas, (Dec 9, 2025)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

The Texas Supreme Court invited comments on the proposed amendments to the rules governing admission to the Bar of Texas.

Last week, the Directors of the FTC Office of Policy Planning and Bureau of Competition endorsed a proposed amendment to Rule 1 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas that would eliminates the American Bar Association’s (ABA) authority to dictate the education requirements needed to take the bar exam and practice law in Texas. According to the Directors at the FTC, the current rule raises serious competitive risks by delegating to the ABA the state’s authority to set requirements for admission to the Texas bar.

The ABA is the largest voluntary professional organization in the world, serving a membership predominantly consisting of practicing attorneys. The ABA Council has twenty-one members and is dominated by current or former law school or other university administrators or faculty; the remainder include practicing lawyers, judges, a law student, and a Senior Fellow at a trade association that represents universities’ interests. Texas Bar Admission Rules require that a bar applicant obtain a degree from an “approved law school,” which the Texas Supreme Court’s rules define as “a law school approved by the American Bar Association.”

In a letter submitted to the Texas Supreme Court, the directors of the FTC’s Office of Policy Planning and Bureau of Competition explained that the current rule raises serious competitive risks. The FTC argues that because the ABA is dominated by practicing attorneys, those attorneys have a strong interest in limiting competition for legal services by excluding competitors. The staff letter further argues that the ABA’s Council is also controlled by higher education interests with an incentive to keep law school expensive and prevent the entry of more affordable law schools.

According to the FTC, the proposed change is an important step in weakening the ABA’s enduring monopoly and resulting power to impose costly, overly burdensome law school accreditation requirements. The letter encouraged other states to take similar steps.

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