Awarded Grants

Pathways to Legal Licensure: Individualized and Comparative Outcomes 

The purpose of this research is to gain an empirically grounded understanding of the degree to which both exam-based and performance-based approaches to legal licensure are valid, reliable, fair, aligned with curriculum, and feasible — as well as the degree to which these pathways achieve their own stated goals. Findings of this study will support development of robust legal licensure ecosystems across the country.

Expanding Bar Admission Pathways to Fill Access to Justice Gaps in Arizona  

The Arizona Supreme Court has recently adopted the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program as a supplemental bar licensure pathway that will address general state needs for more lawyers and respond to the pervasive challenges of access to justice, including legal deserts in rural Arizona. This approach, combining alternative licensure and advanced training, could become a model for other states and builds on Arizona’s long tradition of legal innovation, including access to justice reforms.

2023 Bar Success Research Grant Program

This study seeks to examine the effects of undergraduate institution type on Bar Exam passage rates. The insights that may be gained from this study can serve to assist HBCUs in designing their pre-law offerings and allocating their resources accordingly. Additionally, these findings may better inform and empower HBCUs and their collaborative partners (e.g., law schools, law firms, and other business/professional entities) seeking to positively impact diversity in the legal profession.

Grant Title: The Relationship Between Curriculum Selections and Bar Exam Sub-scores 

This project analyzes the impact of taking courses in bar-tested areas and performance in those areas on the bar exam, helping law schools to better understand factors contributing to bar success. Florida is an ideal state for this work as the Florida bar reports sub-scores in topics allowing us to compare taking specific courses (e.g., wills) and performance on that subset of bar questions (e.g., wills scores). Additional items will also be studied (GPA, LSAT, transfer status, etc.). 

The project seeks to identify law schools that consistently overperform—and underperform—on their expected bar exam passage rates, controlling for the quality of the students they accept. The project plans to examine which state bar exams law graduates take and the difficulty of those bar exams. The project will also determine the school-specific characteristics leading to overperformance among law schools that consistently beat their estimated bar passage rate by interviewing deans at these law schools.

The Weekend Prep Program will support college graduates of diverse and/or disadvantaged backgrounds in their pursuit of a law degree. Participants will receive resources on the law school admissions process, including a comprehensively designed LSAT Prep course, motivational and informational workshops, and individualized advisement. The program will last 24 weekends specifically targeting college graduates who work full-time and/or have family obligations, plus college seniors.

This grant, in partnership with the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Education and Prof. Deborah Merritt (Ohio State University Moritz College of Law), will develop a fair, evidence-based definition of minimum competence. The grant will build on existing research, including the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS)’ Foundations for Practice, and will use layered focus groups to deepen our understanding of minimum competence.

Read more here.

The Law School Preparation Institute College Summer Program offers undergraduate students an introduction to legal thought, legal research and writing, oral advocacy, and basic legal analysis. It is intended to prepare students for the LSAT, cultivates mentoring opportunities, and assists students with becoming more well-rounded, attractive law school candidates. 

The Path to the Profession Initiative is a nine-week summer program that targets undergraduate students in their sophomore year through their enrollment into law school. The purpose of the program is to both facilitate the increased enrollment of minority and other traditionally underrepresented groups into an ABA approved law school, and to further the development of skills necessary for a successful law school experience once enrolled.

To read more, please visit FIU Law Receives $124,850 Grant to Increase Diversity in the Legal Profession.