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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Boise’s Concordia Law wins accreditation; now its grads can take bar exam

Concordia University School of Law in Boise has received provisional approval for accreditation by the American Bar Association, the school announced today; that allows the school’s graduates to take any state’s bar exam, including Idaho’s, and means they’ll be treated the same as graduates of any other ABA approved law school. The law school opened in 2012, but when it failed to receive accreditation last August, some second- and third-year students left the school and enrolled at the University of Idaho law school, according to the Idaho Statesman. The U of I offers just second- and third-year law school classes in Boise. Concordia is graduating its first class this year; those graduates can now take the bar exam in July.

Concordia Dean Cathy Silak, a former Idaho Supreme Court justice, said, “I’m delighted the ABA has recognized Concordia Law’s commitment to offering the highest quality legal education. In our third year of operation, we continue to achieve the key milestones we set out to accomplish for our students and for the greater community.”

The Boise law school is part of a nonprofit, Lutheran liberal arts university based in Portland that was founded in 1905. It opened to its first Boise class of law students in 2012 with an inaugural class of 75 students. The first commencement ceremony for Concordia law graduates in Boise is set for Aug. 8.

The school’s new provisional approval status for accreditation is good for five years, after which it must have attained full approval from the ABA. The school says it still has some openings in its next first-year class, which starts in the fall. There’s more info here.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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