The Federal Trade Commission has inserted itself into a debate with potentially long-term consequences for the legal profession: who gets to decide whether a lawyer’s education is good enough for bar admission. In a recent endorsement of an Ohio Supreme Court proposal, the FTC supported reducing the American Bar Association’s outsized role in determining whether a law school credential qualifies an applicant to sit for the bar.

That is more than an academic governance issue.

Federal antitrust enforcers are stepping into a debate that goes to the heart of how lawyers enter the profession. In comments to the Tennessee Supreme Court, staff at the Federal Trade Commission and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division urged the court to reduce or eliminate its reliance on American Bar Association accreditation as a prerequisite for bar eligibility.

The agencies’ core argument is straightforward: when a single private accreditor effectively controls access to the profession, it can drive up educational costs and restrict competition.