The Justice Department said on August 6 that Duke University School of Law intentionally discriminated on the basis of race in admissions for its 2023, 2024, and 2025 entering classes, concluding that the school’s practices violated Title VI and the Supreme Court’s ban on race-based admissions in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College et al.

The finding is significant not only because it targets a prominent law school, but because it shows continued federal enforcement activity after Students for Fair Admissions. That 2023 decision reshaped the legal framework for admissions nationwide, holding that the use of race in college admissions could not survive constitutional scrutiny.

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.