Verdict’s still out: Diversity vs. scores. Law schools are closing doors by raising the bar on LSAT

Law schools eager to raise their national rankings are demanding higher scores on the Law School Admission Test, but they’re paying a price in terms of racial diversity as fewer black applicants make the cutoff.That’s the controversial argument of John Nussbaumer, an associate dean at Michigan’s Thomas M. Cooley Law School and author of a widely debated paper in this month’s edition of St. John’s University Law Review. His thesis says schools increasingly ignore their mandate not to overemphasize the LSAT. It is striking chords far beyond academic circles as the legal profession ponders how to reverse a steady 10-year decline.