Most individuals consider the Legislation Faculty Admission Council because the nerds who write the LSAT. The oldsters that needed to be dragged kicking and screaming from forcing one other technology to reply questions like “if Peter is taller than Nancy however shorter than Steve, what colour is Sally’s shirt?” However a newly filed antitrust class motion, seems to be past the LSAT and accuses the group of skimming charges prefer it’s operating the one ATM in Vegas.
Again within the day, potential regulation college students took the LSAT after which bundled up their very own regulation college functions. As of late, LSAC isn’t simply operating the check, it’s helpfully working because the clearinghouse for everybody’s functions. Ship in your supplies and choose your colleges and LSAC tackles the remaining.
Besides that course of is pricey and, in accordance the the grievance filed within the Japanese District of Pennsylvania, a rent-seeking affair extracting money from potential regulation college students by advantage of being the one recreation on the town.
“In 2025, greater than 60,000 aspiring regulation college students submitted greater than 500,000 functions to regulation colleges,” the grievance begins. “Most paid utility charges to varsities that value as much as $105 per college.” However wait! This doesn’t embrace the “Credential Meeting Service,” LSAC’s utility clearinghouse. Earlier than the scholar even will get to the $105 for the varsity, they should shell out “a $215 necessary subscription price and a $45 per report price” to LSAC.
Which looks as if so much for one thing branded as mere “Meeting.” For a typical applicant making use of to 10 colleges, that’s over $600 straight to LSAC, earlier than a single admissions dean has the possibility to passive-aggressively reject you. No less than the varsity is theoretically charging to allow them to pay these admissions deans a number of multiples greater than the precise college. In contrast, $600 feels excessive for a glorified “ahead electronic mail” button. In truth, undergraduate admissions run on an analogous clearinghouse system that prices colleges a $2,500 flat price per 12 months, about 4 bucks per utility and a $2.00 cost processing price — the candidates solely pay the varsity’s personal price.
That’s the form of apples to apples comparability that raises at the very least a number of competitiveness questions. On the opposite facet of equation, enterprise colleges haven’t any clearinghouse in any respect and whereas that will increase the prices related to every particular person college, probably the most aggressive colleges are nonetheless solely charging round $250 with most coming in far, far decrease.
Based on its public tax filings, LSAC collected $93 million in Credential Meeting Service charges over simply the final three reported years. LSAC boasts round $250 million in web belongings and a CEO making over $1 million a 12 months. It appears daring to pay hedge-fund cash to ahead a resume.
LSAC is a separate authorized entity from the Member Legislation Colleges. LSAC has conspired together with the Member Legislation Colleges to repair the worth of those charges for its Legislation Faculty Utility Platform. LSAC advantages from the supracompetitive income it earns from the price-fixed charges, utilizing that to construct up greater than $250 million in web belongings, pay its executives lavishly for a nonprofit, and kickback cash to the Member Legislation Colleges.
Candidates have little selection as a result of LSAC runs the whole lot. And because the colleges get LSAC’s back-end “Unite” admissions platform without cost, they haven’t any incentive to buy round or move on financial savings. Everybody wins!
Besides, the grievance argues, the candidates.
(Grievance on the following web page…)
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Legislation and co-host of Pondering Like A Lawyer. Be at liberty to electronic mail any ideas, questions, or feedback. Comply with him on Twitter or Bluesky in case you’re fascinated with regulation, politics, and a wholesome dose of school sports activities information. Joe additionally serves as a Managing Director at RPN Govt Search.
