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How much better would your score on the LSAT have been if the logic games section (aka the analytical reasoning section) in its current format wasn’t on the exam? In just four years, prospective law students around the country will find out.
This dramatic step forward for the LSAT — which just took an equally dramatic step forward by going completely digital — is all thanks to Angelo Binno, a legally blind apspiring law student whose visual impairment prevented him from completing the drawing and diagramming that’s often necessary to complete that segment of the exam.
After eight years of litigation against the American Bar Association and the Law School Adminission Council, the parties have finally settled. While LSAC approved several accommodations for Binno, his request to have the logic games section of the LSAT waived was denied. “They handed me a pencil and paper and I said it’s useless to me because I can’t see to draw,” Binno said in an interview with ClickOn Detroit.
Binno and his co-plaintiff, Shelesha Taylor, who is also legally blind, will now work alongside LSAC with the assistance of the Wayne State University Law School’s Disability Law Clinic to make the LSAT experience fairer for all test-takers.
Here’s an excerpt from a press release announcing the settlement (emphasis added):
LSAC has begun research and development into alternative ways to assess analytical reasoning skills, as part of a broader review of all question types to determine how the fundamental skills for success in law school can be reliably assessed in ways that offer improved accessibility for all test takers. Consistent with the parties’ agreement, LSAC will complete this work within the next four years, which will enable all prospective law school students to take an exam administered by LSAC that does not have the current AR section but continues to assess analytical reasoning abilities.
What will the new analytical reasoning section look like? LSAC has 48 months to hash that out. Hopefully it doesn’t look anything like its current format, according to Binno’s lawyer, Jason Turkish, who also has a severe sight impairment:
A, B, C, D, and E go into a bar and E is next to A and A is next to B and C must be two spaces over from E. Where is D? I’ve never had to answer a question like that in any state or federal court, but that’s how we’re deciding who’s going to go to law school.
When asked if he would be taking the LSAT again, Binno said, “Yes. And I will pass.” Congratulations to Angelo Binno on this hard-fought victory, which will not only benefit him, but all future law students. Well done!
Statement on the amicable resolution of Binno v. LSAC lawsuit [PR Newswire]
LSAT to drastically change after LSAC settles lawsuit with blind Metro Detroit man [ClickOn Detroit]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.