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No.

Two of the four Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates, Jennifer Dorow and Daniel Kelly, got law degrees from Regent University School of Law after it had been provisionally accredited.

The law school opened in 1986 and was provisionally accredited by the American Bar Association in 1989. According to the association, provisionally accredited schools are entitled to all the rights and recognitions as fully accredited schools.

Regent was fully accredited in 1996. The school remains in good standing, having received a reaffirmation of accreditation by the ABA last June.

Dorow got her law degree from Regent in 1996 and Kelly got his in 1991, State Bar of Wisconsin records show.

The university was founded in Virginia Beach, Virginia, by the Rev. Pat Robertson in 1977 to train students to represent Christ in their professions.

Regent is ranked #142 out of 192 schools on the U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Law Schools list.

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources:

American Bar Association ABA-Approved Law Schools

American Bar Association Schools Seeking ABA Approval

Regent Alumni ABA Affirms Regent Law Accreditation

State Bar of Wisconsin Attorney Information | Hon. Jennifer R. Dorow

State Bar of Wisconsin Attorney Information | Justice Daniel Kelly

Regent University History

Regent University Regent Law Earns ABA Reaffirmation of Accreditation and Appoints New Dean

US News & World Report Regent University

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Tom Kertscher joined as a Wisconsin Watch fact checker in January 2023 and contributes to our collaboration with the The Gigafact Project to fight misinformation online. Kertscher is a former longtime newspaper reporter, including at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, who has worked as a self-employed journalist since 2019. His gigs include contributing writer for PolitiFact and sports freelancer for The Associated Press.