The University of Massachusetts School of Law in Dartmouth was given a full accreditation by the American Bar Association.

School officials received a letter from the ABA on Tuesday morning saying that the school "has demonstrated that it is in full compliance with each of the standards."

Interim Dean Dr. Eric Mitnick told WBSM News that the full accreditation is a major honor for the school that will allow the school have a larger national profile.

"The full accreditation provides the law school with the recognition we need to move UMass Law onto the national stage as an affordable public option committed to public service and expanding access to justice," said Mitnick.

Although the school was given provisional accreditation in 2012 Mitnick says that the full accreditation will allow the school to begin a more aggressive advertising campaign promoting the school's academics as well as their legal clinics, pro bono work, and their justice bridge legal practice incubator in Downtown New Bedford.

"We're just now starting to roll out a marketing and advertising effort," said Mitnick "we just completely revised our website in the last two months, in anticipation, hopefully, of this accreditation and now we're starting to talk about a campaign within the commonwealth and hopefully even nationally."

In addition Mitnick says having full accreditation will be a benefit for law school graduates as they begin their legal careers.

"This sort of national recognition is going to give them the sort of law school with a national reputation," said Mitnick "and it's going to serve them well as they move forward in their careers, as they seek jobs."

With the accreditation the six-year-old school becomes the state's first accredited public law school.

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