The Thomas M. Cooley Law School sued the American Bar Association last week, asserting that the association has improperly delayed accreditation for the Michigan school's two satellite programs even though they meet ABA standards.

"These are solid programs that have the support of two leading universities and have received a positive reaction from the communities in which they are located," Don LeDuc, Cooley's president and dean, said in a written statement. "The ABA needs to do its part to make sure that a legal education is accessible not only to those able to pursue a traditional three-year program, but also to men and women who have family, work, and other real-world responsibilities."

The satellite programs offer weekend classes at Oakland University, in Rochester, Mich., and at a graduate center of Western Michigan University in Grand Rapids. The programs serve about 180 students who cannot attend law school full time, law-school officials said.

The lawsuit, which was filed on March 29 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, seeks an injunction barring the bar association from continuing to delay the accreditation of the programs or to impose sanctions against the school. The school, which is based in Lansing, Mich., is also seeking unspecified damages.

A spokeswoman for the American Bar Association, the sole accreditor for law schools in the United States, declined to comment on the lawsuit on Monday because it is pending litigation.

The law school maintains that even though the new programs exceed all standards set by the ABA, the association has delayed accreditation for more than 21 months.

The suit outlines actions that it says the ABA has taken to frustrate Cooley's efforts, including applying shifting rules and standards, using criteria that apply only to full law schools, repeatedly delaying action, and failing to apply the ABA's own procedures.

"Conflicting guidance and interpretations have now placed Cooley in essentially a 'Catch-22' situation," Mr. LeDuc said, "in which our plans were not accepted and we were required to spend significant sums to build and equip law-school facilities and demonstrate program quality by operating the facilities and classes. But after we did all that, we were told that our applications cannot be accepted because we began operations without prior acquiescence."

"Acquiescence" is an ABA practice that allows an accredited law school to begin programs on satellite campuses for one semester as long as a site inspection is conducted by the ABA within six months. Cooley officials say that the school sought the ABA's acquiescence before the programs began but was denied.

Cooley's full-time program serves more than 2,100 students and has been accredited by the ABA since 1975.