PROVO, Utah (AP) - Recent law school graduates can become practicing lawyers without taking the typical bar exam under new temporary rules forced by the coronavirus pandemic, court officials said.
The Utah Supreme Court says the temporary process requires the graduates to perform 360 hours of supervised legal service under an experienced attorney, The Daily Herald reported.
The order also requires that applicants have graduated from a law school where students have a high rate of passing the bar or is currently classified as in good standing and licensed in another jurisdiction.
“We know that applicants invest several weeks and thousands of dollars preparing to take the bar exam,” Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant said. “Because of the crisis, not only could we not guarantee that Utah could offer the bar examination safely, we could not tell applicants when they should start to invest the time and money to prepare for the exam.”
The order announced Tuesday is intended to aid applicants who planned to take the exam in July but will not be able to since schools have closed and exams are not offered.
All qualified candidates must complete a character and fitness check as well as pass the Multistage Professional Responsibility Examination to test the knowledge of their ethical standards, court officials said.
The court is working with the National Conference of Bar Examiners to offer the examination in Utah as soon as it can safely be done. The next regularly scheduled bar exam is in February.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.