TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 22, 2020

The Utah Supreme Court yesterday issued an order adopting an emergency diploma privilege for recent law graduates who meet a lengthy list of criteria, making it the first state to allow this year’s graduates to skip the bar exam. To qualify, students must have graduated between May 2019 and June 2020 from a law school that had a first-time bar pass rate of 86% or higher in 2019. They may not have previously sat for the exam and must have registered for the July exam by April 1. Finally, they must complete 360 hours of legal work under the supervision of an experienced attorney licensed in the state. When all requirements are met, graduates will be fully admitted. Law schools and graduating students have been urging courts to provide relief, but the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which develops the test, says abandoning the exam puts the public at risk by opening the profession to unqualified lawyers, Law.com reports.