Law Schools

Over 2,000 Law School Students Sign Letter Seeking Diploma-Privileged Licensure

It's time to embrace creative solutions.

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With some summer administrations of the bar exam already off, the profession is staring down the likelihood that the whole bar exam endeavor may be impossible this year. A Fall exam might be technically possible, but when will students get a chance to study for it if everyone’s still locked down deep into the summer? And won’t students be working by the Fall?

Right now, the NCBE says it will make a call in May, but that just adds to the uncertainty for students. In a letter addressed to the NCBE, over 2,000 law school students — and a few older grads — ask the organization to go ahead and make the call:

The only acceptable response the NCBE could make to the COVID-19 crisis is to encourage and support state bar associations to adopt diploma-privileged licensure. This includes licensure for out-of-state graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, so long as they meet the requirements for a state’s character and fitness determinations and the MPRE. We are asking for total coverage in terms of licensing for the classes of 2019 and 2020, with exceptions for additional entrants made by each state specific bar association; this is not an unreasonable request in this unprecedented moment.

There’s always pushback when it comes to major changes like this, usually from grumpy older lawyers who can’t countenance someone else not having to suffer exactly as much as they did, but these aren’t ordinary times. Even if diploma-privileged licensure isn’t the ideal solution, now is the time to think outside the box. Heightened CLE requirements for the first two years, or apprenticeship privileges for the 2020 class, or shorter subject-specific certification exams. Apply some of that creative problem-solving we pretend attorneys value.

In any event, “do what we always do… but a couple months later” isn’t going to cut it.

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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