Washington Lawyer - September/October 2020 - 15

FEATURE
Shanks of the D.C. Court of Appeals
Committee on Admissions says the vendor
can use facial recognition software to
identify the person taking the test. "[The
examinees] provide a picture when they
register for the exam. They'll also have
to use the camera on the computer or
a webcam. There is not a remote proctor
present during the exam, but the sessions
will be recorded. And we will be able
to retrieve analytical information about
keyboard use. So, for example, if somebody
cuts and pastes their entire exam, it'll look
suspicious," Shanks says.

NO RECIPROCITY, NO CONSENSUS

"We are very sympathetic to recent grads
who were looking forward to benefiting
from the portable score offered by the UBE,
which is why we took steps to offer two additional UBE administrations
in the fall," Gundersen says. "[But] we also felt it important to offer an
emergency remote-testing option for jurisdictions in case local or state
health and safety restrictions prohibit in-person testing. Obviously,
everyone and every industry has felt the negative effects of COVID-19,
so we have been proactive in developing this emergency solution."
"Although scores earned on the remote exam cannot constitute UBE
scores, by offering this remote option to jurisdictions we are providing
candidates the opportunity to be licensed in 2020 if in-person testing
is not possible," Gundersen continues.
So far, there has been no consensus among states as to how to license
attorneys during the pandemic. In a letter to the state's law school deans
in April, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D.
Gants raised the possibility of Massachusetts becoming the first state
to administer an online bar exam if in-person testing wasn't viable. The
decision to go ahead with the remote exam was made in July, and the
state has made reciprocal agreements with the District and eight states.
Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas,
Vermont, and the Virgin Islands will be administering the bar exam
remotely. These jurisdictions all require the MPRE, but that's where
the similarity ends. The states differ in terms of which UBE section to
administer, and only Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon,
Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont are UBE jurisdictions.
Other jurisdictions are offering law school graduates alternative
pathways such as the diploma privilege and supervised provisional
practice. Wisconsin has the longest-running history (dating back

Courtesy of NCBE

The UBE is composed of the MEE, two
MPT portions, and the MBE, which traditionally affords successful examinees the
greatest access to practice in various states.
Gundersen explains that the online exam
contains an abbreviated version of the MBE,
which is why the scores are not automatically transferable.

to 1870) of granting diploma privilege, which permits graduates of ABAaccredited laws schools within the state to be admitted into law practice
without taking the bar exam.
But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Utah and Washington were the first
additional states to offer the diploma privilege. Utah mandates 360 hours
of completed legal work under supervision of an experienced licensed
attorney, among a long list of criteria. Qualified candidates also must
have been registered by April 1 to take the July bar exam and have graduated from an ABA-accredited law school with a first-time bar passage
rate of at least 86 percent. Those who failed the bar exam and don't
have a law license elsewhere are not eligible for the diploma privilege.
Washington State has fewer restrictions than Utah. In Washington, the
diploma privilege applies to repeat exam takers as well as to first-timers
and does not require a certain number of hours of supervised practice. In
addition, applicants registered to take the July limited license legal technician (LLLT) exam can practice, although the Washington Supreme
Court announced in June that it is phasing out the LLLT program.
Oregon also announced that it will grant a one-time diploma privilege
to candidates who timely submitted complete applications for the July
Oregon bar exam, and who graduated in 2020 from either one of the
three in-state law schools or any other ABA-accredited law school that
had a minimum of 86 percent of graduates pass a 2019 bar exam on their
first attempt.
In New York State, Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals Janet DiFiore
approved a program designed to provide temporary authorization for
qualified law graduates to engage in the supervised practice of law. The
temporary authorization program is available to all first-time takers of the

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020

WASHINGTON LAWYER

Washington Lawyer - September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - September/October 2020