So what about the July Bar Exams amid COVID-19?
Here is some information about what is being considered if July Bar Exams cannot go forward for reasons related to coronavirus and COVID-19. You will see there the options being considered. Some are not so good, and others are better. But one may be missing altogether.
It seems to me that the option for “emergency diploma privilege-plus” is the best option and could work — with one caveat. I agree that “diploma privilege” might be a good idea to meet the needs of Spring 2020 law graduates to enter the workforce as soon as possible, but I would add the requirement for passage of the February 2021 Bar Exam to that option. That should be a lot more workable than fashioning CLEs and additional requirements to effectively address competency.
I also am not so impressed with comparing the needs of the current situation to the Wisconsin diploma privilege program. As someone who hails from the great state of Wisconsin, I am very familiar with that program, which treats all of the graduates of the two Wisconsin law schools equally. Any graduate of one of those law schools has the privilege to practice in Wisconsin without passing a bar exam.
But that equal treatment is not the case with the currently proposed emergency diploma privilege-plus. As proof, I think about all of you from ABA-accredited law schools around the country who have suffered through bar exams to prove your competency to practice. Giving a waiver for bar exam passage to the soon-to-be graduates would be considered by many of you as inequitable. I understand, and I think that result can be and should be avoided.
In this regard, let me share a personal story that might help drive this point home.
When my husband graduated from law school in 1977 and passed the Michigan Bar Exam, he was able to waive into the DC Bar with evidence that he had passed a state bar exam. That waive in provision worked very well for him.
Two years later, when I graduated from law school in 1979 and passed the Virginia Bar Exam, the rules for licensing in DC had changed. The waive in privilege was gone. To be licensed to practice in DC, you had to write and pass the DC Bar Exam. Period.
My law firm had offices in both VA and DC and wanted its lawyers to be licensed in both jurisdictions. So, after passing the July Virginia Bar Exam, I had to write and pass the February DC Bar Exam. In other words, put up with all of the long hours, confusion and incoming traffic as a first-year associate and study for, write and pass another bar exam at the same time. Period.
Believe me, I never have forgotten the unequal treatment for me as a Johnny-Come-Too Lately to take advantage of what had been available only two years earlier. Never! Especially when DC changed the rules again two years later and reinstated the waiver privilege — which still is available today. My son, who is licensed in Tennessee, just took advantage of it and is now licensed in DC, too.
And, yes, the unfairness of the situation still comes up in family conversation today, and I always play the victim in those fun discussions. Sorry, but I am flawed!
So, I can anticipate your concerns — and the resentment they could become. And I know that result should be avoided.
