One of the defensible justifications for having the bar exam is that it filters out the people who are not prepared to practice the law. Unfortunately, it isn’t perfect at doing so. Every year, there are people who get scores right on the cusp of passing who have to go back to studying if they plan on practicing. That time would be better spent if they were, you know, actually practicing. Arizona is launching a new program that will let them capture some of the talent that fell just short of passing the bar. From Reuters:
Law school graduates who fall just short of passing Arizona’s bar exam will soon have the option to become licensed attorneys after spending two years working under the supervision of an experienced lawyer in a rural area or a government or non-profit law setting.
The Supreme Court of Arizona on Wednesday established the first-of-its-kind effort, dubbed the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program, to bolster the number of lawyers practicing in the state’s “legal deserts” and to help prosecutors, public defenders and legal aid offices recruit and retain attorneys.
Don’t take this as a permission slip to slack off on your bar prep! You still have to be in the neighborhood of success for this saving grace to kick in.
Arizona’s new program will begin in September and is open to graduates of American Bar Association-accredited law schools who scored between 260 and 269 on the Uniform Bar Exam on or after July 2023, meaning they just missed Arizona’s passing score of 270.
The apprentices will pay their dues (and cut their teeth) by working at least 30 hours a week under a supervising attorney in a rural county with less than 600,000 people or at a government or public law firm for 24 months. The program is expected to provide aid to Arizonans who otherwise wouldn’t have access to justice.
Best of luck on passing the bar! In the event that you miss the mark, know that you can make up those points by doing some public good. Much better than sitting through more bar prep.
To Boost Lawyer Numbers In ‘Legal Deserts,’ Arizona Adopts Apprentice Plan For Bar Exam Failers [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
