Prospective law school graduates in New York might be allowed to forgo the state's bar examination and practice law under the supervision of a qualified attorney before being admitted to the Bar Association themselves because of the setbacks foisted upon them by the coronavirus pandemic.
The deans of 15 New York law schools wrote to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore of the state's Court of Appeals Wednesday urging them to consider "provisional, temporary authorization for 2020 graduates," allowing them to work under a licensed attorney until they can take either the February or July bar exam in 2021.
The letter goes on to ask the judge to consider allowing recent grads to skip the exam altogether if they successfully complete the supervised period of legal work.
The bar examination, scheduled for July, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, and law school graduates who already passed the bar examination last year and are awaiting admittance to the Bar Association have also had their applications on hold.
“We wish to assure all law graduates awaiting admission that we are committed to resuming the normal admissions process as soon as is possible, bearing in mind our obligation to provide a safe workspace for our employees as well as our obligation to protect and promote public health and safety,” the presiding justices of the Appellate Division, who are responsible for overseeing the admission of attorneys to practice law in New York, said in a statement Thursday.
The law schools' recommendation details the potential disadvantage for recent graduates who are unable to take their exam and subsequently, upon passing, become a licensed attorney without severe delay due to the uncertainty of COVID-19.
“Even if a date for a September examination is set quickly, the unpredictable public health situation means that our graduates will still lack the certainty needed to structure their lives and finances,” the deans’ letter said. “This uncertainty will particularly disadvantage graduates who already would have struggled to piece together financing to bridge the time between graduation, taking the exam, and starting work -- even if the exam had been administered in July.”
However, graduates who already took the exam and are awaiting acceptance are in similar limbo because of a halt in applicants' interviews and decisions without much recourse besides patience.
"We are presently working on methods by which our admissions employees could do much of their work from their homes. We are also exploring innovative methods by which the admissions process may be expedited through the use of technology. We hope to be able to implement these new approaches in the coming weeks," the presiding justices' statement said.
