This bill creates additional opportunities for individuals to qualify to take the examination for admission to the bar. Under the bill, an applicant for admission to the bar who has studied law for 4 years in a law office study program under the supervision of a judge or attorney who is a member of the bar in good standing need not attend law school prior to taking the bar examination. During the 4-year period, the applicant must pursue a systematic course of legal study designed to prepare the applicant for the general practice of law that must include, at a minimum, each of the subjects tested on the bar examination. An applicant may receive credit for up to 2 of the 4 required years of legal study based on the applicant's study of law at an accredited law school in this country, study of law at an equivalent foreign law school, legal study in a foreign jurisdiction that led to the admission of the applicant to practice law before a court of general jurisdiction within that jurisdiction or legal study in compliance with the requirements of a law office study program in another state. The bill requires that an applicant who is determined by the board of bar examiners to be otherwise eligible through a law office study program to take the examination for admission to the bar must pay a fee fixed by the Supreme Judicial Court before the applicant is determined eligible to take the examination. The bill requires the board, by January 1, 2026, to create and make available forms for applicants to submit required reports and notices to the board to be eligible to take the examination for admission to the bar through a law office study program. If the board fails to make these forms available by the deadline, then applicants may submit those reports and notices in any reasonable form or format as long as the reports and notices otherwise conform with the law.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 738, HP 480: 4.803