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THREAD: Here are a few thoughts in response to this letter by a former @nysba president. For context, the author is responding to a recent @NYCBarAssn letter that proposed adopting diploma privilege or the Oct. online exam. https://s3.amazonaws.com/documents.nycbar.org/files/NYSBarExam2020COVID.pdf https://twitter.com/NYLawJournal/status/1285684079116066816
1) The author was “surprised that it did not consider the possibility of a practice order permitting 2020 graduates to practice under the guidance and supervision of an attorney until such time as an in-person exam may safely be given.” This is not true.
There is an entire page of the NYC Bar letter with the heading: “TEMPORARY PRACTICE ORDERS AND CONTINUED DELAYS ARE UNFAIR AND UNWORKABLE.” It goes on to explain why this is not a good solution.
2) The author states that the bar exam is needed to ensure minimum standards of competency, because prior results show that “approximately 20%-25% will fail.” Even if we accept the premise that the bar exam does test minimum competence, this is a misleading statistic.
As the City Bar letter noted, first-time test takers from ABA-certified schools have a 91% pass rate w/in 2 years.
3) The author states that expanded CLE requirements would not be enough to ensure minimum competence because all that is required is listening to presentations.
3) The author states that expanded CLE requirements would not be enough to ensure minimum competence because all that is required is listening to presentations.
First, the City Bar letter proposes creating new innovative CLE programs that are “more practical or experiential than traditional CLE lectures.” Second, the author ignored another key proposal: the City Bar suggested adding a 1-year supervised practice requirement.
This would require supervisors to submit an affidavit attesting to the new attorney’s competence. If law graduates can competently practice under a temporary practice order for one year, why should they still be forced to take a bar exam to prove minimum competence?
4) The author states that there are tens of millions of people around the globe who have lost employment and “face even more daunting uncertainties than do recent law graduates.” No one is denying this.
We are all well aware there is a global pandemic and that there are individuals around the world who are facing greater challenges than recent law graduates. But why should that stop NY from adopting common sense reform in the midst of all these challenges?
5) “We must not allow the current dark days to cause us to tarnish or erode New York’s status as the preeminent legal community in the world.” A one-time emergency diploma privilege with 1 year supervised practice would hardly “tarnish” the reputation of the NY legal community.
