Washington Eliminates Bar Exam Requirement for Attorneys in Efforts to Promote ‘Diversity’
Washington State’s Supreme Court has declared that the bar exam is no longer a requirement for becoming a lawyer within the state, according to a pair of orders released on Friday.
This landmark ruling approves alternative methods for demonstrating competency and acquiring a law license, following a 2020 initiative where a task force was established to explore this matter.
The Bar Licensure Task Force discovered that the conventional exam “disproportionally and unnecessarily blocks” individuals from marginalized groups from entering the legal profession and deemed it “at best minimally effective” in ensuring competency, as per a news announcement from the Washington Administrative Office of the Courts.
Washington thus becomes the second state, after Oregon, to eliminate the bar exam requirement, with Oregon having made the change at the beginning of this year. Other states like Minnesota, Nevada, South Dakota, and Utah are also considering alternative licensure pathways.
“These recommendations come from a diverse body of lawyers in private and public practice, academics, and researchers who contributed immense insight, counterpoints and research to get us where we are today,” Washington Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, who chaired the task force, said.
“With these alternative pathways, we recognize that there are multiple ways to ensure a competent, licensed body of new attorneys who are so desperately needed around the state.”
To replace the bar exam, three experiential-learning alternatives are being introduced for individuals pursuing different legal study routes. However, the specifics, scale, and implementation plan for these pathways remain under development.
One alternative allows law school graduates to complete a six-month apprenticeship under the supervision of a qualified attorney, in addition to taking three courses. Another option for law students involves acquiring 12 qualifying skills credits and completing 500 hours of work as a licensed legal intern. After meeting these requirements, students can submit a portfolio of their work to bypass the bar exam.
Typically, law students gain about 400 hours of experience through internships between their second and third years, and by undertaking approximately three hours of legal work weekly during their final year, they could accumulate 500 hours by graduation, only needing to complete their portfolio for licensure.
Furthermore, law clerks, without attending law school, can qualify as lawyers by completing standardized educational materials and benchmarks under a mentoring attorney’s guidance, alongside 500 hours as a licensed legal intern. This introduces a new route for studying law under another attorney and getting licensed without the exam, by standardizing educational materials and eliminating the examination requirement.
The Supreme Court has also advocated for the exploration and adoption of assessments and programs to maintain lawyers’ competency throughout their careers, not solely at the point of initial licensure.
Additionally, the court is adopting the new National Conference of Bar Examiners’ NextGen bar exam, emphasizing practice and real-world skills, set to launch in summer 2026. Moreover, the minimum passing score for the bar exam has been lowered from 270 to 266, a temporary measure introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic now made permanent.
The implementation timeline for these changes, led by the Washington State Bar Association, has not yet been established, and the association did not respond immediately to a comment request.
The task force, comprising representatives from over 30 groups and practice areas, also reviewed the character and fitness process for lawyer licensure. The state Supreme Court is set to discuss and possibly decide on the task force’s recommendations in this area next month.
Leave a Comment