In the last week several states have announced measures designed to make it possible for law graduates to begin practicing law until they can take a bar exam. Currently, New Jersey, Arizona, and Indiana all have orders in place to permit temporary supervised admission to practice. These orders vary in their requirements, but the consistent theme is that law graduates still have to take a bar exam and have a set amount of time they will be permitted to practice under a supervising attorney while they await the ability to sit for the bar exam and their results. If a graduate has not taken the bar exam by a prescribed date, or they take and fail the bar, their temporary admission will end.
The American Bar Association weighed in on this on April 7th with a policy resolution that urges other states to consider taking measures similar to New Jersey, Arizona, and Indiana. A more detailed explanation of the ABA resolution can be found here.
Last week Texas indicated they will make a decision to postpone or not by May 5th. While the Texas BLE initially committed to the idea of a September 29-October 1st bar exam, in a message to applicants to take the July bar exam they backed off that commitment and promised to hold an exam on one of the two dates the NCBE has announced it will offer. The NCBE will make exam materials available in early September on the 9th and 10th or late September on the 29th and 30th. Texas will select the earlier of the possible dates depending on the status of the current pandemic. Texas has not provided any update on consideration of a temporary admission to practice at this time.