Executive Director's Report, 1113 ALBJ, 74 The Alabama Lawyer 368 (2013)

• Author: Keith B. Norman.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Vol. 74 No. 6 Pg. 368

Alabama Bar Lawyer

November, 2013

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0 THE LATEST CHANGES TO THE BAR EXAM

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0 Keith B. Norman.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0The Alabama Supreme Court has recently approved changes to the Alabama Bar Examination which you need to know. The first change made by the court was recommended by the Alabama State Bar Board of Bar Commissioners (BBC) and the Board of Bar Examiners (BBE). It is the final step for the examination to be a true Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). As you may recall, the court approved changes to the Rules Governing Admission to the Alabama State Bar in 2011 so that Alabama became the second jurisdiction (after Missouri) to implement the UBE.¹ One of the most important aspects of the UBE is that it permits the transportability of a bar exam score among jurisdictions which have adopted similar rules.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Unfortunately, the 2011 order retained a provision from the former rules that was no longer necessary for purposes of the UBE. This was the Alabama essay component of the exam dealing exclusively with Alabama civil litigation. In its order this past August, the court removed this requirement and, in its place, charged the BBE with developing the content and method of delivery of a course on Alabama law. As a result, starting in July 2014, applicants seeking admission to the bar will be required to complete this requirement before being certified to practice law. A committee is now developing the course and curriculum which will be available to applicants online.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0Another feature of this particular change is that the exam will be shortened to two days. The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) and the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) will be administered on the first day (Tuesday] and the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) will be given on the second day (Wednesday). Candidates for admission will have a window of time to take the online course so that upon achieving a passing score on the examination, they can be certified to practice law.

\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0\xA0A second, but less significant change is the enlargement of the time a bar examination score, or a component score, remains valid-or viable. Under the former rule, a score remained viable for 20 months. Now, a score will be viable for 25 months. There are several different...