[WSBARP] Letter Re: Supreme Court Grants Diploma privilege to LLTs and ABA accredited law school grads, and No Bar Exam

[Gregory L. Ursich]

Dear Honorable Supreme Court Justices:

I write to you now regarding the Emergency Order entered by your Court on June 12, 2020, that suddenly changes all the APR rules in Washington to automatically admit to the practice of law all ABA graduate applicants and previous test takers who had failed a previous bar exam in Washington and who applied to take the Summer 2020 bar exam, scheduled for July and September 2020.   This broad and sweeping decision to exempt all applicants for the summer 2020 bar exams to never have to take the bar in Washington is too broad.  First, bar applicants who previously failed the Washington bar, no matter how many times, are now automatically admitted if signed up for the Summer 2020 exams (July and September).  Second, the last bar exam pass rate was only 49%.  When I personally took the bar in 1989, the pass rate was only 62%.  I came from a middle class family and put myself through college and law school after losing my father at age 11.  My father was a retired Master Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy and my mother was a Registered Nurse.  I still remember how hard it was to concentrate for and study for the bar in my mother’s basement.  It is not an easy thing to do, but I was proud of my accomplishment to pass the exam and to be admitted to the Washington Bar at the young age of 24.  I certainly have not followed bar passage rates in Washington, but I think they have varied between about 45% to 75% over the last 30 years.  The exam is a competency measure to protect the public and to ensure a certain level of competency to practice law in Washington.  We are a profession with many technical rules and requirements and the public deserves the protection the bar exam provides.  Every day when we deal with researching the law, drafting briefs and motions, meeting with our clients to provide legal advice, and appearing in court we are tested with new experiences and fact patterns and we draw on our expertise in the law gained from attendance in law school, testing our competence on the bar exam, and experience gained during our practice.  The bar exam is an important component of that as ensures a minimum level of competency as a new lawyer to immediately  represent clients in court and to take the responsibility for our clients’ personal liberties, financial health, and family relationships.  The public deserves to know they have a competent lawyer representing them, and the bar exam provides a needed competency check for that.

A more balanced approach could be that the 2020 summer exam applicants are admitted on a provisional basis and can practice law so long as they sit for the bar exam by the summer of 2021.  Their admission to the bar would remain valid until the results are announced for the summer 2021 exam in the fall of 2021.  If they pass that exam their admission continues.  If they fail the bar exam in either the winter of 2021 or summer 2021, then their provisional admission ends until they take the exam again and pass.  This approach balances the effect of the Corona Virus Crisis on studying for and passing the bar exam during the crisis and allows for gainful employment in the interim.  This approach would also protect the public because those who ultimately have a problem passing the exam will not be admitted on a long term basis until they can show their basic competency to practice law.

I understand that this approach of temporary licensing is being used right now by the Washington State Boards that license dentists and pharmacists; similarly it should apply to lawyers.   I for one would not want to have a doctor, dentist or pharmacist take care of me in Washington without having to take their boards.  I feel that this is an important issue for our profession, and a more narrowly tailored approach to the current crisis is warranted to protect the public and to ensure competency in our learned profession.  Thanks for listening.   –Greg Ursich


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Gregory L. Ursich
Shareholder
Skyline Tower, Suite 1500 | 10900 NE 4th Street | Bellevue, WA 98004
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