thickor

As a law graduate of an ABA approved law school who is now disabled from a stroke how can I become a member of any state bar without taking and passing the bar exam due to my disability? Is there a waiver or can I be admitted on motion? Any exception available?

kansmith

Yes, you can become an attorney without taking a bar exam in New Hampshire
New Hampshire's lone law school has established a first-of-its-kind program that enables graduates to obtain a license to practice law without passing the bar examination.

The program at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H., is designed to give students practical experience during their second and third year of school, which is monitored by faculty, attorneys and judges. After three years, participants are eligible to practice without enduring the two-day rite of passage.

MODEL FOR OTHER STATES

Franklin Pierce's program is expected to serve as a model for other states and schools looking to emphasize practical skills and wanting to provide an alternative to the exercise of rote study that usually follows graduation, school officials said.

First-year student Nicklas Anderson expects the program to prepare him for practicing law better than memorizing information for the bar exam.

"I can learn what I need to for an exam, but a couple months later I don't necessarily remember what I had to study," he said.

The Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program is a collaborative project developed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, the state's board of bar examiners, the New Hampshire Bar Association and Franklin Pierce Law Center, the only law school in the state.

Students who successfully complete the program can become licensed after passing the multistate professional responsibility examination and satisfying the state's character and fitness requirements.

By Leigh Jones - The National Law Journal on May 5, 2006