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Law360 (April 28, 2020, 9:42 PM EDT ) As part of a move to push back the state's next bar exam sitting until the fall as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to allow law school graduates to begin practicing provisionally until they're able to take the test.
The justices signed off on a plan from the state's Board of Law Examiners that would allow law school graduates who would have taken the bar exam as usually scheduled in July to begin practicing under a supervising attorney who's practiced in the state for at least five years.
Meanwhile, the board said that the regularly scheduled July bar exam is now expected to be held on Sept. 9 and 10.
"The board believes this order represents an appropriate balance between the need to ensure that the public is represented competently, the particular need for additional lawyers to assist the public in matters related to or arising from the pandemic, and the need for graduating law students to start the careers for which they have worked and invested so much," said David Fine of K&L Gates LLP, who serves as chair of the board.
The move by the board and the court comes after deans at 10 Pennsylvania-area law schools sent a letter urging the Board of Law Examiners to considering provisional licensing if the bar exam ultimately had to be pushed back.
The plan also won the endorsement of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Under the terms of the provisional licensing scheme, supervising attorneys would able to oversee no more than two law school graduates, and would personally assume professional liability for the work of any supervisee.
The program mirrors an initiative adopted in New Jersey under which law school graduates would be able to practice in a limited manner after earning a certification from the state judiciary's Committee on Character and agreeing to apply to take the next available bar exam.
--Editing by Brian Baresch.
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