Bar Exam Results Being Released . . . . sloooowly

As Above the Law reports, not every state has released results; however, it would appear that if they haven’t done so already, most states will be reporting the results of their individual bar exams in the near future.  Thank you National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) for slowly releasing the July of 2011 bar exam results to anxious future lawyers, experienced lawyers becoming licensed in a new jurisdiction, and law firm start-ups everywhere.

For me, the post-bar exam wait is over.  I just received my results for North Dakota and . . . . . . I passed!  Not to rub it in for those who might not have been so fortunate, but I also scored high enough to (hopefully) be admitted by motion into Minnesota.  Minnesota is one of several jurisdictions that allow attorneys who have taken the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) to apply for admission by motion with a scaled score of 145.  I achieved that result – barely.  I scored 145.8 according to a phone conversation I had with the North Dakota Board of Law Examiners.   That is .8 good enough for me!

For those of you who may not read this blog, I am already licensed in Indiana and have been practicing there for nearly four years.  Now, pending satisfactory results on my character and fitness review, I will be licensed in three jurisdictions in the near future:  Indiana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. I haven’t decided on whether I will keep my license active in Indiana, but it would be nice to list licensure in three different states on my letterhead and business cards for flanderslawfirm.com.

In any case, I am very pleased with the results and glad that I can move on with my life.  I hope my readers experience the same relief.

Admission By Motion Rules

Every state has admission by Motion rules.  Here is a list of links compiled by the American Bar Association (thank you ABA!) for every state’s admission by motion rules.  (Is it me or is finding out information on admissions on each states rules on admission to practice terribly difficult?  Somebody (maybe the ABA) should make an effort to standardize many of the different rules and requirements for admission in each state.  Taking the bar exam, applying to several states’ bars, and navigating the myriad of timing, deadlines and other requirements for multi-jurisdiction practice is just way too difficult.)

From my review, states that allow admission by motion require either:

  1. practicing law in another jurisdiction continuously for a specified number of years (anywhere from 3-5), or
  2. applying for admission by motion due to a high enough MBE score (anywhere from 135-160).

I did not meet the first option for admittance into Minnesota by motion because I have only been practicing nearly four years in Indiana and Minnesota has a five year requirement for admission on motion based on years of practice.  Ironically, Wisconsin – twenty miles from my home – allows admission by motion based on three years in practice. Such is life.

Here are Minnesota’s rules on admission by motion as listed on the Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners webpage:

ADMISSION ON MOTION

Lawyers may be admitted to the practice of law in Minnesota without examination:

  • By years of practice–five of the seven years immediately preceding the application; or for house counsel, three of the past five years.
  • By scaled MBE score of 145 or higher.  The application must be submitted within 24 months of the date of the qualifying exam being used as the basis for admission.

I managed to achieve the second requirement.  What a relief.  As I posted before, taking the bar exam a second time is not any more fun than the first.  Now, I hope to be admitted by motion and I am awaiting the results of a character and fitness investigation.  I do not have any prior disciplinary actions against me in any jurisdiction. Still, having an investigation into your character is a little unnerving.  However, I understand the process and I think there is a good reason why character and fitness investigations are required.

In any case, I did it.  I’ll be applying for admission by motion to Minnesota and I hope to be licensed in the relatively near future there. Once I’ve done that I can move on with my life, my law practice, and this blog.  I hope to provide much more pertinent (and non-personal) information in the future on this blog about how to start a law practice; but, for now, I’ve met the initial hurdle that makes all that possible.  I hope you did too.