A group of state supreme court justices and state court administrators from across the country will examine lawyer licensing and whether law schools are adequately preparing students for real-world practice.
The Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform is a joint effort by the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators. The 12 members of the task force will spend the next 18 months looking at legal education, bar admissions processes, and a decline in the number of public interest attorneys. They will issue recommendations for reforms to state supreme courts, which have the final say on how lawyers are licensed.
The growth of so-called “legal deserts” — areas that lack local attorneys — and the fact that the majority of Americans can’t afford a lawyer for matters such as divorces and landlord and tenant disputes was a catalyst for the new task force, said chair Gordon MacDonald, Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The challenges that legal services organizations face in recruiting and retaining lawyers was another factor, he added.
“If we measure success by how well we are serving the public’s needs, what we’re doing is not working,” MacDonald said in an interview on Tuesday.
Ohio, Arizona, Indiana and Utah are among the dozen states represented on the committee. New Mexico, Wyoming, Oregon, South Dakota, Alabama, Maine and Delaware are also participating alongside New Hampshire.
The task force, announced Monday, comes at a pivotal time in lawyer licensing. The National Conference of Bar Examiners is set to debut a new national bar exam in July 2026, which aims to put more focus on practical skills and less on the memorization of laws. It’s the first major overhaul of the bar exam in 25 years.
Meanwhile, a growing number of states are weighing alternative licensing pathways that allow law graduates to practice without taking the bar exam. The development of potential admission alternatives comes amid criticism that the bar exam creates an unfair barrier for minority takers and those who can’t afford pricey bar prep courses or study for months without working.
The Oregon Supreme Court earlier this month approved a new program in which law school graduates can spend 675 hours working under the supervision of an experienced attorney and create a portfolio of legal work that bar officials will grade as an alternative to the traditional bar exam. The State Bar of California on Nov. 16 endorsed a similar program, which now awaits the approval of the California Supreme Court.