Thirty-eight 3Ls who took the Arizona bar in February await the test results
Thirty-eight law students from Arizona’s three law schools took the bar exam before graduation this year in a pilot program approved in 2012.
The students who sat for the bar exam in February of their 3L year have not yet received the test results, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. But the story says law students and law-school administrators gave the early bar program “a tentative thumbs-up.”
Arizona State law dean Doug Sylvester told the NLJ that most of the students who took the early exam “were just looking to get certified and get out there” in the job market. Many employers—including smaller law firms, public-interest firms and government—won’t consider hiring law grads until they are licensed.
The Arizona program allows 3Ls who have completed all but 10 of their legal credits to sit for the bar exam in February.
Among the students who took the early exam was Matt Randle, a former U.S. Army medic in law school at the University of Arizona. “As a nontraditional student with mouths to feed at home and bills to pay, the opportunity to get licensed early and start working was too good to pass up,” he said.
Proposals to allow early bar exams are also being considered in New York and Ohio.
