Provisional licensure goes into effect Nov. 17

The state Supreme Court on Thursday approved the State Bar’s proposal for a provisional licensure program for 2020 law school graduates.

The bar announced it would start accepting applications when the program goes into effect on Nov. 17.

The program would allow law graduates to practice under supervision until June 1, 2022 without passing the bar exam. After the program ends, graduates would have to take the exam and pass to become fully licensed.

“We know that this year’s graduates have been anxiously awaiting certainty about the details and timeline of this program, so we have been working hard to expedite its development,” Donna Hershkowitz, the bar’s interim executive director, said in a statement. “We look forward to being able to offer it to the first group of eligible graduates in the next four weeks.”

In July, when the court ordered the bar to create the program to help graduates affected by the pandemic, the court also announced it would lower the exam passing score from 1,440 to 1,390. The decision spurred calls for the provisional licensure program to apply to anyone who had achieved the new, lower passing score in the past few years.

On Oct. 14, the Provisional Licensure Working Group, which designed the program, voted to recommend that test-takers who scored 1,390 on exams dating back to July 2015 should be eligible to join the program.

The group is still assessing whether people who previously scored 1,390 or higher should become fully licensed after completing the program without taking the bar exam in 2022. The group’s next meeting is on Nov. 9.

The board of trustees would have to approve recommendations to expand the program. The court will make a final decision. The board is scheduled to meet Nov. 19.

In the announcement Thursday, the court did not mention retroactivity.

UC Hastings Law Dean David Faigman said the program is a common-sense solution and that the law school is already working to connect 2020 graduates with alumni who can supervise their work.

“Thanks to our deep ties to the statewide legal community and our robust alumni network of more than 20,000 practicing attorneys, this should be a viable option for any graduate who wishes to practice provisionally,” Faigman said. “This means that our 2020 graduates can get their careers as advocates started very soon. I am hopeful, moreover that the bar and the court will yet extend provisional licensing to those who graduated prior to 2020.”

As of now, the program is open to anyone who became eligible to sit for the bar exam between Dec. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2020 by graduating from a law school or by meeting the bar’s legal education requirements.

According to the court’s announcement, the applicant must also have a job offer or volunteer at a law firm, legal services organization, or the legal department of a corporation or government organization.

The provisional licensure allows an applicant to practice and provide nearly the full scope of legal services under supervision, the court said. The applicant can also fail the bar exam during the licensure period without risking being dropped from the program.