Relates to the rule-making power of the Court of Appeals as to admission of attorneys and counsellors

BILL NUMBER:S5620

Title of bill

An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to the rule-making power of the New York state court of appeals as to admission of attorneys and counsellors

Purpose of the bill

To provide affordable educational and employment opportunities for New Yorkers and others by allowing those who have achieved a juris doctorate (JD) from a law school accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency (and which also meets the requirements of Title IV federally guaranteed student loan programs), who have passed the bar exam and been admitted to practice in another state, and who have completed a qualifying one full calendar year legal externship in New York supervised, by an attorney and the court, to sit for the bar exam in New York State and be admitted to the practice of law.

Summary of specific provisions

Amends subdivision 3 of 53 of the Judiciary Law to allow a person to sit for the bar exam in New York State if he or she:

(1) has received a juris doctorate from a law school which:

(a) is accredited by a regional or national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education whose scope of authority includes first professional degrees in law; and

(b) which law school qualifies for participation in the federal student loan program under Title IV;

(2) has passed the bar exam and been admitted to practice, and is in good standing, in another state; and

(3) has successfully completed a one full calendar year qualifying legal externship in New York under the supervision of an attorney and the court.

Justification

With the costs of a legal education skyrocketing it is important that bar admission be available to students from distance learning (online) law schools, which provide a lower cost legal education.

The standards proposed in this legislation would put distance legal learners on a similar playing field as foreign educated law students. The one year externship, supervised by an attorney and the court would provide the grounding in New York State legal principles that an LLM provides to foreign students who qualify to sit for the New York State bar exam after completing a qualifying LLM program spanning one academic year (of approximately nine months).

Distance learning environments provide significant benefits for students in that their cost and convenience is within the reach of a non-traditional law school population -- most of whom would otherwise have no opportunity to gain a legal education or enter the practice of law due to both socioeconomic and practical barriers.

This measure balances the equities by providing "dotted line" access to the New York bar exam (and admission) for students whose wholly American legal education was obtained through the handful of regionally or nationally accredited, but non-ABA accredited institutions of legal education. Indeed, only the most committed students will withstand this grueling process. This small and incredibly talented pool of applicants will be provided with an opportunity to fulfill their dreams, improve their circumstances, and -- in many cases -- give back to their communities, including communities in New York, in need of more-affordable, high-quality legal services.

Prior legislative history

New bill

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately; provided, that section one of this act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.