By Karl Etters
More than 50 Florida attorneys are signing on to a request to the state’s Supreme Court, asking the justices to allow law school graduates to practice law — under strict conditions — without having to pass the bar examination.
The emergency petition, if granted, would permit exam applicants to become lawyers after a period of supervised practice under currently licensed attorneys.
The filing comes one day after Chief Justice Charles Canady issued a rare public apology, on video and in writing, for the “failure” in administering the summer edition of the twice-yearly exam.
An online exam set for Wednesday was called off Sunday night. Earlier Wednesday, protesters lined the sidewalk in front of the court’s headquarters in Tallahassee, demanding solutions.
The 99-page petition, filed Thursday by Miami attorneys Brian Tannebaum and Matthew W. Dietz, takes aim at the “haphazard” administration of the bar exam and asks that law school graduates be allowed a pathway to admission without having to take the normally two-day test.
“It’s time for Florida to provide a way for law students to be lawyers during this pandemic, and to have a rule that will govern any future inability to have a bar exam,” Tannebaum wrote in an email to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida.
“This emergency petition, prepared with input from our affected and harmed Florida bar applicants, provides a detailed road map for the Florida Supreme Court to meet its stated goal of allowing our bar applicants to practice law as a result of the Board of Bar Examiners’ failure to administer the bar exam.”
The Board, headquartered in Tallahassee, develops and administers the exam; the Supreme Court ultimately oversees who becomes a lawyer in Florida.
The petition lays out a sequence of events since Florida’s first coronavirus positive case in March and includes mention of a letter from all 12 deans of Florida’s law schools suggesting alternatives to the exam. It has legislative input from two state representatives, explains technical issues and associated delays, and a breakdown of what other states are doing.
The filing then proposes that after six months’ supervision, applicants can get their Florida law license upon consent of the supervising attorney.
Tannebaum echoed concerns of applicants that the continued delays in administering the exam have caused financial strain for recent law school graduates, many of whom have been left in limbo after job offers from firms that are contingent on them passing the bar.
The petition also addresses the implications that the delays could have on diversity in Florida’s legal community.
“Employers (are) refusing to extend a permanent job offer until applicants are sworn in as attorneys, leaving applicants to decide whether to seek a new job or continue to work as a clerk until some undetermined date in the future,” the petition explains.
“Many candidates from communities of color who do not matriculate from top-tier law schools are saddled with exorbitant debt and no expectation or ability to obtain a job in the near future. As to applicants with disabilities, the failure to get a job and the ending of school-based health insurance places these applicants in a dire situation.”
The Board of Bar Examiners cited technical glitches in the software being used to administer the test in a Sunday email to applicants prepared to take the test online Wednesday.
The in-person exam was called off this summer because of social distancing concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic.
The exam – which usually takes place in July and February at the Tampa Convention Center – was moved to Aug. 18. It was again changed because it conflicted with Florida’s primary election.
Canady promised the exam will be given in October but did not say a specific date.
The petition includes testimonials from nearly two dozen law school graduates explaining the hardship the continued shifting of the exam has caused.
Signers of the document include South Florida attorney Benedict Kuehne, who came to prominence during litigation over the 2000 presidential recount and more recently defended former Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel in a legal fight against his suspension.
Src: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2020/08/20/petition-urges-supreme-court-consider-bar-exam-alternative/5619420002/