Aspiring lawyers in Arizona will no longer have to pass the bar exam to become licensed attorneys from September 1 onwards, the state’s Supreme Court says.

The court established the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program this week, which will likely keep bar exam takers from leaving Arizona for states where the exam minimum is lower, increasing the number of lawyers in the state. 

The Uniform Bar Exam has a pass mark of 270, and the program will allow test takers who score between 260-269 to practice law for 2 years under supervision from a lawyer with at least 5 years of experience.

Prospective attorneys in Arizona are consistently flocking to New Mexico and Utah since the minimum bar score needed to practice in those states is 260.

“After every exam we have aspiring lawyers who score in the 260 to 269 range and leave Arizona for those states,” Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer said. “We want to keep them in Arizona.”

Because would-be lawyers are leaving Arizona after scoring below 270, the number of practicing attorneys in Arizona is considerably low, especially in rural parts of the state.

Legal Scholar at the Heritage Foundation and Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation John Malcolm, tells the Sun that this “tremendous and forward looking” decision will alleviate “dramatically unmet needs in the state of Arizona.”

“The Arizona Supreme Court is trying in a very measured way to provide sorely needed legal services to people who will not otherwise get them, and they are making sure this is done in a thoughtful manner,” he said.

Justice Timmer described Arizona as “not only a real desert, but also a ‘legal desert,’” because of its decreasing number of licensed attorneys. 

“Arizona ranks 49th among the states in the number of lawyers per capita. This will be one of several steps we are taking to provide more legal services for Arizonans, particularly those living in rural communities,” she added.

Participants will be allowed to work for 30 hours a week in a public or private law firm in a rural Arizona town or community, where the shortage of lawyers is the most dire. They must also meet certain character and fitness requirements determined by the court. 

“This is a way to give bright people who just barely fell short an opportunity to get onto top training,” Mr. Malcolm said.

“For most people, the alternative to getting a lawyer under these circumstances is to show up to court unrepresented, which is hardly justice,” he added.

At the end of the two year training period, the Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts can recommend a program participant for full admission into law “with the same kinds of rights and privileges as any other attorney.”

Law apprenticeships or clerkships were a common path to licensure in America before the American Bar Association established a mandatory, uniform written exam in the early 20th century.

While most states accept the Uniform Bar Exam, each state determines its own passing score, with the lowest score accepted being 260, and the highest and most common score required is 270. 

South Dakota, North Dakota, Oregon, and Georgia are among the states exploring various models for alternative pathways to lawyer licensure.