MN bar admission for grads of non-ABA approved schools to be opened a crack

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In an order released a week ago, the Minnesota Supreme Court signaled that it will soon be opening the door a crack for graduates of law schools not accredited by the American Bar Association to take the state’s bar exam. 

The court ordered the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners to draft a rule allowing an attorney licensed in another state to sit for the Minnesota bar exam without having graduated from an ABA-approved law school.

The order was in response to a petition, filed with the court on April 29, 2009, seeking such an amendment to Rule 4A(3) of the Rules for Admission to the Bar. In its Aug. 10, 2009, the court ordered the board to examine the issues raised by the petition and to submit a report to the court. The board filed its report on June 2, 2010.

After reviewing the submission, the Supreme Court determined that it will consider a rule amendment that would permit a licensed attorney who has successfully practiced law in another U.S. jurisdiction for a substantial number of years to sit for the Minnesota bar exam and, if successful and otherwise qualified, to be admitted to the Minnesota Bar, notwithstanding the fact that the attorney had not graduated from an ABA-approved law school.

The court ordered the board to file the proposed rule amendment with the court on or before Sept. 30, 2010. The amendment will then be scheduled for public comment and hearing.