NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court made a life-changing decision for hundreds of young lawyers Wednesday, waiving the bar exam for 2020 law school graduates.
It’s a historical ruling but follows the lead of several other states like Utah and Oregon, which have made the same decision.
It allows those who have completed law school this year, like Loyola University College of Law graduate Wynton Yates, to begin their next chapter.
“It’s been beyond a rollercoaster,” said Yates.
He’d graduated from Loyola Law School, completed all of his requirements, and studied for months for the bar exam.
COVID-19 took away the end of his final school year, the ability to study in the school library, graduation, and then two weeks before test day, the bar exam was canceled.
The state had no backup plan for those left unable to work as attorneys or move on with life.
“They made such a drastic decision, at the last minute, and we’ve got people who have families, we’ve got people who have mortgages, we have people who lost their jobs because of COVID-19,” said Yates.
Wednesday, the Louisiana Supreme Court waived the 3-day, 21-hour bar exam for 2020 graduates. It will allow them to practice with a diploma.
The only other time this happened was during the Korean War.
Madeleine Landrieu, Dean of Loyola University College of Law, is relieved. She said some students’ job offers were rescinded when the bar exam was cancelled.
“When the court canceled the exam, some students got calls from bosses that said we can’t hire you. We were hiring you as a lawyer, not as something else,” said Landrieu. “You know, it’s a tough decision. Nothing that’s important is really easy. I was really proud of the Court’s courage.”
The official ruling means that 2020 graduates considered “qualified candidates” will never take the exam. They’ll have to complete extra hours of continuing law education, and a “transition into practice” mentorship by December 2021.
But it allows them to begin their careers as lawyers without having to wait until the October bar exam.
“I get the sense that we want everyone to take this bar exam. But in this environment, at this time, this was not going to test their minimum competence. It was going to test something else, like economic security, it was going to test fortitude, it was going to test good luck,” said Landrieu.
The decision does have attorneys arguing. The ruling is so controversial, that the New Orleans Bar Association is not taking an official stance, telling WWL-TV over the phone that there’s really no “right answer,” but the decision had to happen.
“Most lawyers seem fairly opposed to it, essentially saying – ‘I went through this miserable process, everyone else should’,” said Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino.
About a quarter of those who take the Louisiana Bar Exam fail. But Ciolino says the exam does not typically “weed out” incapable attorneys, and most eventually pass.
And regardless, fresh 2020 grads will be new to the courtroom.
“Lawyers become good lawyers by experience, and by working with more senior lawyers. And that’s something that these layers, these young lawyers, will wind up doing anyway,” said Ciolino.
Yates says his class is ready to change the world. And he adds, they’ve already proven they can rise to a challenge.
“We’ve now shown you that we have the drive to persevere through a pandemic, a racial civil rights uprising in the country, loss of job, family and friends dying from this virus,” he said.
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