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Contact: Mark Mahoney
Associate Director, Media Services & Public Affairs
 mmahoney@nysba.org
 518-487-5532

January 12, 2012

STATE BAR PRESIDENT APPLAUDS COURT OF APPEALS FOR EXPANDING RULES ON BAR EXAM ELIGIBILITY

“The New York State Bar Association is pleased that the Court of Appeals has approved new rules that allow law students to count more clinical work and externships toward their eligibility for the bar exam,” said New York State Bar Association President Vincent E. Doyle III.

“In an era when many have questioned whether law schools adequately prepare law students for real-life representation of clients, the Court’s action goes a long way toward addressing those concerns.

“The changes are consistent with the Association’s longtime goal of ensuring that students are better prepared to practice law upon graduation,” said Doyle of Buffalo (Connors & Vilardo).

In its April  2011 report,  the State Bar’s Task Force on the Future of the Legal Profession recommended that the Court of Appeals relax restrictions on clinical courses and adopt other rule changes to encourage law schools to focus on producing practice-ready graduates. The recommendations of the Task Force, appointed by Immediate Past President Stephen P. Younger of New York City, were adopted by the State Bar House of Delegates. Portions of the Task Force’s report also formed the basis of a resolution adopted by the American Bar Association in August of last year encouraging law schools to renew their focus on producing practice-ready graduates.

The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation.  It was founded in 1876.

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