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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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