ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, Council Resolution, Endorsing Consideration of a Uniform Bar Examination (Aug. 6, 2010)

Conference of Chief Justices, Resolution 4, Endorsing Consideration of a Uniform Bar Examination (July 28, 2010)

Brief Summary
The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, and the Conference of Chief Justices, have resolved to encourage the adoption of a Uniform Bar Examination.

Complete Summary
The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, in August 2010, adopted a resolution encouraging the states to adopt a Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), which is promulgated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). The UBE would be an amalgam of existing widely used bar examinations, specifically including the MBE (Multistate Bar Examination), MEE (Multistate Essay Examination), and MPT (Multistate Performance Test). This ABA Section resolution came on the heels of a substantially similar resolution adopted by the Conference of Chief Justices in July 2010.

The resolutions keyed on the need to facilitate lawyer mobility and the demands of modern multijurisdictional practice. They noted the importance of mobility also for newer lawyers, who often cannot utilize current admission-on-motion rules. Also relevant was the increasing similarity of states’ bar exams, as well as the fact that law is the only major profession that has not adopted a uniform licensing exam.

Passing the UBE administered in one jurisdiction, however, would not necessarily guarantee admission to other UBE jurisdictions in all instances. The resolutions noted, among other things, that states presumably would continue to evaluate character and fitness independently, and still could set their own UBE passing scores and/or require additional, separate state-specific assessments and additional educational components.

Missouri was the first state to adopt the UBE, in April 2010. North Dakota followed in June. Other jurisdictions actively considering adoption of the UBE include Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C.

Significance of Resolutions
History may someday show that these two resolutions were important markers and catalysts on the road toward recognizing freedom of movement for lawyers that is commensurate with the realities of modern law practice. Corporate and institutional counsel and their employers; litigators; lawyers and law firms with multijurisdictional practices; lawyers whose federal or agency or specialized practice has nothing to do with the law of the state in which they happen to live and work; and many others, all can take some heart from this development.

This alert has been prepared by Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. It is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship.

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Attend the Tenth Anniversary of the industry's premier event focused on current and important developments in the law and litigation of malpractice claims, legal malpractice insurance and risk management strategies. Each conference panel examines recent case law and significant developments throughout the last year. One and one-half days will be devoted to legal malpractice (February 16-17), and one and one-half days will be devoted to risk management (February 17-18). The Conference will be held in Chicago at The Westin Chicago River North Hotel.

Earn up to 15 hours of CLE credit, including up to 6.50 ethics credit!

Conference Topics

Legal Malpractice Sessions (February 16-17) 

• Settle and Sue: Is Legal Malpractice a Remedy for An Inappropriate Settlement or for the Settlement That Did Not Happen?
• What You Need to Know About Lawyers’ Liability Under the Federal and State Securities Laws
• Establishing a Fiduciary Breach
• Using Pretrial Remedies — Anti-SLAPP Statutes, and Other Evidentiary Early Disposition Motions
• Significant Developments in Litigating Legal Malpractice Claims
• Insurance Law
• Stump the Panel

Legal Malpractice/Risk Management Cross-Over Sessions (February 17)

• The Insurance Marketplace and Considerations
• Who is a “Partner” — The Legal Implications of Titles
• Mitigating or Avoiding the Loss

Risk Management Sessions (February 17-18)

• The General Counsel Forum
• Don’t Ignore the “Basics” — Engagement, Disengagement and End-of-Representation Letters
• The Growing Threats to Client (and Firm) Data — Managing Technology to Meet the Challenges
• High Tech Tools — and Traps — for Mergers and Lateral Hiring
• On the Horizon: Is Susskind Right? Technology and the Future of Large Law Firms

Registration Fees

$1,300 for the Entire Conference — February 16-18
$925 for the Legal Malpractice Sessions Only — February 16-17
$925 for the Risk Management Sessions Only — February 17-18

Discounts (maximum 15% discount per registration)
Returning registrants receive 5% off the conference price Multiple registrants receive 15% off when two or more colleagues from the same company register for the conference
Early birds receive 10% until December 1, 2010

For more information, please visit www.LMRM.com or click here to Register Now!

To speak with the Conference Planner, Katherine McCormack, please call 312-704-3329