PRINTER'S NO. 1998
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
367
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY FARNESE, TARTAGLIONE, PHILLIPS-HILL, MUTH AND
SCAVELLO, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Encouraging the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the Board of
Law Examiners to extend the right to practice law in this
Commonwealth to the entirety of the graduating class of 2019-
2020 if the graduate otherwise meets all criteria for fitness
to practice law.
WHEREAS, The graduates of Pennsylvania law schools' class of
2019-2020 have faced an unprecedented challenge in the COVID-19
pandemic; and
WHEREAS, The bar examination, which is currently required of
all attorneys, has been postponed twice as a result of the
pandemic; and
WHEREAS, The bar examination is now scheduled for October but
may be postponed again; and
WHEREAS, The bar examination is being offered exclusively
online, with more rules, unproven software, on an extremely
abbreviated timeline and with fewer questions yet being scored
the same as in prior years; and
WHEREAS, Students have already faced nearly a year's delay
and an interrupted study schedule; and
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WHEREAS, These students have lost jobs or been unsuccessful
in applying for jobs because of their tenuous status as new
attorneys; and
WHEREAS, The delays have posed an enormous financial hardship
on these students; and
WHEREAS, Asking these students to interrupt their jobs and
take a leave of absence to study for another bar exam would
again cause great financial hardship; and
WHEREAS, Employers are reluctant to hire attorneys under
provisional licenses who may have to take extended leave to pass
the bar; and
WHEREAS, Several other states have already taken action to
permit this class of attorneys bar membership without passing
the exam; and
WHEREAS, There is a robust regulatory system for expelling
unfit attorneys; and
WHEREAS, The continuing education requirements of attorneys
and on-the-job training offered by employers provides the bulk
of the actual skills needed to practice law; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate encourage the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania and the Board of Law Examiners to extend the right
to practice law in this Commonwealth to the entirety of the
graduating class of 2019-2020 if the graduate otherwise meets
all criteria for fitness to practice law.
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