Me. Bar. Admiss. R. 10

As amended through September 25, 2024

Rule 10 - Admission By Examination

(a) General Requirements. Each applicant for admission to the Maine bar must demonstrate sufficient learning in the law to practice as an attorney in this State by obtaining a passing grade on the bar examination provided in this rule. Any individual who completes the application and pays the fees required by Rule 6 and produces satisfactory evidence of the educational qualifications required by subdivision [(b)] of this rule is eligible to take the examination.

(b) Educational Qualifications. Before taking the bar examination, each applicant shall produce to the Board satisfactory evidence that the applicant:

(1) graduated with a bachelor's degree from college or university; and

(2) graduated with a juris doctor or a bachelor of laws from a law school that had received its provisional or final accreditation from the American Bar Association by the time of the applicant's graduation; or

(3) graduated from a law school accredited by the United States jurisdiction in which it is located and has been admitted to practice by examination in one or more jurisdictions within the United States and has been in active practice there for at least 3 years; or

(4) graduated from a foreign law school with a legal education that, in the Board's opinion pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board, is equivalent to that provided in those law schools accredited by the American Bar Association and has been admitted to practice in that country or by examination in one or more jurisdictions within the United States and has been in active practice in a jurisdiction in which the applicant is licensed for at least 3 years; or

(5) successfully completed two-thirds of the requirements for graduation from a law school that had received its provisional or final accreditation from the American Bar Association by the time of the applicant's completion of those requirements and then within 12 months following such successful completion pursued the study of law in the law office of an attorney in the active practice of law in the State of Maine continuously on a full-time basis for at least one year; provided that the attorney must, in advance, present the proposed course of study to the Board for its approval and, at its conclusion, certify that the course, as approved, was completed.

(c)The Bar Examination. The Maine bar examination shall be the Uniform Bar Examination prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which consists of the Multistate Essay Examination, the Multistate Performance Test(s), and the Multistate Bar Examination.

(1)Administration of the Bar Examination. The Board shall administer the Maine bar examination twice a year, in February on the last Wednesday and the preceding Tuesday, and in July on the last Wednesday and the preceding Tuesday. The hours and places at which the examination is to be administered shall be announced by the Board in a public notice to be published not later than April 1 for that year's July administration and November 1 for the next year's February administration. Each applicant shall produce such identification at the examination as the Board shall require.

(2)Grading. The Board or its designees shall grade and assign raw scores to the Multistate Essay Examination and Multistate Performance Tests. The Board shall provide the raw scores to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which then scales the raw scores to the Multistate Bar Examination for a determination of an overall scaled score for each applicant.

(3) Passing Score. Prior to the administration of each examination, the Board shall set the passing scaled score that it determines will demonstrate sufficient learning in the law to practice as an attorney in this State.

(4) Finality of Scores. An applicant's score on the Uniform Bar Examination, as certified by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, is final.

(d) Special Examination Circumstances. Upon appropriate written request by an applicant in the application, the Board may, in order to provide for special circumstances such as a physical disability, establish special rules for the taking of the examination by the applicant and may provide for an oral examination to supplement the written examination.

(e) Notification of Results. The Board shall complete the grading of the examinations and notify all applicants of the results by regular mail within 75 days after the final day of an examination. Three days after the results have been mailed to individual applicants, the Board shall release for general public distribution and publication a list of successful applicants.

(f) Reexamination. Any applicant who fails to pass an examination may reapply to take a subsequent examination upon payment of the same fee then required of an original applicant.

(g) Extension of Time for Admission to the Bar. Any motion to enlarge the time for admission to the bar submitted pursuant to 4 M.R.S. §805-A(3) shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court prior to the expiration of the one-year deadline established by the statute. The applicant shall serve a copy of the motion upon the Board by electronic mail and by regular mail sent on or before the date of filing. Any response by the Board shall be filed within 14 days after the applicant's filing of the motion to enlarge.

Me. Bar. Admiss. R. 10

Amended effective 2/26/1990;5/16/1995;1/2/1997;10/15/2001; December 12, 2008, effective 1/1/2009; June 19, 2014, effective 9/1/2014; effective 2/5/2016; effective5/3/2017; amended December 7, 2021, effective 12/7/2021.

Advisory Note - December 2021

Subdivision (d) is amended to replace "handicap" with "disability" to comply with P.L. 2021, ch. 348, § 58, which requires the Judicial Branch to "discontinue the use of the terms 'handicap,' 'handicapped' and 'hearing impaired' to describe a person or set of persons in all laws, rules and official documents."

Advisory Notes - May 2017

In June 2016, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court created an Advisory Commission to study the merits of adopting the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). After six months of study, on November 18, 2016, the Commission issued the Report and Recommendations of the Advisory Commission on the Uniform Bar Examination. Among other things, that Report recommended adoption of the UBE, acceptance of transferred UBE scores for a three-year period, and amendment of the admission by motion rule to make it more consistent with the ABA Model Rule for Admission by Motion.

On January 25, 2017, the Supreme Judicial Court indicated its acceptance of the Commission's recommendations and its intent to adopt the UBE, effective with the July 2017 administration of the bar examination. The amendments to Rule 10 reflect implementation of the Court's adoption of the UBE, which examination supplants both the full and modified Maine bar examination formats.

Advisory Notes - February 2016

Subdivisions (d)(1) and (e)(2) are amended to replace references to the Maine Rules of Criminal Procedure with references to the Maine Rules of Unified Criminal Procedure, which became effective statewide on July 1, 2015.

Subdivision (k) clarifies the process for applicants to seek an extension of time for admission to the bar and ensures that notice is provided to the Board, which has an interest in the issue.

Advisory Note - June 2014

Subdivision (e)(2) is amended to replace the reference to the Maine Code of Professional Responsibility with a reference to the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct, which are now applicable.

Advisory Committee Note

The origins of the amended rule date back to 1938, see P.L. 1937, c. 25. At that time, law schools were accepting some applicants who had graduated from unaccredited institutions or who had not completed an undergraduate education. In fact, until 1963, see P.L. 1963, c. 369, it was possible to be admitted to the bar by "reading law" without ever having attended law school. In such circumstances, scrutiny of one's undergraduate education was much more relevant to the screening process.

The prerequisite of graduation from an accredited law school was not adopted until 1985, P.L. 1985, c. 124, §§ 3, 4. The Bar Admission Rules were amended shortly after the 1985 amendment to 4 M.R.S. §803 to reflect this change in the law.

With adoption of the requirement that applicants have graduated from either an ABA-accredited law school or one accredited by a U.S. jurisdiction in which the law school is located, it is no longer necessary to afford independent scrutiny to undergraduate education accreditation. The standards for quality of education leading to a law degree are established by the ABA itself or, in the instance of applicants admitted to practice for three years in another jurisdiction, by the state in which the law school is located. Thus, while the prerequisite of graduation from a college or university is maintained, the prerequisite of accreditation of the undergraduate institution by some official body is eliminated as unnecessary to the goals sought to be achieved by this rule.

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