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DC Bar Rule 46(c) Admission based on examination in this jurisdiction
(1) Place and Dates of Examination. The Committee may extend the days for examination for an applicant pursuant to a request for testing accommodations.
(2) Time to Apply and Fees.
(A) An application to take the bar examination shall be submitted in a format approved by the Committee and filed with the Director of Admissions (Director) not later than December 15 for the February examination and May 3 for the July examination unless, for exceptional cause shown, the time is extended by the Committee. The contents of the application to take the examination shall be confidential except upon order of the court.
(B) The application shall be accompanied by (1) a payment to the Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals (Clerk), in an amount and form approved by the Committee and specified by the Director, and (2) payment to NCBE, or proof of payment to NCBE, in an amount and form specified on the application form.
(C) Late applications may be filed within 15 days from the closing dates specified in subparagraph (i) and must be accompanied by an additional, non-refundable payment to the Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals, in an amount and form approved by the Committee.
(3) Proof of Legal Education in a Law School Approved by the American Bar Association. An applicant who has graduated from a law school that at the time of graduation was approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) shall be permitted to take the bar examination. Under no circumstances shall such an applicant be admitted to the Bar without first having submitted to the Director a certificate that the applicant has graduated from an ABA-approved law school with a J.D. or LL.B. degree.
(4) Law Study in a Law School Not Approved by the ABA. An applicant who graduated from a law school not approved by the ABA shall be permitted to take the bar examination only after successfully completing at least 26 credit hours of study in a law school that at the time of such study was approved by the ABA. All such 26 credit hours shall be earned in courses of study, each of which is substantially concentrated on a single subject tested on the Uniform Bar Examination.
(5) Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. An applicant for admission by examination shall not be admitted to the Bar unless that applicant has also taken the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) written and administered by NCBE and has received thereon the minimum required grade as determined by the Committee. Arrangements to take the MPRE, including the payment of any fees therefor, shall be made directly with NCBE. The score received on the MPRE shall not be used in connection with the scoring of the bar examination.
(6) Examination of Applications. The Director shall examine each application to determine the applicant's eligibility and to verify the completeness of the application. If eligibility is not demonstrated, the applicant shall be permitted to furnish additional information. If the application is not complete, the needed information shall be provided upon the Director's request.
(7) Examination Identification Number. The Director shall assign an examination number to each accepted applicant. Each applicant shall be notified by the Director of the applicant's examination number and shall be furnished an admission card and a list of instructions. Further disclosure of the examination number of any applicant is prohibited.
(8) General Considerations Regarding the Examination.
(A) The examination shall be the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) developed by NCBE. The UBE consists of a written component, consisting of the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), and a multiple choice component, which is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).
(B) An applicant may request the Committee to accept an MBE score from a prior examination administration provided that:
(i) The prior MBE scaled score is not less than 133; and
(ii) The prior administration was within 25 months of the present administration.
(C) An applicant may request the Committee to accept a written component score from a prior examination administration in the District of Columbia provided that:
(i) The prior written component scaled score is not less than 133; and
(D) An applicant requesting acceptance of a score from a prior administration shall submit with the application to sit for the bar examination a score transfer form. Any score earned in a prior administration may not be used to earn a UBE score that can be transferred to seek admission in another U.S. jurisdiction. To earn a transferable UBE score, an applicant must take both the written and MBE components in a single administration of the examination.
(E) Examination booklets shall be furnished by the Committee. Computers or typewriters furnished by the applicants may be used by prearrangement with the Director.
(F) Except by permission of the Committee's representative, no applicant shall leave the examination room during the examination. Each applicant, upon leaving the examination room, shall turn in the examination materials to the Committee's representative.
(9) Computation of Written Component Scaled Scores. The raw scores on the written component shall be converted to scaled scores by NCBE in accordance with UBE policies.
(10) Determining Pass/Fail Status.
(A) An applicant taking the written and MBE components concurrently must attain a combined UBE scaled score of 266 or greater to pass the examination.
(B) If an MBE component score from a prior administration is accepted by the Committee under (c)(8)(B) above, the applicant must attain a scaled score of 133 or higher on the written component in the current administration to pass the examination. If a written component score from a prior administration is accepted by the Committee under (c)(8)(C) above, the applicant must attain a scaled score of 133 or higher on the MBE component in the current administration to pass the examination.
(C) Before notice and publication of the examination results, the Committee shall review the written component answers of all applicants who have attained a written component scaled score or a combined UBE scaled score within a specified number of points below the passing score, as determined by the Committee.
(11) Time of Notice and Publication of Results. Applicants shall be notified in writing of the results of their examination.
(A) The Director shall notify each successful applicant of his or her written component scaled score, MBE scaled score, and combined UBE scaled score, as applicable. An alphabetical list of the successful applicants shall be published with the request that any information tending to affect the eligibility of an applicant on moral grounds be furnished to the Committee. The first publication shall be at least 30 days before the Committee reports to the court. A copy of this list shall be posted in the office of the Clerk for three weeks.
(B) The Director shall notify in writing each unsuccessful applicant of the applicant's score. The notification shall contain the applicant's raw score for each question in the written component, the written component scaled score, the MBE scaled score, and the combined UBE scaled score.
(12) Post-examination Review. Each unsuccessful applicant may review his or her graded written component answers by executing and returning the review request form so that it is received by the Director by the 30th day after examination results are published. A review of the MBE is not available. The Director shall advise the unsuccessful applicant of the date, time, and place at which the written component answers may be reviewed. The review period shall not exceed three hours.
(13) Destruction of the Written Component Answers. Destruction of the applicant answers in the written examination component may commence 30 days from the date of publication of the examination results, but destruction of the written component answers of an unsuccessful applicant who takes advantage of the post-examination review procedure shall be delayed until at least 15 days after the review.
(14) Previous Failures. An applicant who has taken the bar examination or a component of the bar examination four times in the District of Columbia and failed to earn a passing score will not be permitted to take a further examination, except upon a showing of extraordinary circumstances. An applicant who has previously taken the bar examination in the District of Columbia four or more times before the effective date of this rule will be permitted to take the bar examination one additional time without a showing of extraordinary circumstances.
(15) Communication with Committee Members and Graders. No applicant shall communicate with Committee members or graders concerning any applicant's performance in the examination.
When the Maryland Board of Law Examiners, DC Bar Committee on Admissions, or any character committee questions your character and fitness for bar admission, bar applicants should retain an attorney to assist in disclosing information relevant to character and fitness, to guide them through the bar admissions process, and to represent applicants in character committee hearings and in hearings before the Court of Appeals to determine whether they are fit to practice law. Character and fitness concerns may arise in connection with prior criminal convictions, academic dishonesty and honor code violations, addictions, drunk driving, neglected debts, and a failure to disclose material information on law school applications or on bar applications. If you have a history of misconduct, traffic citations, crimes, arrests and other facts to disclose in response to the character portion of the Maryland Bar Application or the DC Bar's NCBE application, you should strongly consider retaining bar admissions counsel if you want to avoid denial of a law license and get a license to practice law. This is even true for applicants for admission to law schools as these applications ask similar questions about character. A failure to disclose facts material to your admission could result in a denial of bar admission.
By The Lawyer's Lawyers | Kramer & Connolly and Irwin R. Kramer who are responsible for the content of this informational website.