Panel to study bar exam and student internships
Panel to study bar exam and student internships
A new special committee with members of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, law school deans, the Bar, and Supreme Court justices has been created to look at issues related to the bar exam and law students serving as certified legal interns.
The new panel stemmed from a law school deans’ “summit” organized by the Young Lawyers Division at the Bar’s Winter Meeting. It was announced at the Board of Governors January 29 meeting along with a delay in considering three proposed rule amendments dealing with certified legal interns.
YLD President Gordon Glover told the board that Bar leaders met with Supreme Court justices after the Winter Meeting on a variety of topics, and justices said they wanted to be involved in these and other issues.
Working with Bar President Ramón Abadin, President-elect Bill Schifino, and others, “We’ve come to the conclusion to appoint a committee to not only look at the CLI rule but also a number of issues related to the bar exam,” Glover said. “The committee will consist of members of this board, members of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, Justice [Fred] Lewis, possibly Chief Justice [Jorge] Labarga, and one or two law school deans.
“It’s our hope this committee will be able to give this board a recommendation on all of these issues either at our March [11] meeting or our May [20] meeting,” Glover said. “We want to keep all the lines of communication open among the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, the law schools deans, and the court, and hopefully reach some agreeable conclusion as to how we proceed with all of these important issues that are facing law students and young lawyers.”
Schifino said he met with FBBE Chair Greg Hearing and Supreme Court justices after the Winter Meeting.
“It’s clear these are important issues, and we’re much better off working in a collaborative effort to see if we can collectively reach the right conclusion,” Schifino said. “And that way it’s not us putting something on the doorstep of the court.”
“The deans are clearly wanting us to move some things forward, and the court, they want action from us,” Abadin said.
FBBE Vice Chair Scott Richardson and Executive Director Michelle Gavagni were at the board meeting.
The Bar began looking at the certified legal intern rules several months ago at the behest of law school deans, who said the FBBE background checks for prospective interns were taking so long that law students were discouraged from seeking the internships.
Deans have also been critical of the number of subjects covered on the bar exam, advocating for a smaller number that would allow for more internships and hand-on training in law school.
