Law school graduates can apply to the Ohio Supreme Court to practice law pending admission to the bar beginning June 15.

Law school graduates can apply to the Ohio Supreme Court to practice law pending admission to the bar beginning June 15.

The Ohio Supreme Court today announced that recent law school graduates can apply to the Court to practice law pending admission to the bar beginning June 15.

The law grads must work under the supervision of Ohio attorneys in good standing who have been practicing for at least three years.

This step will allow qualifying graduates to practice law while they wait to take the bar examination Sept. 9-10. If they are unsuccessful when they take the exam, their temporary practice privilege ends.

The Court had announced Wednesday that the bar exam would be held on those dates instead of in July due to coronavirus concerns.

“The Court recognizes the growing need for legal services in many critical areas during this challenging time,” said Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. “A delay in the ability of recent graduates to practice law would create a significant economic hardship for those graduates.”

The deans of the nine Ohio Law Schools and Northern Kentucky University, along with the leadership of the state and metropolitan bar associations, proposed that the Court adopt such a rule to enable recent graduates to begin their legal careers.

The order sets out a list of requirements. Applicants must:

• Be a December 2019 or 2020 graduate of an American Bar Association-accredited law school
• Have a registration application and an exam application submitted to the Supreme Court’s Office of Bar Admissions
• Receive from the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness final approval of their character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice
• Practice under the supervision of an active Ohio attorney in good standing who has been licensed to practice law for at least three years
• Not have failed a bar examination since their graduation from law school
• Submit to the Office of Bar Admissions a form attesting that they have read and agree to be bound by the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct
• Submit for approval to the Office of Bar Admissions an Application to Practice Pending Admission, on forms provided by that office.

Designated applicants will be allowed to perform these legal duties: enter appearances; draft legal documents and pleadings; provide legal services to clients; and provide other counsel consistent with the practice of law in Ohio.

The supervising attorney’s name and bar ID number must appear on all papers filed with a court.

The temporary authority ends:

• On the date the applicant withdraws the application to sit for the September Ohio Bar Examination
• On the first date of the bar examination, if an applicant fails to sit for the next available bar examination in Ohio
• On the Monday after distribution of the results of the first bar examination offered in Ohio if the applicant is not successful on that examination. If the applicant is successful on that examination, it shall extend until the applicant is admitted to the practice of law in Ohio as long as the applicant is admitted within 12 months of that bar exam. If the applicant is not admitted within 12 months following that bar exam, the temporary authority ends
• Upon the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness revocation of final approval of the applicant’s character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice
• On the date the applicant no longer is practicing under the supervision of an active Ohio attorney in good standing.