Harvard Law School Students Advocate for Licensing Without Bar Exam

Kelsey J. Griffin:

Nearly 200 third-year Harvard Law School students signed a letter to Law School administrators Thursday asking for the school to publicly advocate for an emergency diploma privilege — a policy granting graduating students their law licenses without requiring the bar examination.

The letter asked the Law School to take four specific actions on behalf of its students. These requests include issuing a public statement supporting the emergency diploma privilege across the United States; sharing the students’ letter with other law schools; sending a statement supporting the privilege to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; and hosting a virtual town hall for students to discuss their needs with the administration.

Donna C. Saadati-Soto, a co-author of the letter, said she believes it would be unfair to ask students to sit for the multi-day exam this summer since the ongoing coronavirus pandemic limits the ability of some students to prepare over the coming months.

“I intended to sit for the California bar exam that was set to happen in July,” she said. “There’s no way that folks are going to be able to sit for a July 2020 administration of the exam.”

Saadati-Soto said that several states have already postponed their exams in light of the COVID-19 crisis and associated social distancing restrictions. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts announced Monday it would postpone its July 28 and 29 exam until an undetermined date in the fall.