Excellent exchanges @prawfsblawg and elsewhere on proposed Utah Sup Ct limited, one-time only, diploma privilege+. No perfect solution for 2020 grads. My preference: extended student practice opportunity post-grad until grads have a fair chance to take a bar exam. See @ABAesq.

Two points (views my own):
1. Line must be drawn, but does it advance the interests of the citizens and legal profession in Utah if a grad ranking 300/300 at a law school w/ an 86%1st-time pass rate in a low cut score jurisdiction to be admitted for life w/o passing a bar exam..

..while grad ranked 1/300 at a law school w/ an 85% pass rate in a high cut score state is excluded? If both had post-grad jobs in Utah and applied for admission by 4/1, who should get the diploma privilege+ option and who should have to pass a bar exam to show basic competence?

2. Why doesn't the proposed rule require the supervising lawyer to attest to grad's knowledge/skills rather than just to the amount of work done? W/o rule requiring that grads have passed courses in, for example, evidence, civ pro, contracts, etc. ..

..OR a bar exam that test those subjects, how does licensure provide public protection? That most JD grads take some or all such courses is true, but why not require it if bar exam is foregone?

...The rule would be better if it required the grad to demonstrate completion of certain courses. Even though it’s too late for the grad who hasn't, it's no more no more arbitrary than the 86% bar pass rate cutoff, and better for the public.

The extended student practice rule, while not providing as much relief to qualifying 2020 grads as the proposed UT rule, avoids these concerns. It allows grads to earn some income and to provide legal assistance pending bar passage.

When the crisis passes, we can return to the debates and discussions that were already underway about necessary and appropriate reforms to legal education and the legal profession. I look forward to that day!