D.C. Allows Law School Grads to Skip Exam During Pandemic (1)

The District of Columbia has become the fifth jurisdiction to grant certain U.S. law school graduates to be licensed to practice law without taking the bar exam.

The D.C. Court of Appeals in a 4-3 order issued Thursday approved an “emergency examination waiver” to the biannual test for lawyers. The split decision comes amid ongoing debates over diploma privilege as the coronavirus created chaos around bar exams across the country.

D.C. is already offering an online bar exam on Oct. 5-6, as well as a provisional licensing program that allows grads to practice temporarily and under supervision, before taking the ...