GR 9 COVER SHEET  

Suggested Amendments ADMISSION AND PRACTICE RULES (APR)

Rule 4(d) Lawyer Bar Examination

Submitted by the Washington State Bar Association

A.           Name of Proponent:

Washington State Bar Association

B.        Spokesperson:

Sunitha Anjilvel, Acting WSBA President Terra Nevitt, Executive Director

WSBA Staff Contact:

Renata de Carvalho Garcia, Chief Regulatory Counsel Washington State Bar Association

1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600

Seattle, WA 98101-2539

renatag@wsba.org • (206) 733-5912

C.           Purpose:

The purpose of the suggested amendments to APR 4(d) is to implement the Washington Supreme Court’s adoption of the Washington Bar Licensure Task Force recommendation regarding the NextGen Bar Exam. On March 15, 2024, the Washington Supreme Court entered order number 27500-B-710 adopting the WBLTF’s recommendation to adopt the NextGen Bar Exam beginning with the July 2026 bar exam. The NextGen Bar Exam is owned by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). The NCBE intends for the NextGen Bar Exam to be a new version of the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), maintaining the ability for applicants to transfer scores between UBE jurisdictions. Although the exam is referred to as the NextGen Bar Exam, it will still be the UBE, but with updated content and formats. In addition, because the NextGen version of the UBE will have a different scoring scale, a new minimum passing score will need to be determined. Accordingly, the amendments needed to the APR to implement adoption of the NextGen exam are simply to distinguish between the two versions of the UBE and identify the minimum passing score for each version.

The NCBE’s work to determine minimum passing scores for the NextGen exam relative to the passing scores for the original version of the UBE will take place next year. We expect to have a NextGen passing score by August or September 2025. Given the time involved for rule amendments through the GR 9 process, we are submitting these suggested amendments now and will ask the Court to enter an order setting the passing score for the NextGen exam when it is finally determined. A technical amendment can then be requested at that time to amend APR 4(d) to include the score in the APR.

D.           Hearing: A hearing is not requested.

E.           Expedited Consideration: Expedited consideration is not requested.

F.            Supporting Material:

1.    Washington Supreme Court Order No. 27500-B-710