Rule 10 Admission by Examination

(a) General Requirements. Each applicant for admission to the Maine bar must demonstrate sufficient learning in the law to practice as an attorney in this State by obtaining a passing grade on the bar examination provided in this rule. Any individual who completes the application and pays the fees required by Rule 6 and produces satisfactory evidence of the educational qualifications required by subdivision (c) of this rule is eligible to take the examination.

(b) Educational Qualifications. Before taking the bar examination, each applicant shall produce to the Board satisfactory evidence that the applicant.

(1) graduated with a bachelor's degree from a college or university; and

(2) graduated with a juris doctor or a bachelor of laws from a law school that had received its provisional or final accreditation from the American Bar Association by the time of the applicant’s graduation; or

(3) graduated from a law school accredited by the United States jurisdiction in which it is located and has been admitted to practice by examination in one or more jurisdictions within the United States and has been in active practice there for at least 3 years; or

(4) graduated from a foreign law school with a legal education that, in the Board's opinion pursuant to regulations adopted by the Board, is equivalent to that provided in those law schools accredited by the American Bar Association and has been admitted to practice in that country or by examination in one or more jurisdictions within the United States and has been in active practice in a jurisdiction in which the applicant is licensed for at least 3 years; or

(5) successfully completed two-thirds of the requirements for graduation from a law school that had received its provisional or final accreditation from the American Bar Association by the time of the applicant's completion of those requirements and then within 12 months following such successful completion pursued the study of law in the law office of an attorney in the active practice of law in the State of Maine continuously on a full-time basis for at least one year; provided that the attorney must, in advance, present the proposed course of study to the Board for its approval and, at its conclusion, certify that the course, as approved, was completed.

(c) The Bar Examination. The Maine bar examination shall be the Uniform Bar Examination prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which consists of the Multistate Essay Examination, the Multistate Performance Test(s), and the Multistate Bar Examination.

(1) Administration of the Bar Examination. The Board shall administer the Maine bar examination twice a year, in February on the last Wednesday and the preceding Tuesday, and in July on the last Wednesday and the preceding Tuesday. The hours and places at which the examination is to be administered shall be announced by the Board in a public notice to be published not later than

April 1 for that year’s July administration and November 1 for the next year’s February administration. Each applicant shall produce such identification at the examination as the Board shall require.

(2) Grading. The Board or its designees shall grade and assign raw scores to the Multistate Essay Examination and Multistate Performance Tests. The Board shall provide the raw scores to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which then scales the raw scores to the Multistate Bar Examination for a determination of overall scaled score for each applicant.

(3) Passing Score. Prior to the administration of each examination, the Board shall set the passing scaled score that it determines will demonstrate sufficient learning in the law to practice as an attorney in this State.

(4) Finality of Scores. An applicant’s score on the Uniform Bar Examination, as certified by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, is final.

(d) Special Examination Circumstances. Upon appropriate written request by an applicant in the application, the Board may, in order to provide for special circumstances such as a physical disability, establish special rules for the taking of the examination by the applicant and may provide for an oral examination to supplement the written examination.

(e) Notification of Results. The Board shall complete the grading of the examinations and notify all applicants of the results by regular mail within 75 days after the final day of an examination. Three days after the results have been mailed to individual applicants, the Board shall release for general public distribution and publication a list of successful applicants.

(f) Reexamination.

Any applicant who fails to pass an examination may reapply to take a subsequent examination upon payment of the same fee then required of an original applicant.

(g) Extension of Time for Admission to the Bar. Any motion to enlarge the time for admission to the bar submitted pursuant to 4 M.R.S. § 805-A(3) shall be filed with the Executive Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court prior to the expiration of the one-year deadline established by the statute. The applicant shall serve a copy of the motion upon the Board by electronic mail and by regular mail sent on or before the date of filing. Any response by the Board shall be filed within 14 days after the applicant’s filing of the motion to enlarge.