Interview with Bridget Asay
licensed lawyers, not to lawyers admitted
here based on reciprocity with other
jurisdictions. Another requirement for newly
licensed lawyers is to pass the ethics exam,
called the MPRE. That’s a requirement
that people probably remember from law
school. It’s a little like taking the SAT: it’s
administered more frequently and you take
it at a testing site. Many people take it in
law school, but you can also take it later.
Finally, to be licensed, a new lawyer also
has to pass the character and fitness review.
That is a separate committee in Vermont,
also appointed by the Supreme Court, and
they look at whether you have the fitness
and character sufficient to be admitted to
the bar in Vermont.
BP: And what about somebody who, say,
wants to transfer here from New Jersey
after they have been practicing in NJ for
ten years?
BA: The rule for most other states is, if
you have been practicing, actively engaged
in the practice of law for five out of the past
ten years, you can come to Vermont and
that past practice will be accepted in place
of the bar exam. You will still have character
and fitness review and you will have to do
a mandatory CLE program—fifteen hours,
some live and some taped, about Vermont
practice and procedure.
BP: So that would still apply for people
whose score is no longer portable because
of two or three or four or five years has
expired?
BA: That’s right. Also, there is a special
rule for New Hampshire and Maine,
which allows attorneys practicing in those
states for three years to seek admission in
Vermont.
BP: Is that also followed by fifteen hours
of courses?
BA: Yes.
BP: Let’s go back now to the Uniform
Bar Exam. You started to talk about some
of the advantages. What is the position of,
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for example, the Vermont Law School and/
or staff and students?
BA: Vermont Law School was kind
enough to host \