Arizona is a ‘lawyer desert:’ State Supreme Court launches apprentice program for those with lower bar exam scores

The state Supreme Court has announced an apprenticeship program for law school graduates that creates a new pathway to practice in Arizona and aims to boost the low number of attorneys in the state.

The court outlined the creation of the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program Wednesday. As first reported by Arizona Luminaria , the apprenticeship program “will provide a pathway to licensure for legal professionals who score between 260 and 269 on the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) — not quite meeting Arizona’s 270 minimum score for full admission to the practice of law,” according to a July 17 Arizona Supreme Court news release.

Those who score in the lower range must work two years under the supervision of a lawyer with at least five years of experience. The program will be open to American Bar Association-accredited law school graduates who score 260-269 on the bar exam and they “must work in a public or private law office located in a rural Arizona community or in a public law office located anywhere in the state,” according to the news release.

“Providing this additional route to admission to the practice of law advances the Court’s goal of closing the access to justice gap, protects consumers of legal services, and encourages aspiring attorneys to remain in Arizona to begin their careers rather than waiting to take the bar exam again or leaving Arizona to practice law in states with a lower passing score,” the new administrative order states.

The full order signed by Arizona Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer is available here . Candidates may apply for the program beginning Sept. 1.

Arizona’s “dearth of legal professionals negatively impacts not only access to justice and the effective operation of the justice system, including speedy case resolution, it also reduces economic growth,” Timmer wrote.

Arizona ranks 49th out of 50 states in the number of lawyers per 1,000 residents, according to the American Bar Association,

David Byers, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, said the lack of lawyers is acute in Arizona’s rural counties, especially La Paz, north of Yuma County on the border with California.

The new program defines a “rural area” as any county with a population of fewer than 600,000 in the most recent census. According to the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program , every county in the state except Maricopa and Pima would count as rural.

Both New Mexico and Utah have a minimum passing score of 260 for the bar exam, which Byers said spurs Arizona law grads who score just below the state’s standard to practice in the neighboring states.

“After every exam we have aspiring lawyers who score in the 260 to 269 range and leave Arizona for those states,” Timmer said in the news release. “We want to keep them in Arizona.”

While the move seems mostly focused on addressing lawyer shortages in rural counties, public law offices could also have a deeper pool of lawyers as a result of the program. The changes are being heralded by some local legal leaders.

“The Pima County Attorney’s Office is delighted by the actions of Chief Justice Timmer and the Arizona Bar in its efforts to assist State, County, and local governmental law offices and rural Arizona in certifying more lawyers for practice in Arizona,” Pima County Attorney Laura Conover wrote in an emailed statement to Arizona Luminaria.

“The lowering of the passing score on the UBE by a mere 10 points should result in more lawyers, in a time of lawyer shortages, to engage in public service and rural practice with no significant effect on quality,” she added.

Conover said the court’s response to Arizona’s lawyer shortage is “a bold move to make sure the public has access to the legal professionals it needs for a fair and just America.”

How it will work

Once someone who scores between 260 and 269 is conditionally admitted to the Arizona bar, they must be supervised by a legal professional who is admitted to the bar and is not a family member or close relation. The level of supervision gradually decreases, beginning with hands-on assistance and review of the work for the first four months, according to the Supreme Court order.

In months 5–7, the supervisor must conduct monthly check-ins and provide progress reports to the Administrative Office of the Courts. In months 8–24, the supervisor should offer ongoing mentorship and guidance “as needed,” as well as submit a 12-month progress report to the office of the courts.

At the end of the apprenticeship period, the office of the courts may then recommend full bar membership.

According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners, this specific kind of program has not been tried in any other state, although Oregon and Washington have apprenticeship programs with no bar-exam requirement.

“Arizona is the most innovative state when it comes to providing legal services,” Byers said.

Byers listed examples of such innovation, including the development of a l egal document preparer program to allow qualified non-attorneys to assist with certain services, the legal paraprofessional program and the community justice workers program , both of which allow trained non-lawyers to offer limited advice.

The new apprenticeship program follows these models of innovation, Byers said.

“This is one more way to bolster the ability to get legal services and access to justice,” Byers said.

Some legal experts raised concerns about lowering the standards for practicing law in Arizona.

“There’s already this sort of idea of the ‘public pretender,’” Public Defender Megan Page told Arizona Luminaria earlier this week. “That our lawyers aren’t real lawyers. I think most of us have had a client at some point, say, ‘Oh, you’re a public defender because you couldn’t pass the bar.’ And you know, you have to say, ‘No, no, I’m a lawyer, just like any private attorney.’”

Page said her office’s hiring practices are not going to change. “I feel very, very strongly that my clients should have the same if not better representation than if they had $20,000 to hire an attorney,” she said.

Earlier this week, prior to the Supreme Court releasing details of the new program, Dean Brault, director of the Pima County Public Defense Services Department, told Arizona Luminaria he had concerns about overhauling the state’s standards without wider feedback.

“I nor any of my division leaders had any input regarding this until the announcement came out that it was going to be happening,” Brault said. He said it “would have been nice” to have been consulted before the changes were already decided upon.

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