Utah Will Allow Law Students to Practice Without the Bar Exam

Utah has become the latest US state to offer an alternative pathway to practice law. Last week, the state's Supreme Court approved a new rule that will allow law students to practice law without taking the Bar Exam if they fulfill other requirements. Here’s what’s changing for law students in Utah and what it means for studying law in the USA.

A new model of legal education

In most US states, law students take the Bar Exam once they’ve completed their studies, and if they pass, submit their results to obtain a license to practice law in the state where they completed the exam. Some states have adopted the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which can be transferred to other states that also use the UBE.

And while some states, like California, Vermont, and Wisconsin, have limited access to supervised apprenticeship or diploma privilege pathways, in most states, you have to pass the Bar Exam to practice law. Until now.

In a growing trend aimed at “skills-based, practice-ready” legal education, some states are introducing a new model of legal licensure that allows students to enter legal practice through an alternative model that emphasizes skills and experience, rather than theoretical knowledge. Oregon and Washington have already implemented these types of models, and Utah is the most recent state to adopt the approach.

According to the press release from the Utah Supreme Court, the new model “better reflects real-world skills, reduces economic barriers, and supports workforce readiness.” To qualify for licensure without taking the bar, Utah law students will need to complete 240 hours of legal practice supervised by a licensed attorney, complete the required law-school coursework, and take a written exam set by the Utah State Bar.

Why are states considering bar exam alternatives?

One of the main reasons states like Utah are considering this alternative is to increase access to the legal profession. In addition to years of costly law school, law students usually spend months paying for bar exam preparation and studying for the bar exam after they’ve completed their studies.

For low-income students, this period of unpaid, intense study is not always feasible and can be a barrier to either passing the bar exam or entering law school to begin with. In fact, some studies have shown that working while studying for the bar is the most common predictor of bar exam failure.

Bar exam alternatives are also backed by research, which indicates that standardized test scores are not the best way to measure the potential success or practical skills of a future legal professional. Speaking to Utah’s Deseret News, Catherine Bramble, a law professor at Brigham Young University, said that there is “growing concern about whether the bar exam is actually testing the right things in the right way.”

What’s next?

For Utah, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that alternative licensure paths were possible. When the state had to suspend the Bar Exam in 2020, Utah implemented an “emergency diploma privilege” that allowed qualified law graduates to convert 360 hours of legal practice into a law license. Now, the Utah Supreme Court has formalized the new licensing method and will launch the new model at the beginning of 2026.

Oregon approved a similar plan in 2023, and Washington in 2024. At least seven other US states are considering proposals for alternatives to their Bar Exams, including Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota. Integrating practical experience into law licensing requirements will also align the USA more closely with other countries, where experiential learning is often included in the licensing process.