CHARLESTON, W. Va. – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has adopted
the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) with an effective date in July 2017.
Subject to forthcoming amendments to the Rules for Admission to the Practice of
Law, which will be released for public comment, the Supreme Court adopted the
recommendation of the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners that West Virginia
adopt the uniform exam.
Letters of support from the West Virginia State Bar Board of Governors, as well
as from the
Dean of the West Virginia University College of Law were received and considered
by the Court in its adoption of the UBE. West Virginia becomes the 23rd state
to adopt the UBE.
The Court agreed with the Board that the UBE be adopted under the following general
terms in West Virginia:
-
The West Virginia Board of Law Examiners will accept transferred UBE scores
beginning July 1, 2017
.
-
Transferred UBE scores will be eligible for admission in West Virginia for
no more than thirty-six months.
-
Applicants transferring UBE scores will be subject to the same educational
requirements and character and fitness investigation as all other bar applicants,
and will be required to prove that they have achieved a qualifying score
on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).
Erica Moeser, President and CEO of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE),
commended the Supreme Court’s decision. “We welcome West Virginia to the family
of jurisdictions that have adopted the UBE. I expect the UBE to be a good fit
since West Virginia already uses the same test components in its bar exam,” she
said.
West Virginia’s adoption of the UBE does not significantly alter the substance
of the state’s bar examination. For years, the West Virginia Bar Examination
has been composed of the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), the Multistate Essay
Examination (MEE), and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the same testing
components which comprise the UBE.
Madeleine Nibert, the Supreme Court’s Bar Admissions Administrator, noted that
“West Virginia’s adoption of the UBE will provide greater flexibility to applicants,
who may be able to avoid sitting for essentially the same examination in
multiple states.”
Applicants who take the UBE earn a portable score that can be used to apply for
admission in other UBE states. Likewise, applicants with an acceptable score
on the UBE from another state may apply for admission in West Virginia.
Additional information about the UBE may be found on the
NCBE’s website (ncbex.org).
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
1900 Kanawha Blvd., East
Bldg. 1, Room E-316
Charleston, West Virginia 25305
(304) 340-2305 Jennifer Bundy
(304) 340-2306 April Harless
(304) 558-4219 / TTY
(304) 558-1212 / FAX
##
