SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02108
NOTICE
The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court have endorsed the recommendation of the Committee to Examine the Uniform Bar Examination (Committee) to adopt the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), with an effective date of July 2018. The Justices also endorsed the Committee's recommendation that, beginning in July 2018, applicants for admission to the Massachusetts bar be required to complete a new local component program that will ensure that newly-licensed attorneys are familiar with key Massachusetts laws and procedures. The Court will appoint working groups to develop the Massachusetts law component and to prepare for the transition to the UBE.
The UBE is a uniformly administered, graded, and scored bar examination prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The UBE produces a portable score that can be transferred to other UBE jurisdictions, subject to the applicant's satisfying any additional requirements imposed by a jurisdiction. Each jurisdiction sets its own pass rate for the UBE. To date, 23 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the UBE. Eight of these jurisdictions have adopted a local law component.
Hon. Robert J. Cordy and Hon. Margot Botsford, Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court, chaired the Committee. Committee members are:
| Assoc. Dean Maris Abbene, Esq. | Boston College Law School |
| Barbara F. Berenson, Esq. | Supreme Judicial Court |
| Geoffrey R. Bok, Esq. | Board of Bar Examiners |
| Hon. Nonnie Burnes (ret.) | Supreme Judicial Court Standing Advisory Committee on Professionalism |
| Richard Campbell, Esq. | Massachusetts Bar Association |
| Dean Michael Coyne | Massachusetts School of Law |
| Clerk Maura S. Doyle, Esq. | Supreme Judicial Court for the County of Suffolk |
| Melinda F. Drew, Teaching Professor | Northeastern University School of Law |
| Rebecca Flanagan, Asst. Professor | University of Massachusetts Law School |
| Professor Andrew Kaufman | Harvard Law School |
| Wayne Kennard, Esq. | Boston Bar Association |
| Kandace Kukas, Asst. Dean | Western New England University School of Law |
| Carol R. Lev, Esq. | Supreme Judicial Court |
| Mela Lew, Esq. | Board of Bar Examiners |
| Dean Maureen O’Rourke | Boston University School of Law |
| Dean Andrew Perlman | Suffolk University Law School |
| Alice Richmond, Esq. | Board of Bar Examiners (former member) |
| Nan M. Sauer, Esq. | Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association |
| Professor Paul F. Teich | New England Law, Boston |
| Marilyn J. Wellington, Esq. | Board of Bar Examiners |
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Jennifer Donahue
Public Information Officer
Supreme Judicial Court
John Adams Courthouse
One Pemberton Square
Boston, MA 02108
Jennifer.donahue@sjc.state.ma.us
(617) 557-1114
http://www.mass.gov/courts/