IN RE: AMENDMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT RULES RELATING TO ADMISSIONS TO THE BAR
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The Court amended Rule 4-22 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar to remove juvenile delinquency and dependency from the list of subjects tested on Part A of the General Bar Examination.
[1] The Supreme Court of Florida has the authority to amend the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar.
[2] The General Bar Examination is intended to test an applicant's ability to reason logically, analyze accurately, and demonstrate knowledge of fundamental legal principles…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe deans of Florida's law schools suggested removing juvenile delinquency and dependency from the bar exam subjects. Following discussion, the Court …
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PER CURIAM.
The Court, on its own motion, amends the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.
Rule 4-22 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar enumerates the possible subjects that can be tested on Part A of the General Bar Examination, which is administered to individuals seeking admission to The Florida Bar.1 At the suggestion of the deans of Florida’s twelve law schools, and
1. The Florida Bar Examination currently consists of a General Bar Examination and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).
Fla. Bar Admiss. R. 4-11. The General Bar Examination consists of two parts, Part A and Part B. Fla. Bar Admiss. R. 4-20. Part A is developed by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and includes a combination of essay and multiple-choice questions, and Part B is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), which is following a discussion between the deans and the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, with members of the Court participating, we amend rule 4-22 to remove two subject areas, juvenile delinquency and dependency, from the list of possible subjects to be tested. We remove these two subject areas because we agree with the law school deans that these subjects test specialized knowledge falling outside the general competency that the General Bar Examination is intended to test. Rule 4-21 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to the Bar provides that the purpose of the General Bar Examination is to “test the applicant’s ability to reason logically, to analyze accurately the problem presented, and to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of law and their application.” We believe that amending rule 4-22 to eliminate these two subject areas will increase the validity of the Florida Bar Examination by allowing law school graduates to engage in more thoughtful analysis of core legal subjects instead of memorizing highly technical rules and information for a limited period of time.
Accordingly, we thank the law school deans for their input and amend the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admission to the Bar as reflected in the appendix to this opinion. The new language is indicated by underlining; deletions are indicated by struck-through type. These amendments shall take effect developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Id.; see Fla. Bar Admiss.
R. 4-23. -2-immediately upon the release of this opinion and will apply prospectively, beginning with the first 2020 examination. Because the amendments were not published for comment prior to their adoption, interested persons shall have seventy-five days from the date of this opinion in which to file comments with the Court.2 It is so ordered.
CANADY, C.J., and POLSTON, LABARGA, LAWSON, and MUÑIZ, JJ., concur. THE FILING OF A MOTION FOR REHEARING SHALL NOT ALTER THE