Summary
The Arkansas Supreme Court denied a petition by Cliff M. McIntyre seeking a waiver of Rule IX(B), which requires applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination before taking the state bar exam. McIntyre requested eligibility for the February 1997 bar exam based on a passing MPRE score obtained in 1992, but the court ruled that the rule's explicit three-year validity period precluded his qualification. The court directed the Arkansas Board of Law Examiners to reassess the necessity of making the ethics exam a prerequisite to the general bar examination.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the Supreme Court of Arkansas may waive Rule IX(B) of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar, which requires a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as a prerequisite to taking the Arkansas Bar Examination.
Holdings
- The petition is denied; Rule IX(B) is clear and must be applied, and no waiver is granted.
Key quotations
“We note that Arkansas is in the minority of states that make passage of an Ethics Exam a prerequisite to taking the general bar exam.”
Factual background
Cliff M. McIntyre, licensed to practice law in New Mexico since 1992, passed the New Mexico Ethics Exam and Bar Exam that year. He wishes to take the February 1997 Arkansas Bar Exam, but the next Arkansas Ethics Exam is not offered until March 1997. Rule IX(B) of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar requires a passing score on the Ethics Exam within three years of the exam taken, making him ineligible under the existing rule.
Procedural history
Petitioner Cliff M. McIntyre filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Arkansas requesting a waiver of Rule IX(B) so he could sit for the February 1997 Arkansas Bar Exam before the next Ethics Exam. The Court denied the petition.