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. MBA Past President
Richard P. Campbell represented the Massachusetts Bar Association
on the Committee. A full list of Committee members is available
below.
Committee Members |
Organization |
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 |