State Capitol of Minnesota, where the Minnesota Supreme Court meets.

Minnesota could become the third jurisdiction to adopt an emergency diploma privilege that allows law graduates to skip the bar exam during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday issued an order establishing a public comment period on the diploma privilege idea, which was proposed in a petition submitted by three recent graduates of the University of Minnesota Law School. The public has until July 6 to weigh in.

"In light of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the hyper-local impact of the George Floyd killing and subsequent unrest, and the uncertain, unsafe, and disparate impacts of proceeding with the proposed examination plan, Petitioners respectfully request that the Court waive the bar examination requirement of Minnesota's Rules for Admission to the Bar," reads the petition.

Utah in April became the first jurisdiction to grant an emergency diploma privilege to law graduates who meet a series of requirements, among which is completing 360 hours of legal work under the supervision of a licensed attorney by the end of 2020. Washington State followed suit June 12, issuing an order allowing any graduate of an American Bar Association-accredited law school who had registered for the July or September bar exams to skip the test without further requirements. The deans of Oregon's three law schools, as well as recent law graduates in the state, on June 15 sent letters to the Oregon Supreme Court requesting a diploma privilege, though the court has yet to announce any action on that front.

The Minnesota State Board of Law Examiners announced May 20 that it would administer an in-person bar exam on the originally scheduled date of July 28 and 29, while also giving a second exam Sept. 9 and 10.

But the June 22 petition—submitted by Minnesota law graduates Rebecca Hare, Colin Trundle and Jacob Gray—cites a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Minnesota among the grounds for the adoption of an emergency diploma privilege. More than 5,000 new cases were reported in the state in the first half of June, it notes.

"[The COVID-19 pandemic] makes administering a July Bar Exam uncertain and unsafe," the petition reads. "The pandemic will likely have a disparate impact based upon the race, ethnicity, age, and health status of those asked to choose between their health or sitting for the exam required to practice law."

The local killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and the subsequent riots and police and military response has put further strain on examinees, it adds.

The petitioners included impact statements from 14 upcoming bar examinees, highlighting their mental and health struggles, financial problems, the inability to study for the bar at home among family members, and the stress and anxiety from the police killing of George Floyd and its fallout.

Deans of the University of Minnesota Law School and Mitchell-Hamline School of Law were unavailable to comment Thursday on the high court's consideration of an emergency diploma privilege. However, leaders of all three of the state's law schools wrote to the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners in early April requesting a diploma privilege provision for this year's examinees. Minnesota law Dean Garry Jenkins informed the alumni petitioners that they have his support, a law school spokesman said Thursday.

But the Minnesota Board of Bar Examiners, which operates under the umbrella of the state Supreme Court, in May rejected those earlier calls for an emergency diploma privilege, citing consumer protection concerns.

"[The bar exam] provides the public with an assurance that the individual has met minimum competency standards," the board wrote in a May 20 announcement of a second in-person bar administration in September. "There is an assumption that if the lawyer is licensed, that the lawyer is competent. Successful passage of the bar provides assurances that people entering legal practice have shown that they possess a minimum level of legal knowledge and ability."

The Supreme Court of Washington had similarly rejected calls for an emergency diploma privilege before reversing course this month.