Quinnipiac University School of Law. Photo: Gary Lewis

Faced with hundreds of Connecticut law school graduates not able to take the state bar examination in July due to COVID-19-related disruptions, the Rules Committee of Superior Court has approved recommendations to loosen guidelines to allow students to make court presentations—in some instances—without a supervising attorney present.

State law school deans and members of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee, who made the recommendations that were adopted on Monday, said they realized it was essential to give graduating students a chance to practice law in the interim.

That, they said, would improve the graduates' chances of appealing to potential employers, who might be wary of hiring a candidate who hasn't had a chance to take the bar examination.

The rule is on a temporary and emergency basis.

The bar examination in Connecticut is now set for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Hartford, but could be pushed back again if social-distancing protocols remain in place, making it unsafe to administer the tests in crowded areas.

"We like this new rule because it enables graduates to get started on their professional careers before the bar exam," said Timothy Fisher, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law. "They can now do various kinds of client work and limited court appearances on their own, provided they have supervision from a more senior licensed attorney."

In the past, supervising attorneys were required to be present with law school graduates for various functions.

Now, the new adopted rule allows law school graduates to do the following without a supervising attorney present in civil cases: participate in short calendar calls and arguments; report and seek ratification from the court of a written agreement; conduct an unopposed foreclosure proceeding seeking judgment; take part in a pretrial conference or status conference; and participate in an uncontested dissolution of a marriage proceeding.

In addition, law school graduates can now also—with a supervising attorney present—make oral arguments before Connecticut's Appellate Court and Supreme Court.

The rule states only lawyers in good standing with the Connecticut bar who have no history of professional discipline, including administrative suspensions, can be supervising attorneys.

"I think everyone has … compassion for what the students are going through with this delay, and we made the best compromise we felt we could make," said Pullman & Comley member Anne Dranginis, chairwoman of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee.

While Utah enacted diploma privileges for law school graduates because of COVID-19 and Wisconsin has, for a while, had diploma privileges for graduates of the University of Wisconsin Law School and Marquette University Law School, Dranginis said that route wasn't an option for Connecticut.

"It doesn't protect the public. Not testing minimal competence erodes confidence with the public," Dranginis said Thursday. "That was a nonstarter."

Brad Saxton, interim dean at Quinnipiac University School of Law, said getting attorneys to act as supervising attorneys could "be a challenge."

Saxton estimates between 350 and 500 graduates are planning to take the Connecticut bar examination later this year.

"We need to have lots of lawyers that are willing to work with a graduate student and be their supervisors," Saxton said. "We have been talking to the bar examining committee on what can be done about getting those attorney supervisors. We are looking to the Connecticut Bar Association for help and law schools are reaching out to alum. Many are already volunteering to be mentors, and maybe some of them would be willing under the new rules to supervise a recent graduate."

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