Washington state has become the second jurisdiction to adopt an emergency diploma privilege amid the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing law graduates to skip the bar exam, Law.com reported. The Supreme Court of Washington on June 12 issued an order that allows graduates from American Bar Association-accredited law schools who are registered for the bar exam in either July or September to be licensed in the state without passing the test. That decision came less than a month after the high court initially rejected a proposal for a diploma privilege. Utah adopted a similar provision in April, but with more restrictions and requirements than Washington. The Washington high court’s terse order offered little explanation for the change in course, but wrote that it, “recognizes the extraordinary barriers facing applicants currently registered to take the bar examination in either July or September 2020.”
