Arizona’s New Lawyer Apprentice Program Offers Second Chance for Bar Exam Test-Takers

On Wednesday, July 17, 2024, the Supreme Court of Arizona established the first-of-its-kind effort, dubbed the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program, to address lawyer shortages in rural communities across the state.

The program seeks to boost the number of attorneys available in Arizona’s “legal deserts,” which are areas with few practicing lawyers. It also aims to help government and nonprofit legal employers recruit and retain attorneys. Under the new program, law school graduates who score between 260-269 on the Uniform Bar Exam, just short of the 270 passing score in Arizona, can become fully licensed lawyers after two years of working under the supervision of an experienced attorney in a rural or underserved area.

Arizona ranks 49th out of 50 states in lawyers per capita. The Supreme Court order noted the lack of legal professionals negatively impacts access to justice and the effective operations of the court system. It also cited a desire to encourage lawyers to remain in Arizona rather than move to other states with lower bar exam pass scores or delay their careers by retaking the exam.

Arizona’s Administrative Office of the Courts will oversee the apprenticeship program. Apprentices must spend at least 30 hours per week for 24 months working under the supervision of an attorney with at least five years of experience in a rural county with under 600,000 residents or at a public law office. Upon completion, apprentices will be admitted as fully licensed attorneys in Arizona.

Although details like the number of expected participants are still unknown, between 40-80 Arizona bar exam takers typically score in the program’s eligible range each year. The effort aims to address lawyer shortages in Arizona’s rural communities based on an ABA study finding 10 of its 15 counties had fewer than one attorney per 1,000 residents, amongst the worst in the nation.