328 Pass Washington State Bar Examination

Seattle, Washington, May 14, 2001 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that 328 candidates passed the Bar Examination that was administered in February 2001. Of the 423 candidates who took the exam, 77.5 percent passed the test.

Given in two parts over a three-day period, the Bar Examination includes a substantive law exam and an exam on the Rules of Professional Conduct. Candidates must successfully pass both parts in order to qualify for admission to the State Bar. If a candidate passes one part of the examination and fails the other, the candidate may sit for the next examination without having to retake the portion previously passed.

On September 21, 1999, the Washington Supreme Court approved Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 18, which provides a procedure for the reciprocal admission of lawyers without requiring that those lawyers pass the Washington State Bar Examination. Lawyers from other states, U.S. territories or the District of Columbia are admitted to the WSBA on the same terms and conditions that a Washington lawyer could be admitted in the other state. This rule also enables Washington lawyers to seek admission in those states which provide for some form of reciprocal admission. Additional information about APR 18 can be found on the WSBA Web site ( www.wsba.org/lawyers/licensing/faq-reciprocity.htm ).

The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington Supreme Court to license the state's 26,500 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association — all without public funding. As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member service activities.

For more information, see http://www.wsba.org/2001/bar-exam/winter.htm