NEW Tennessee Law Course Required for Admission to the Tennessee Bar
On October 16, 2018, the Tennessee Supreme Court entered an order amending Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 7. The amended rule requires new applicants to the Tennessee Bar to complete the “Tennessee Law Course” before being admitted to practice in Tennessee. The amendments are effective January 1, 2019. So, what does this mean for anyone seeking admission to the Tennessee Bar under the new rule?
Give Me the Short Version: You will be required to take a short online course (think video lectures) that will expose you to specific areas of Tennessee law that differ from the uniform codes or majority trends tested on the UBE. This is not an expansion of the Bar Exam. You must complete the Course after taking the Bar Exam and before being admitted to practice law in Tennessee.
Should I Be Worried? No. Read on for more details, but the short answer is no. Cross this off your worry list.
Why is the Court Requiring this Course? With the transition to the UBE, applicants to the Tennessee Bar will no longer be tested on Tennessee-specific law. Like other jurisdictions, Tennessee doesn’t always follow the majority rule and has its own peculiarities. The Tennessee Supreme Court wants to ensure that newly admitted lawyers have at least been exposed to those distinctions and peculiarities so they will be on the lookout for those distinctions and peculiarities in practice. (Wait a second . . . this involves an LLC . . . doesn’t Tennessee have some unique LLC laws? Better see if those are in play here. So glad I took that Tennessee Law Course.)
When Do I Take the Course? After you take the Bar Exam. The Board of Law Examiners (“Board”) will provide you with instructions about the Course after you complete the Bar Exam. You must complete the Course before you are eligible to be admitted, and you must complete the Course within one year of the date on which you complete all other eligibility requirements. Consider taking the Course while awaiting your Bar Exam results.
Do I Need to Study for the Course? No. The course is focused on content delivery. It is intended to inform, not test your knowledge.
What’s the Structure of the Course? The Course will be online, as required by the new rule. The Course is not yet available, but we have a good sense of the likely format. The content will likely be delivered through video lectures, narrated PowerPoints, and similar methods. There will probably be an interactive component (e.g., embedded questions based on what you just heard in the video). The Course will most likely be offered “on demand” in discrete modules that can be completed over several sittings.
How Long is the Course? The Course is not yet available, but we anticipate that total course time will be less than 8 hours.
How Much Will the Course Cost? As set forth in the new rule, the fee for the Course will be set as part of the Schedule of Fees established by the Board. This fee will be in addition to the fees charged for the application for admission to practice law. We don’t know yet what the fee will be. We believe the fee is intended to recoup the cost of offering the Course and should, therefore, be relatively low.
What If I Have More Questions? Contact Dean Wilson.
