Audit of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners Overview of Audited Entity

This section describes the makeup and responsibilities of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners.

Overview

The Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners (MBBE) was established by Sections 35 and 36 of Chapter 221 of the Massachusetts General Laws to evaluate the qualifications of people seeking admission to the Massachusetts bar. According to MBBE’s website, “The Board of Bar Examiners reviews all petitions for admission to the Massachusetts bar submitted by eligible candidates to ensure that all persons admitted to the bar are fully qualified by education, knowledge, character and fitness.”

According to Section 35 of Chapter 221 of the General Laws,

There shall be a board of bar examiners consisting of five persons, at least four of whom shall be residents of different counties, one of whom shall annually be appointed by the justices of the supreme judicial court for a term of five years from October first in the year of his appointment, and who may be removed by them. Such justices may fill vacancies.

Although board members are not compensated, they are reimbursed for expenses. As of March 1, 2020, MBBE had eight employees to support the activities of the board: one executive director, one staff investigator, one staff attorney, and five office support employees. The duties of these employees include reviewing the qualifications of petitioners to take the Massachusetts Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) as well as planning and organizing staff activities.

MBBE’s appropriations and expenditures are as follows:

Fiscal Year	Appropriations	Expenditures
2020	$1,695,303	$1,644,238
2021	$1,853,730	$1,363,540
2022	$1,985,692	$1,877,891

UBE Application Process

Individuals who want to be admitted to the Massachusetts bar must first complete an application to take the UBE. Applications can be obtained from the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) website. Applications must include the following: the applicant’s name, address, educational background, employment history, and professional licenses, as well as any legal proceedings the applicant was involved in, the location where the applicant will take the UBE, and the applicant’s statement attesting that all statements in their application are true. MBBE reviews each application and documents the status (accepted or rejected) of it.

Examination Process

MBBE makes and upholds the rules for the UBE for admission to the Massachusetts bar in accordance with SJC Rule 3:01. MBBE also evaluates the requirements, which include meeting criteria regarding legal education, character, and fitness to practice law, for an applicant petitioning SJC for admission to the Massachusetts bar by examination. Additionally, MBBE prepares, administers, and grades the UBE. It sends each applicant their results (passed or failed) and communicates all applicants’ statuses (qualified or not qualified) to SJC.

MBBE conducted three remote examinations as an emergency response to the 2019 coronavirus pandemic in October 2020,² February 2021, and July 2021. MBBE shifted back to in-person examinations after July 2021.

2.    According to MBBE’s website, “Scores earned from the October 2020 remote exam are not UBE scores, but will be treated as such for score transfer purposes.” Specifically, Massachusetts entered into a reciprocity agreement with several states to allow applicants to use scores from the October 2020 remote examination (which the other states also administered) to apply for admission to any of these states’ respective bars. MBBE officials told us that applicants with scores from the October 2020 remote examination were otherwise subject to the same additional criteria as applicants from other examinations.

Date published:	April 4, 2023