TN BAR EXAM - DIPLOMA PRIVILEGE SUPPORT
A special message from Dean Katharine T. Schaffzin and the University of Memphis School of Law:
The unexpected news regarding the cancellation of the July bar exam has been a tremendous blow to the plans of our recent graduates and the Memphis Law community. The Class of 2020 has worked extremely hard for three years and likely never as hard as they have over the past two months. They were prepared to push themselves past their limits for this July exam and now, their plans and all of their momentum have been paused by powers beyond their control, with a future that remains uncertain to us all.
All of us at Memphis Law share your emotions of disappointment, frustration, anger, and sadness surrounding this issue.
We are all confident in this Class's ability to practice law. Because you are graduates of this law school, we know you are competent to practice law; we do not need a test to confirm this fact. It is for these reasons and more that we support the diploma privilege in Tennessee and are advocating for its adoption.
That is why we, with support from various other law school deans across the state, have sent a letter to the Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court and the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners supporting the Petition of bar applicants advocating for a one-time diploma privilege.