The Two-State Score Transfer Deadline
Dana passed the July UBE in State A with a total score of 268. State B, where she wants to practice, requires a minimum UBE score of 266 for admission without examination but only accepts scores transferred directly from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and only if the score is no more than 25 months old on the date the application is filed. Dana took the exam in late July of Year 1. She did not apply to State B immediately; she sat for a second bar exam in State C in February of Year 3, passed, and was admitted in State C in June of Year 3. In August of Year 3 she decides to seek admission in State B based on her Year 1 UBE score. She files her State B application on August 20 of Year 3 and requests a score transfer from NCBE.
1. Does Dana's Year 1 UBE score satisfy State B's age requirement on the filing date? Explain the calculation and any ambiguity the rule creates.
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The score must be no more than 25 months old on the date the application is filed. The exam was administered in late July of Year 1; the application is filed August 20 of Year 3. Counting from the July Year 1 administration to August 20 of Year 3 is roughly 25 months and a few weeks - i.e., just past the 25-month window. Whether Dana clears the bar turns on the precise measuring date the rule uses: if the clock runs from the last day of the exam administration (say, July 31 of Year 1), then August 20 of Year 3 is about 24 months and 20 days, which is within 25 months. If the clock runs from the first day of the exam (say, July 25), the application is slightly beyond 25 months. The lesson: a score that is numerically sufficient (268 ≥ 266) can still fail on timing, and the applicant must pin down the exact trigger date in the rule rather than assume 'under 25 months' is satisfied. Dana should verify the measuring convention before relying on the transfer.
2. Does Dana's admission in State C change her eligibility to transfer the Year 1 score to State B?
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Generally no - admission in State C does not erase the Year 1 UBE score, and the score-transfer route is independent of later admissions. However, Dana must check two things: (1) State B's rule may require that the score be transferred directly from NCBE, which she has requested, so the mechanics are satisfied; and (2) some jurisdictions treat a later admission as making the applicant eligible under a reciprocity/admission-on-motion route instead, which may have different (often more lenient or more stringent) requirements than score transfer. The exam point is that Dana has two potential pathways - score transfer and admission on motion based on her State C license - and she should compare them rather than assume the Year 1 score is her only option. If the score-transfer window has closed, the State C admission may be the better route.
3. If State B rejects the transfer because of the age rule, what is Dana's best remaining argument, and what fact would she need to establish?
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Her best remaining route is admission without examination on motion based on her active State C license, if State B permits it. To use it she would need to establish the specific predicates State B requires - typically a minimum period of active practice (e.g., several years), good standing, and possibly that State C's admission was itself based on a qualifying exam. She would need to show active, continuous practice in State C for the required period; mere licensure without practice often does not qualify. The judgment call: don't concede defeat on the score transfer without first mapping the alternative pathway and confirming she can satisfy its practice-duration requirement.