Montana Lawyer October/November 2025

The subcommittee thoroughly examined these efforts and the question of whether Montana should join the re form movement. Their conclusion? While other states may have the interest and capability to experiment, given the expense of developing alternative pathways and the stability of the existing system in Montana, it should not adopt alternative paths to admission, at least at this time. The subommittee’s report noted: “[We] did not identify a compelling demonstrable need for an alternative pathway [for admission to the bar], par ticularly when one considers that developing an alternative pathway would likely involve the imposition of significant costs … for what would likely be a very small number of applicants who might prefer an alternative to the existing system.” In terms of legal education and the graduation standard for admission to the bar, the subcommittee concluded that retaining the existing admission requirement of gradua tion from an ABA-accredited law school was the correct approach. The subcommittee noted that the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, which sets and administers law school accreditation standards, is independent of the larger ABA, which “neither establishes nor enforces ABA standards.”

Retaining the ABA accreditation standard for admission was also broadly supported in the survey of State Bar mem bers conducted last fall. Fully 80% of respondents supported retaining the ABA accreditation standard for admission, with 11% indicating they did not have enough information to form an opinion, and only 9% indicating they wanted to allow graduates of non-ABA-accredited programs to sit for the Montana bar exam. While passing on fundamental changes to the admis sion examination, the subcommittee did recommend that Montana adopt the NextGen Bar Exam. Forty-five U.S. ju risdictions have decided to move forward with the NextGen exam, which will be first administered in July of 2026, with Idaho, Washington, and Oregon among the first adopters. North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming will move for ward with the NextGen beginning with the July 2027 exam. “[We] recommend that the State Bar Board of Trustees… join with the Montana Board of Bar Examiners in petition ing the Montana Supreme Court to adopt the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination effective with the February 2028 examination.” The subcommittee made no recommendation for chang es to Montana’s character and fitness determination process. Still, it suggested that the Montana Board of Bar Examiners consider conducting a standard-setting exercise to review the current passing score for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). “The minimum passing scores should not be set so high so as to exclude those who might properly serve in the practice of law, nor so low that those who might pose a danger as a result of inadequate knowledge or training.” Stuart Segrest, a past president of the State Bar and co-chair of the larger Task Force, praised the work of the subcommittee. “The State Bar relies on volunteer leaders, and the Task Force subcommittee that examined these important education and admission issues did invaluable work. This impressive teams’ deep exploration of the ef forts underway nationally, combined with the subcommit tees’ measured recommendations, will help guide the State Bar during this dynamic time in legal education and bar admissions.”

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