An Act to Remove Barriers to Becoming a Lawyer
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1352
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: BOYER, BRAKEY, ANDREWS, COLLINGS, DANA, LOOKNER, MILLIKEN, POIRIER, SUPICA, WILLIAMS
Amends: 4 MRSA §803

Legislative Document
No. 1352
H.P. 866
House of Representatives, March 28, 2023
An Act to Remove Barriers to Becoming a Lawyer
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BOYER of Poland.
Cosponsored by Senator BRAKEY of Androscoggin and
Representatives: ANDREWS of Paris, COLLINGS of Portland, DANA of the Passamaquoddy 
Tribe, LOOKNER of Portland, MILLIKEN of Blue Hill, POIRIER of Skowhegan, SUPICA of 
Bangor, WILLIAMS of Bar Harbor.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  4 MRSA §803, sub-§2, as corrected by RR 2021, c. 1, Pt. B, §22, is amended 
to read:
2.  Further qualifications.  Each applicant shall produce to a board of bar examiners 
satisfactory evidence that the applicant:
A.  Graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association;
B.  Graduated from a law school accredited by the United States jurisdiction in which 
it is located, that the applicant has been admitted to practice by examination in one or 
more jurisdictions within the United States and has been in active practice there for at 
least 3 years;
C.  Graduated from a foreign law school with a legal education that, in the board's 
opinion, is equivalent to that provided in those law schools accredited by the American 
Bar Association; or
D.  Successfully completed 2/3 of the requirements for graduation from a law school 
accredited by the American Bar Association and then pursued the study of law in the 
office of an attorney within the State for at least one year.; or
E.  For a minimum of 2 years, studied law in the law office of an attorney, referred to 
in this paragraph as "the supervising attorney," for at least 18 hours each week during 
the law office's regular business hours and:
(1)  The supervising attorney had been admitted to the practice of law and in good 
standing for a minimum of 5 years prior to the commencement of the 2-year 
supervision period and remained in good standing throughout the supervision 
period;
(2)  Throughout the 2-year supervision period, the supervising attorney personally 
supervised the applicant for at least 5 hours a week and examined the applicant at 
least once a month on the materials studied that month;
(3)  At least once every 6 months during the 2-year supervision period, the 
supervising attorney submitted a report using a form or format prescribed by the 
board, if any, describing the number of hours the applicant studied each week 
during the law office's regular business hours; the number of hours the applicant 
was supervised by the supervising attorney; specific information on the books and 
other materials studied; and any other information required by the board; and
(4)  The supervising attorney did not personally supervise more than 4 applicants 
at any one time.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that an applicant for admission to the bar who has studied law under 
the supervision of a licensed attorney for a minimum of 18 hours per week over a 2-year 
period need not attend law school prior to taking the bar examination.