23 January 2019

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Supreme Court of Missouri has extended the Missouri deadline to apply to take the bar examination for certain applicants who may be affected by the temporary closure of the District of Columbia Committee on Admissions.

The deadline – extended to January 29, 2019 – applies to eligible applicants who applied to take the February 2019 bar examination in the District of Columbia before December 22, 2018, and meet one of the four following criteria:

• Are a resident of Missouri;
• Graduated from a Missouri law school;
• Are a licensed attorney for an employer located in Missouri; or
• Have received an offer of employment as a licensed attorney for an employer located in Missouri.

“We recognize some bar applicants, through no fault of their own, may be unable to take the bar examination in the District of Columbia as a result of the temporary closure of the DC bar admissions office,” Missouri Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer said. “For those applicants with a specific connection to Missouri, we hope providing them an alternative for taking the bar examination in Missouri will help keep their employment plans on track.”

Such applicants still must meet the requirements of Rule 8 for admission to The Missouri Bar and must properly file their application and requisite examination fees to qualify for testing. The Court’s order is available online, and further instructions for eligible applicants are available on the Missouri Board of Law Examiners website.

Both Missouri and the District of Columbia administer the uniform bar examination to applicants seeking to become licensed attorneys. More information about the uniform bar examination is available on the National Conference of Bar Examiners website.


Contact: Beth Riggert
Communications Counsel
Supreme Court of Missouri
(573) 751-3676