28 April 2020

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. –  In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Supreme Court of Missouri today issued an order related to the administration of the July 2020 bar examination and law students with active Rule 13 certification to provide certain legal assistance under the supervision of a licensed Missouri attorney. At this time, Missouri’s bar examination will proceed as scheduled July 28 and 29, with alternative dates set aside in September 2020 should conditions prevent the examination from being administered in July.

To ensure compliance with any social distancing, mass gathering or other COVID-related restrictions in effect at that time, the board of law examiners has reserved additional testing sites, and today’s order permits the board to limit the number of individuals allowed to take the examination. The Court also has ordered precautions to be taken at the testing area to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Under today’s order, individuals with properly filed applications for the July 2020 examination may postpone taking the examination until February 2021 and may extend their certifications under Rule 13 to provide certain legal assistance under the supervision of a licensed Missouri attorney.

The Court’s order is available at https://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=155613. The Missouri board of law examiners has issued an announcement regarding today’s changes at https://www.mble.org/news.action?id=1700, and has developed a frequently-asked-questions tool at https://www.mble.org/7-2020_COVID_FAQs.