TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Education Series: Alternative Education, Licensure Pathways

Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Dec 15, 2025

In the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Sept. 16 order soliciting comments from the legal community, the court asks whether there are "less costly alternatives to the traditional three-year law school curriculum that would adequately prepare individuals for the practice of law" and (2) whether the court "should consider adopting alternative pathways for admission to the Tennessee Bar — for example, by allowing applicants to satisfy the minimum educational requirements and/or examination requirement in part by completing an apprenticeship or serving with a legal aid organization.” California, Vermont, Virginia and Washington all have variations of legal apprenticeship programs. Utah offers a program that requires 240 hours of supervised work and assessments. Wisconsin has taken a different approach with its “diploma privilege” system. Graduates of the state’s two ABA-accredited law schools may become licensed attorneys without taking either the traditional bar exam or the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). Students must satisfactorily complete a designated curriculum, which tracks traditional first-year requirements and offers numerous options for upper-level courses.

Feedback on Tennessee's potential modification of education requirements and pathways to attorney licensure may be sent to TBA's newly formed Legal Access & Regulatory Reform Task Force at townhall@tnbar.org as well as directly to the court. Watch TBA Today through the month of December to learn more about the seven points in the Supreme Court’s order and specific ways to engage with the task force. Visit TBA's Legal Access & Regulatory Reform resource page for more information.

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