Vt. Bar Admission Rule 11

An Applicant for admission by examination must achieve a scaled score of 80 or higher on the

MPRE within a period beginning three years before achieving a Uniform Bar Examination score that

meets Vermont’s passing score requirement and concluding one year after written notification to

the Applicant of achieving such a score.

The Applicant is responsible for ensuring that the Board receives an official report from the

NCBE certifying the Applicant’s score and the MPRE administration date at which the score was

achieved.

Board’s Notes—2026 Amendment

In conjunction with an amendment to Rule 13(e), Rule 11 is

amended to remove the good-cause extension. This change is based

on the Board’s experience that the good-cause standard is unwieldy

and difficult to apply in a consistent manner across applicants. The

Board also finds that the MPRE is the most objective demonstration

of recent ethical knowledge and the exam itself is not an

unreasonable burden if the applicant must take it again.

Board’s Notes—2023 Amendment

In conjunction with a similar amendment to Rule 13(e), Rule 11

is amended to clarify what good cause means in the context of the

Board of Bar Examiners’ determination of whether to extend the

time within which the Board will accept an MPRE score.

Board’s Notes—2022 Amendment

The wording in Rule 11 regarding the MPRE passing score is

corrected to clarify that an Applicant must receive a score of 80 or

higher.

Board’s Notes—2022 Amendment

The wording in Rule 11 regarding the MPRE passing score is

corrected to clarify that an Applicant must receive a score of 80 or

higher.

Board’s Notes – 2018 Amendment

Rules 9(b)(1), 11, and 13(e) have been revised to ensure

consistency and clarity with regards to the permitted age of UBE

and MPRE scores. Rule 11 is revised to make it clear that the

triggering date for the time limit for the age of the MPRE score is

the date the applicant achieves a passing UBE score, consistent with

the prior Board’s Notes. Also, Rule 11 now allows for an extension

to the time limitation for good cause, consistent with existing Rule

13(d) and the revisions to Rules 9(b)(1) and 13(e). See Board’s Notes

to simultaneous amendments to Rules 9 and 13.

Rule 11 is derived from prior rule § 6.

The required score of 80 remains the same. The temporal

window in which the MPRE must be taken is now based on the date

the Applicant achieved a passing score on the Uniform Bar

Examination.