By Tom Jarvis
The Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ) and the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) have released a sweeping report, authored by their Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform (CLEAR), urging state supreme courts to take the lead in modernizing legal education and bar admissions to better serve the public. Chaired by New Hampshire Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, CLEAR spent 18 months studying why many Americans cannot get the legal help they need – and what courts can do about it.
The committee’s findings highlight a growing disconnect: law schools prepare students to pass exams, but not always to practice law; new lawyers often lack courtroom and client-ready skills; and the public faces mounting barriers to justice, from widespread self-representation to attorney shortages in rural areas.
“Every day in our circuit court, up to 90 percent of the people on one or both sides of the ‘v’ in civil matters are self-represented,” says Chief Justice MacDonald. “That’s happening in all the states. We have legal deserts in the North Country, and we face challenges in public interest law – including public defenders, prosecutors, and civil legal aid. I wouldn’t prioritize one over the other; they’re all part of a whole that stakeholders need to address together.”
About CLEAR
CLEAR was launched in 2023 by the CCJ and COSCA to align legal education, licensure, and lawyer readiness with the realities of today’s courts. The committee held 12 regional listening sessions, conducted more than 90 interviews and focus groups, and surveyed more than 4,000 judges, 4,400 attorneys, and 600 law students nationwide.
Chief Justice MacDonald notes that New Hampshire’s Daniel Webster Scholar (DWS) Honors Program at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law (UNH Law) was cited repeatedly during the process as a model for innovation.
“In some respects, New Hampshire is ahead of the game,” he says. “Twenty years ago, the state Supreme Court led an effort with the bar examiners and our law school to create the DWS program. That was the gears working in unison – producing a truly innovative pathway to bar admission that works.”
Recommendations
The CLEAR report makes eight recommendations for state supreme courts:
- Lead collaborative efforts to align legal education, bar admissions, and lawyer readiness with public needs.
- Implement state-level strategies to improve practice readiness before and after admission.
- Encourage accreditation standards that allow innovation and cost-effective legal education.
- Reduce reliance on external law school rankings.
- Expand experiential learning with real client responsibility.
- Reform admissions by exploring innovative licensure pathways.
- Support public-service careers in legal aid, prosecution, and defense.
- Encourage rural practice pipelines, including remote learning and clerkships.
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Shannon Bacon, vice chair of the committee, called the recommendations “a roadmap for how state courts can lead in advancing the profession and ensuring that access to justice for all is a reality.”
NextGen UBE and New Hampshire’s Role
One major focus for New Hampshire will be the NextGen Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), a skills-based national test launching in 2026 and set for adoption in the Granite State in July 2028.
“Jurisdictions will be adopting new cut scores and rule changes to reflect the new exam,” Chief Justice MacDonald explains. “We’ll monitor closely the rollout nationally – ten states are doing it next year – and we’ll be in the last wave in July 2028. We also need to address portability, because for a time the NextGen exam and the current UBE will exist side by side.”
MacDonald emphasizes collaboration with the Board of Bar Examiners, the New Hampshire Bar Association, and UNH Law as the state prepares for the transition.
Practice Readiness, Mentorship, and Public Service
The report highlights the need for new lawyers to gain hands-on client experience early in their careers.
“The DWS program stands as a model of how you produce practice-ready lawyers,” says Chief Justice MacDonald. “It would be great to expand it, but there are limits on the law school’s ability to do so. One area we should look at is CLEs for new lawyers focused on experiential learning.”
He also points to a growing concern in the profession: the loss of mentorship in an era of remote practice.
“We are a profession founded on mentorship, and mentorship is inhibited by operating remotely,” he says. “There’s huge benefit in just going down the hall and talking to a more experienced lawyer. We’ve lost that. Leaders need to say: mentorship must remain central, and if remote work is here to stay, we need to compensate for that with new opportunities.”
Public service roles also drew emphasis.
“Our justice system will not work unless public defenders, prosecutors, and civil legal aid offices are adequately staffed and resourced,” Chief Justice MacDonald says. “Most importantly, we need to be reminding everyone that we cannot have a justice system that truly functions properly unless those public interest organizations have the resources they need to represent the people of our state.”
MacDonald also points to South Dakota’s efforts (see sidebar) as a model worth examining, particularly for rural placements and public-service pathways. While New Hampshire has not announced a similar program, he says the CLEAR recommendations encourage jurisdictions to explore innovative licensure pathways that target public-service and rural needs.
Looking Ahead
Both the CCJ and COSCA have endorsed the report and established CLEAR as a standing committee – with Chief Justice MacDonald continuing as chair – to support implementation, monitor the rollout of NextGen UBE, and convene stakeholders nationally.
“Success means stakeholders working together,” says Chief Justice MacDonald. “It’s unacceptable for 90 percent of people to be in court alone. It’s unacceptable for public defenders to have unsustainable caseloads or for civil legal aid not to meet public need. The way forward is breaking down silos, engaging in conversation, and coming up with constructive solutions.”
MacDonald expresses pride in the work already accomplished.
“To address these issues is one of the reasons I wanted to become Chief Justice; to participate in a national conversation about actually doing something. These recommendations are meaningful, and our commitment going forward is meaningful. It’s a huge opportunity, and I’m grateful to be part of it.”
Conclusion
With its emphasis on leadership from the bench, the CLEAR report places state supreme courts at the center of national reform. For the Granite State, the timing aligns with long-standing innovations like the DWS program and the upcoming adoption of the NextGen UBE. Under Chief Justice MacDonald’s chairmanship, both New Hampshire and the CLEAR committee will continue shaping the conversation on how to prepare lawyers who are truly ready to serve the public.
The full CLEAR report can be found at ncsc.org/sites/default/files/media/document/CLEAR_Report.pdf.
South Dakota Pathways
The Public Service Pathway to Bar Admission, a five-year pilot program approved in February 2025 by the South Dakota Supreme Court, offers an alternative to the traditional bar exam for University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law students.
The program is capped at up to 10 students per class and requires supervised practice, a portfolio reviewed by the Board of Bar Examiners, character-and-fitness approval, at least 500 hours of externship experience, and a two-year full-time public-service commitment after admission.
The Rural Attorney Recruitment Program, launched in 2013, offers $12,513.60 per year for five years (a total of $62,568) to attorneys who agree to five continuous years of practice in an eligible rural county (population 10,000 or fewer) or municipality (3,500 or fewer).
The program is structured as a three-party contract among the Unified Judicial System, the State Bar of South Dakota, and the local government.