In “The Need for Bar Admission Reform” (NYLJ, May 9), the authors reflect on the necessity for reform in the bar admission process. They make some worthwhile points but ignore the important work that the various Character and Fitness Committees perform in New York State, as part of the attorney admission process. In particular, they seek to marginalize the interview requirement for all applicants. This short piece shall serve as a response.
The authors, focusing on practices involving the Character and Fitness Committee of the Appellate Division, Second Department, believe that the admission process is far too slow, causing unnecessary delay for financially overburdened young lawyers eager to begin the practice of law. They believe that the requirement of an interview for each applicant is a relic of times long past when admission to the bar was controlled by an all-boys club. It is their view that such interviews need only be conducted in the most unusual situation when it is appropriate to “flag” an applicant’s application in advance on account of some past significant problem. The authors also argue for the abolition of the traditional admissions ceremony to be replaced instead by a sort of mass induction, without frills, to be held as soon as possible.
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