INTERVIEW WITH SARAH HALL, PRESIDENT, CHAIR,
NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BAR EXAMINERS

The following interview was taken with Sarah N. Hall, Esquire, a member of the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners who is currently serving a one year term as Chairperson of the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Q1. Please explain the responsibilities of the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners.
A1. The first permanent, central examining board financed out of applicant fees was created in New Hampshire in 1880. Today, there are boards or committees of law examiners in every state. In West Virginia, the Board of Law Examiners is responsible for evaluating the credentials of prospective applicants to the State Bar to determine that each applicant meets the requirements for admission to practice law that have been developed and promulgated by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (the Supreme Court). The Board is responsible for preparing for, administering and grading the bar examination, evaluating the character and fitness of every applicant for admission to the bar, and recommending or denying recommendation of each applicant to the West Virginia Supreme Court. As far as Character and Fitness determinations are concerned, the 16 District Character Committees throughout the State perform the bulk of the work; each composed of three members appointed by the Supreme Court. However, there is also a Board interview for those persons recommended for such by the Character Committees and those determined by the Board to warrant such. Generally these interviews involve applicants who have committed criminal offenses; who have committed offenses while in law school, the most common of those being driving under the influence of alcohol and other alcohol related offenses, plagiarism and violation of an honor code; who have problems with repayment of student debt and who have not been absolutely candid and honest in completing the application for admission. These interviews have increased in number and in complexity over the years. In addition, with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, there has also been an increase in the number of special accommodation requests, the request for extra time being the most prevalent.
Q2. How were you selected to be on the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners and how long have you been a Board Member?
A2. I think there had been concern expressed to the Supreme Court about the composition of the Board of Law Examiners, and the Court was sensitive to these concern. In late 1980, Chief Justice Richard Neely requested that the Board submit a draft of a proposed amendment to the Rules of Admission to increase the number of members of the Board. Effective November 19, 1980, Rule 1.010 of the Code of Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law was amended by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to increase the number of Board members from five to seven and to set terms for the Board members. The rule states: "The term of all members shall be seven years, except that the original appointments to the new seven-member Board shall be for terms of one, two, three, four, five, six and seven years." At the Chief Justice's request, the Board presented to the Court on November 19 and 25, 1980, lists of names of recommended attorneys for the Court's use in selecting and making the appointments of the two additional members of the Board. The Board meeting minutes from 1980 reflect that, "The lists of names submitted were attorneys who had sufficient length of service in the profession to warrant their recommendation to the Court as substantial, solid citizens and attorneys who would render fair and unbiased service on the Board of Law Examiners in the best interest of the legal profession." On November 25, 1980, the Court entered an Order appointing me as one of the two new appointees to the Board. At that time I was the first woman and first Black to serve on the Board. Since then, several women have been appointed and served, among them, Cynthia Turco, Rebecca Baitty, Chief Justice Robin Jean Davis, Sue Siebert Farnsworth and most recently, Sue Anne Howard. Since my original appointment, I have been reappointed for two more terms.
Q3. Over the past five years, how many individuals have taken the West Virginia Bar Examination and what has been the passage rate? How do those figures compare with the national average?
A3. In the five-year period beginning in 1995 and ending in 1999, 1,370 applicants sat for the West Virginia Bar Examination. Of the 1,370 examinees, 1,057 passed the exam which is an overall pass rate of 77% for the five-year period. The most recent national statistics we have from the National Conference of Bar Examiners on bar exam passage rates for different jurisdictions were published in May, 1999 and are the statistics for the Year 1998. In 1998, West Virginia's pass rate was 76% for the year. Compared to the other 50 states and the District of Columbia, there were 33 jurisdictions who had lower pass rates (the lowest being California with a 48% pass rate), one state that had the same pass rate (Illinois with a 76% pass rate) and 16 jurisdictions who had higher pass rates (the highest being Utah with a 90% pass rate). As you can see, West Virginia has one of the higher pass rates in the country. For many years, West Virginia had the "diploma privilege" which meant that graduates from the West Virginia University College of Law did not have to take the Bar Examination.
Q4. When was this changed? Why was it changed and what is your opinion of the impact of the change?
A4. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals abolished the diploma privilege, effective July 1, 1988. The bar examination was first administered to graduates of West Virginia University College of Law in 1989. Wisconsin is the only state in the nation that has continued to grant diploma privilege. The major reason for the change in West Virginia was to bring West Virginia in line with other states, to allow WVU graduates more flexibility in becoming admitted in other states if that was their desire and to complete the educational process. As stated, the bar examination was first administered to graduates of West Virginia University in 1989. The Board of Law Examiners maintains ongoing statistics on how West Virginia University College of Law graduates perform on the West Virginia Bar in comparison to graduates of out-of-state schools. A comparison of the past five years for the July Bar Examination which has the largest number of examinees shows the following: WVU Pass Rate O-O-S Pass Rate July, 1995 84% 84% July,1996 76% 78% July, 1997 81% 79% July, 1998 81% 72% July, 1999 83% 78% Since 1989, there have been 2,685 applicants certified by the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners as eligible for admission to practice law in the State of West Virginia and admitted to practice before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The impact of the change has been positive, as requiring a bar examination enhances the stature of West Virginia attorneys. During its annual meeting in August, 1999, you were selected as Chair of the National Conference of the Bar Examiners, which is a significant achievement.
Q5. What are the duties of the National Conference and how did you get involved in National Conference activities?
A5. The National Conference of Bar Examiners is a nonprofit organization whose missions include providing information on admission standards and practices to bar examiners and other interested professionals, working with other institutions to develop reasonable educational and character standards for eligibility for bar admission, providing standardized examinations for use by bar examiners and administrators and conducting education programs for those interested in bar admissions. The standardized examinations include the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) and the newest examination, launched in 1997, the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). The conference performs many of its functions through advice and recommendations from its committees and looks to the various examining boards around the country among other entities from which to select committee members. Initially, I was appointed as a member of the policy committee for the MEE. In 1990, I was selected to become a member of the Board of Trustees, and have served in various capacities since then, culminating in my election as Chair of the Board last year.
Q6. What are your responsibilities and activities as the National Conference Chair?
A6. The Board of Trustees of the National Conference, comprised of its officers, the immediate past chair and eight at-large members, manages the affairs of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The officers are the chair, chair-elect, secretary and president. The Chair presides at all meetings of the Board of Trustees and is a member ex-officio of every committee of the conference. The Chair makes most of the Committee appointments in consultation with the president and subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees and in general performs all duties incident to the office of chair and such other duties as may be prescribed from time to time by the Board of Trustees. I participate at the Committee meetings as Chair of the Board. I also represent the Conference and participate in the meetings of the American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and meetings of other groups that have concerns in the bar admissions field
Q7. What has been the highlight of your term as Chair of the National Conference?
A7. As I previously stated, one of the missions of the Conference is to conduct educational programs for those interested in bar admissions. Pursuant to the same, the conference sponsors an educational seminar held in April in every even numbered year in Chicago, Illinois, to which bar examiners, administrators and for the last two seminars, chief justices of supreme courts are invited. We just completed the 11th biennial seminar on April 13-15, 2000, entitled "Searching for Tomorrow's Lawyers: Tools for the New Millennium", and I was so pleased that it fell during my year as Chair. It was the most highly attended seminar that we have held and also from the reactions of the participants, one of the best. We held programs on the following subjects: (1) Issues in Access to the Profession (2) Evaluating Disability Documentation (3) Setting Passing Standards (4) Defining Essential Characteristics of Lawyers and (5) Technology and Bar Examiners. I was very proud of what the Conference was able to accomplish at this seminar, and was proud that the Chief Justice Elliott E. Maynard from our Supreme Court in West Virginia attended and participated in the seminar. I have also enjoyed meeting the many individuals from around the country who are so dedicated in the field of bar admissions and interacting with the various organizations, including the American Bar Association, in the area of legal education and admission to the bar.