Big changes are afoot for aspiring attorneys in Michigan! Beginning in July of this year, Michigan will use the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) instead of the Michigan-specific exam. The move will allow test-takers to apply for admission to the bar in almost three-quarters of the United States with a single score.

The UBE features a multistate multiple-choice section of questions and replaces the Michigan-based essay portion of the exam with a multistate performance test section in which examinees are asked to draft a memo, brief, or other legal document.

Michigan Supreme Court Justice, Megan Cavanagh, entered the order requiring the change on October 13 stating, “This change seeks to ensure a standard level of competency for lawyers across the country, allows for score portability, and makes the practice of law more accessible to law school graduates facing employment challenges and rising debt.”

Some of the finer points, like setting the fee for test-takers, are still being worked out in the legislature but Michigan is now the 41^st state to adopt the uniform exam, which was developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners in 2011.