Tennessee Board of Law Examiners

The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners filed a Petition to Amend Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 6 Governing Admission of Attorneys and Rule 7 Governing Licensing of Attorneys (No. ADM2022-01449). A copy of the Petition, which includes a summary of the proposed changes, as well as a red-line version and a conformed copy of the proposed changes can be found on the Governing Authorities page of this website.

The Supreme Court has ordered that comments be submitted to the Clerk of the Appellate Courts on or before January 20, 2023.

UPDATE 10/10/22 The List of Successful Exam-Takers and Statistics for the July 2022 Uniform Bar Examination in Tennessee have been posted to the website. The overall pass rate is 62.36% for 736 exam-takers. There were 622 first-time exam-takers, 433 of whom passed the exam for a first-time pass rate of 69.61%.

Examinees have received an email with results. Any attachments to the email can be viewed in the email or in the “Letters” tab in the examinee Synergy account.

UPDATE October 3, 2022, 4:20 p.m. CDT: Applications have been posted and are available for the February 2023 examination.

Applications for the February 2023 UBE in Tennessee will open on October 3, 2022, by 5:00 p.m. CDT. The technical delay is being remedied. Anyone who was required to submit an application within 5 days of the application opening will be timely if submitted by October 10, 2022, as the 5th day would fall on a weekend. The State of Tennessee does not observe the October 10 Federal holiday and the office will be open on October 10.

5/17/2022: At 4:30 today, May 17, 2022, Tennessee exceeded capacity for the examination and applications closed. At the time the application closed, anyone who had not submitted and/or paid the Tennessee application and fee is not eligible to sit for the exam. If you submitted an unpaid application, then your application has been withdrawn. If you did not submit the application in Synergy, then the application has been deactivated. A notice from the Board has been sent to applicants who either did not submit an application or pay the fee.

The Final Deadline for Applicants who submitted and application and paid the Tennessee fee for completion of the application and upload or receipt of all documents remains May 20, 2022. Applications for accommodations for anyone who has submitted an application and paid the fee will be open until May 20, 2022.

5/10/2022: The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued an order granting the Board of Law Examiners permission to close applications prior to the May 20, 2022, deadline when capacity is reached for the Nashville testing location. Capacity at the Knoxville and Memphis locations was reached last week. The Order does not affect test takers who have already submitted an application through Synergy and paid the Tennessee application fee.

Upon reaching capacity at the testing location in Nashville, applications for the July 2022 bar examination in Tennessee will close. Any application with a submitted and paid application as of the time capacity has been reached will have until May 20, 2000, in which to complete the application process. If at that time the application closes, there are more applications submitted and paid that there are available seats, those without a seat will be placed on a waitlist for the Nashville testing location. A copy of the order can be found at the end of the “Examination Locations and Schedule” page.

PLEASE NOTE THAT TO APPLY FOR ADMISSION BY EXAMINATION IN TENNESSEE, YOU MUST BE A BONA FIDE APPLICANT FOR ADMISSION TO THE TENNESSEE BAR. Courtesy seating is not permitted.

AS OF 4:00 p.m. CDT, MAY 3, 2022, THE KNOXVILLE AND MEMPHIS LOCATIONS ARE AT CAPACITY. You will have the option to select KNOX FULL – WAITLIST or MEMPHIS FULL – WAITLIST. By making this selection, you will be assigned to test in Nashville and will AUTOMATICALLY be added to the KNOXVILLE OR MEMPHIS WAITLIST. If, however, you elect to test in Nashville by choosing one of the Nashville test options, you will not be placed on a waitlist and will be testing in Nashville.

You will be notified on or before July 1 if space opens in the location for which you are wait-listed. If you have not received notice by July 1, 2022, that your exam location has changed from Nashville to your preferred location, you will be testing in Nashville.

KNOXVILLE: If you submitted your Synergy application in which you selected Knoxville (Mask Optional or Mask Preferred) and paid prior to 10:00 a.m., May 2, 2022, you will be testing at the Knoxville location. Those submitting applications after this date and time will have the option to choose the Knoxville waitlist or elect to test in Nashville and, if you choose the waitlist, will be notified if seats become available.

MEMPHIS: If you submitted your Synergy application in which you selected Memphis (Mask Optional or Mask Preferred) and paid prior to 4:00 p.m., May 3, 2022, you will be testing at the Memphis location. Those submitting applications after this date and time will have the option to choose the Memphis waitlist or elect to test in Nashville and, if you choose the waitlist, will be notified if seats become available in Memphis.

Exam Locations have been added to the website and can be found here. Please note that space is limited in Knoxville and in Memphis. More information is provided on the “Examination Locations and Schedule” page. (4/26/2022)

Scores were released April 8, 2022, for the February 2022 Uniform Bar Examination in Tennessee. The list of applicants passing the exam can be found here. Of the 273 examinees, 111 achieved a score of 270 or higher, a pass rate of 40.66%. Statistical information for the February 2022 UBE in Tennessee can be found here.

By order filed March 14, 2022, the Tennessee Supreme Court has temporarily granted the Board discretion to waive the late fee imposed by Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, § 10.01(h) for registration of lawyers working remotely as in-house counsel for a Tennessee company. As stated in the Order, “the widespread use of employees working remotely has created uncertainty concerning when a lawyer has established a ‘systematic and continuous presence’ in Tennessee” under Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 8, RPC 5.5(d)(1) and Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, § 10.01(a), governing registration of in-house counsel. A lawyer approved for registration under this provision is deemed approved as if the registration had been timely filed.

Applications for Admission without Examination (Comity) have been delayed due to the extensive amount of time the Board and staff members have had to dedicate to administering and processing the remote examinations given between October 2020 and July 2021. At this time, review of comity applications and approval by the Board are taking an average of 14 months. The Board and staff are committed to completing the pending cases and reducing the time between application submittal and Board decision.

To permit attorneys who have been affected by the delays to continue to practice pending admission as provided in Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, Sec. 10.07, the Supreme Court filed an order on November 9, 2021, modifying Rule 7, Sec. 10.07. Lawyers who submitted and paid for an application for admission by comity prior to July 1, 2021, and who have registered or subsequently register to practice under section 10.07, may continue to practice pending admission until July 1, 2022, absent a terminating event as provided in section 10.07(b).

The Office of the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners will be closed Thursday, December 24, and Friday, December 25, 2020 for Christmas as designated state holidays.

Additionally, the office will be closed Thursday, December 31, 2020, and Friday, January 1, 2021, for the New Year as designated state holidays.

Questions emailed to BLE.Administrator@tncourts.gov will not be answered on days the office is closed. Responses will be provided during working hours as soon as possible and in the order in which the emails are received. Most answers can be found in information included in this website, in Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 7, or in the Board’s Policies and Procedures found under “Governing Authorities.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court adopted amendments to Rule 7, Tennessee Supreme Court Rules on August 6, 2020. The amendments clarify the applicable standard for character and fitness, clarify the conditions that may be imposed for conditional admission , and make corrections to the rule for uniformity and consistency. A copy of the Order can be found here. Rule 7, as amended, can be found under Governing Authorities.

On July 15, 2020 the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an order canceling the in-person exam and approving the use of the remotely proctored examination (Admissions Assessment) on October 5th and 6th. The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners is pleased to announce that a reciprocity agreement has been signed with New Jersey that will permit the transfer of scores earned on the online Admissions Assessment between New Jersey and Tennessee. We will post additional states as they are added on the Covid-19 Announcements page.

Update 7/17/2020: The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners is pleased to announce that a reciprocity agreement has been signed with Kentucky that will permit the transfer of scores earned on the online Admissions Assessment between Kentucky and Tennessee.

Update 7/28/2020: The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners is pleased to announce that a reciprocity agreement has been signed with Ohio that will permit the transfer of scores earned on the online Admissions Assessment between Ohio and Tennessee.

Update 7/29/2020: The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners is pleased to announce that a reciprocity agreement has been signed with Connecticut that will permit the transfer of scores earned on the online Admissions Assessment between Connecticut and Tennessee.