New Mexico Says You Can Now Become a Lawyer Without Passing the Bar Exam

Law school graduates in New Mexico will soon be able to become licensed attorneys without passing the bar exam, under a program approved by the state Supreme Court that instead requires a year of supervised legal work and a portfolio documenting their skills.

The court, which has exclusive authority to license lawyers in the state, said the alternative is intended both to measure better whether new attorneys can actually do the job and to ease a shortage of lawyers, particularly in rural areas.

“The skills-based pathway to licensure ensures that new attorneys possess the practical, on-the-job lawyering skills needed to help New Mexicans,” Chief Justice Julie J. Vargas said. “This new option for admission to the practice of law also has the potential to increase the number of attorneys in New Mexico to address unmet legal needs, particularly in rural areas where it is difficult to find a lawyer.”

Two-thirds of New Mexico’s 33 counties have fewer than one lawyer for every 1,000 residents, meeting the American Bar Association’s definition of a “legal desert.”

The traditional route to licensure, a two-day standardized test measuring legal competence, will remain an option.

Applicants for the new pathway would need to meet the same basic requirements as any other candidate for a law license in New Mexico: a law degree, a character and fitness review, and a passing score on a test covering attorneys’ ethical obligations.

They also would have to line up a supervising attorney or a host organization, such as a law firm, government agency, or civil legal aid provider. Those who qualify would receive a provisional license allowing them to perform legal work that would become the basis of their portfolio.

Participants would be required to complete at least 675 hours of legal work within 12 months, with a six-month extension possible under exceptional circumstances. Their portfolios would have to demonstrate competence across a range of areas, including written work such as briefs and pleadings, client meetings, advocacy before a judge or hearing officer, negotiations, investigations conducted on a client’s behalf, dealings with opposing counsel and judges, and law practice management.

Supervising attorneys would certify the work, and the State Board of Bar Examiners would evaluate the portfolios. The board, which administers the bar exam twice a year and processes admission applications, would run the new program.

The court issued an order last week directing the board to develop the rules, forms, rubrics and training guides needed to launch the program. A start date will be set in a later order, but the court expects the board to begin accepting applications by mid-2027.

The pathway was recommended by a court-appointed committee of lawyers, judges and law professors that spent more than a year studying attorney licensure. The committee concluded that the exam-based system fails to assess skills central to practicing law, among them communicating with clients, drafting legal documents and arguing before a judge.

The panel also found the written exam can be an artificial barrier for otherwise qualified candidates, including those who struggle with the test format, cannot afford commercial preparation courses or must hold down a job while studying.

“New Mexicans will benefit from these reforms to the legal profession,” said Justice C. Shannon Bacon, who served on the committee and is vice chair of a national group that issued a report last year on improving legal education and licensure.

“Skills-based licensure will enhance the readiness of new attorneys to practice law and expand access to our justice system for people with legal issues, whether it is custody of children, housing problems, or consumer debt,” Bacon said.

New Mexico joins roughly half a dozen states that have adopted alternatives to the bar exam, and at least seven others are weighing changes of their own. The state’s program resembles a post-graduation supervised practice option Oregon launched in 2024.