We, Future Texas Attorneys, believe that it is unsafe and inequitable to administer an in-person bar exam until the risks associated with COVID-19 are knowable and reasonably manageable. The Texas Bar Exam will require hundreds of examinees to spend two eight-hour days together in an indoor environment. Current medical experts suggest that such an environment presents a significant risk for viral superspreading events, and local governments across the state have taken action to cancel events of similar size and conditions.

Because the Texas Board of Law Examiners has, thus far, refused to consider an alternative to in-person testing, and because in-person testing may not be safe for many months, we respectfully request that the Supreme Court of Texas grant all 2020 Texas law school graduates, and those out of state applicants currently registered to take a 2020 Texas Bar administration, diploma privilege to practice in the State of Texas.

With regard to a safe and equitable administration of the Texas Bar Exam:

• We have a valid interest in demonstrating our professional competency. We earned our degrees and now we deserve an equal opportunity to prove ourselves as professionals.
• We have a valid interest in state-wide attorney excellence. Alternative licensure does not mean setting a lower standard for law students graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic — it means finding new ways to meet the same standard.
• We have a valid interest in the provision of safe, accessible, and equitable testing environments. We are not looking for a perfect testing environment, but until the potentially catastrophic effects of COVID-19 are clearer, putting hundreds of examinees in a room for two days is unnecessarily risky.
• We have a valid interest in the dismantling, and future prevention, of racial-, income-, and gender-based barriers to enter the legal profession. The bar exam should measure competency, not the ability to avoid hardship. COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the same communities that are underrepresented in the legal field — and we believe pursuing an in-person test at this time poses a greater risk for these incoming attorneys.
• We have a valid interest in preventing unnecessary disruption to our investment-backed employment opportunities. Avoiding the reality of this global pandemic and couching hopes behind an extended administration date will only further delay our entry-level opportunties. Pushing the exam until 2021 would mean preparing for a completely different UBE format. 
• We have a valid interest in serving the Texas community. We are ready to start working now as attorneys serving the government, nonprofit organizations, private firms, and large and small businesses, These clients need us and a delay in licensure means a delay in our service.

The Texas Board of Law Examiners and the Supreme Court of Texas certainly share these interests. However, during this period of widespread institutional and economic disruption due to COVID-19, we believe that our health and safety interests have been subordinated by the State's interest in administering a traditional in-person exam. While we, Future Texas Attorneys, may desire to demonstrate our professional competency, we do not necessarily have an interest in retaining a particular method for such a demonstration.

After four months in a COVID-19 world, it is clear that the Texas Board of Law Examiners is not interested in implementing an alternative to in-person administration that could both protect examinee health and adequately measure competency. In the absence of such an alternative, we respectfully ask the Supreme Court of Texas to grant diploma privilege for 2020 Texas law school graduates and those out of state applicants currently registered to take a 2020 Texas Bar administration.

We have spent hundreds of bar preparation hours knowing that, come July, we must choose LIFE OR LICENSURE. That choice is unacceptable.

- Future Texan Attorneys for Diploma Privilege