Opinion
PR 06-0422
03-29-2022
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF APRIL GONZALEZ-ANDERSON
ORDER
April Gonzalez-Anderson has petitioned for 1) waiver of the bar admission requirement that an applicant shall have passed the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) within three years, and 2) waiver of the three-year test requirement for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), for purposes of Gonzalez-Anderson's application for admission upon UBE score transfer.
Admission by score transfer requires that the applicant have achieved the required scaled score "within the three years preceding the date of the application." Rule IV. A.2., Rules for Admission to the Bar of Montana. Gonzalez-Anderson passed the UBE in 2018, over three years ago. We have denied previous requests for waiver of this rule because such a practice by the Court would quickly eviscerate the three-year rule. See In Re Petition of Kathleen L. Smithgall, 06-0422, May 25. 2021.
Also by rule, applicants for admission by score transfer must provide evidence of the requisite score on an MPRE taken "within three years preceding the date of the application for admission." Rule VII.A.9, Rules of Admission. The Court and State Bar are in discussions about altering this Rule. Gonzalez-Anderson passed the MPRE in 2018 when seeking admission to the practice of law in the State of North Dakota. She was subsequently admitted to the bar of the State of Minnesota. The petition states that Gonzalez-Anderson has been practicing law without "any written complaints" since 2018. Gonzalez-Anderson has demonstrated good cause for waiver of this requirement. Therefore,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition of April Gonzalez-Anderson to waive the three-year test requirement for the UBE for purposes of Gonzalez-Anderson's current application for admission to the State Bar of Montana upon score transfer is DENIED. It is ordered that Gonzalez-Anderson's petition for waiver of the three-year test requirement for the MPRE for purposes of her application for admission is GRANTED.
The Clerk shall mail a copy of this order to Petitioner and to the Administrator of the Board of Bar Examiners at the State Bar of Montana.