Supreme Court amends bar eligibility rules

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week amended rules governing the eligibility of foreign-educated applicants to take the bar exam in Tennessee, agreeing with the Vanderbilt University and University of Tennessee law schools that had requested the changes.

The court ruled that foreign-educated applicants could sit for the Tennessee bar as long as their foreign education is deemed substantially equivalent to an American legal degree or they obtain an accredited American LL.M. degree and have practiced for five of the eight preceding years in their home country.