Ohio Bar Admissions Workshop and Ohio Bar Application Process

Below is important information for those who plan to take the Ohio Bar Exam:

  • Bar Admissions Workshop – Tuesday, September 14, 2021

We will hold an Ohio Bar Admissions Workshop on Tuesday, September 14, 2021, from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. in The Brennan Courtroom (L180). Our speaker will be Tiffany Kline, Assistant Director of Bar Admissions for the Supreme Court of Ohio. Those in their second calendar year of law school, and two-year international students who are in their first year at Akron Law should plan to attend.

  • Ohio Bar Admissions Process and Important Dates

The Ohio Bar Admissions process involves two steps. Step one is the submission of the Application to Register as a Candidate for Admission to the Practice of Law. Step Two is the Application to take the bar exam on a particular date.

  • Deadline for Application to Register as a Candidate for Admission to the Practice of Law (Character and Fitness Application):

If you are in your second calendar year of law school, or are a two-year international student in your first year of law school, the deadline to submit a timely Application to Register as a Candidate for Admission to the Practice of Law (what the Bar Admissions Office commonly calls the Character and Fitness Application) is November 15, 2021. Information on this application can be found here: Application to Resister as a Candidate.

We will have your Certificate of Dean and a fingerprint card available for you to pick up in late September or early October. We will notify you when those are available to be picked up.

  • Application to Apply for the February 2022 or July 2022 Bar Exam:

If you plan to take the February 2022 Bar Exam, the deadline to submit a timely application is November 1, 2021. If you plan to take the July 2022 Bar Exam, the deadline to submit a timely application is April 1, 2022. Information on the application can be found here:  Application to take the Bar Exam.

For those taking the February 2022 Bar Exam, we will mail your Law School Character Certificate to the address that you have on file with the University of Akron. We expect to send those out the first week of October. We will send your Final Law School Certificate, including the Substance Abuse Certification (if we have a record showing that you’ve fulfilled that requirement), directly to the Bar Admissions Office after your degree is conferred in January 2022.

For those taking the July 2022 Bar Exam, we will provide further information as to how we will make your Law School Character Certificate available to you; however, we will send your Final Law School Certificate, including the Substance Abuse Certification (if we have a record showing that you’ve fulfilled that requirement), directly to the Bar Admissions Office after your degree is conferred in May 2022.

Please consult the Ohio Office of Bar Admissions website for additional information and a list of all deadlines: Ohio Office of Bar Admissions

  • MPRE:

Information about the Multi-State Professional Responsibility Exam, can be found here: MPRE

  • Other Jurisdictions:

      If you plan to take the bar exam in another jurisdiction, please consult the bar admissions website for that jurisdiction and forward me any forms that you need to have completed.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Charles W. Oldfield | Assistant Dean of Student Affairs
Director of Legal Writing
The University of Akron School of Law
C. Blake McDowell Law Center
Akron, OH  44325-2901
T: 330.972.6750
E: cwo@uakron.edu
W: uakron.edu/law

U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals to hear arguments at Akron Law

Akron law school Brennan Courtroom to host Army Court of Appeals.jpg

In 2019 three appellate judges hear oral arguments at the McDowell Law Center Brennan Courtroom.

The University of Akron School of Law will host the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals for an oral argument, followed by a question-and-answer session with students on Friday, September 24, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the McDowell Law Center Brennan Courtroom.

The visit is part of the Court’s outreach program to provide law students with an opportunity to observe military court proceedings and get a glimpse of what it is like to be an officer in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. Students will mingle with the officers at a reception following the hearing.

This will be the first time the Court has visited a law school in Northeast Ohio. Law students at Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University are also invited to attend.

Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps officers will argue a real-world case involving a soldier convicted of two specifications of assault and one specification of domestic violence. A military panel (jury) sentenced the appellant to be confined for 180 days and to be discharged from the Army with a bad-conduct discharge. The appellant raised multiple issues (assignments of error) before the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. The two issues the parties will argue are:

  1. Whether the military judge abused his discretion by failing to excuse a biased panel member.
  2. Whether the search authorization for appellant’s phone was unlawfully broad and the good faith doctrine should not have applied.

Law students and others may register for the event here. Parking and directions information will be provided.

Akron law school Brennan Courtroom to host Army Court of Appeals.jpg

JAG and the Army Court of Criminal Appeals

The Judge Advocate General Corps is the oldest law firm in the nation—as old as the United States itself. The Continental Congress appointed William Tudor as the first Judge Advocate on July 29, 1775, with Tudor providing legal counsel to George Washington. Congress created the Judge Advocate General’s Department in 1884. That department evolved into the modern-day JAG Corps.

JAG Corps members include both commissioned and noncommissioned officers, as well as soldiers and civilians. They include lawyers, legal administrators, paralegals, and court reporters. Corps members are involved in military justice, operational law, and civil law. They may also provide legal services to soldiers and their families. 

The Army Court of Criminal Appeals reviews courts-martial convictions. Tracing its history back to a 1920 amendment to the Articles of War, it is the Army’s highest court.

Students can explore JAG careers here.