The Arizona Supreme Court implemented the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program (ALAP) on September 1, 2024, with generous grant support from the State Justice Institute, creating an alternative pathway to law licensure. ALAP is designed for candidates who narrowly miss Arizona’s Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) passing score of 270, recognizing that a single cut score does not perfectly measure attorney competence and future success. Rather than requiring these candidates to retake the UBE, ALAP allows those scoring between 260 and 269 to practice law under the supervision of an experienced Arizona attorney.
Participants must commit to two years of providing legal services in rural areas or with public law offices statewide and meet all other admission standards. Upon successful completion of the program, an ALAP licensee transitions to a regular license to practice law in Arizona. This innovative program reflects the Court’s commitment to expanding access to justice while offering aspiring attorneys a meaningful opportunity to demonstrate their competence.
After one year, ALAP has shown strong engagement with 70 applications received. For the July 2025 UBE, 16 of 44 eligible candidates (36%) have applied, while for the February 2025 UBE, 20 of 36 eligible candidates (56%) have applied. Earlier eligibility periods yielded 19 applications from July 2024 examinees (35%) and 7 applications from July 2023/February 2024 examinees (12%).
To date, 44 ALAP licenses have been issued, with 40 currently active. Three licensees subsequently achieved a UBE score of 270 or higher, and one license expired due to failure to secure qualifying employment. Seventeen ALAP applications remain active. For more information about ALAP you can visit the ALAP website ALAP – Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program. For information on how to apply, see Arizona Attorney Admissions – Applications & Information.
December 1, 2023
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) is applying the technical and business definitions of the National Open Data Standards (NODS) to resolve enduring, and common, obstacles to collecting good civil and family court data. Developed by the Conference of State Court Administrators and the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), NODS is intended to …
November 1, 2023
The Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School and LaGratta Consulting LLC are conducting a randomized control trial examining the effects of in-person versus remote hearings for self-represented family law litigants in the 3rd Judicial District Court of Utah (Salt Lake County). The project intends to examine case outcomes and litigant experience in both …
October 1, 2023
In 2020, the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) was awarded a State Justice Institute (SJI) Technical Assistance grant to retain the services of Catalis by Court Innovations, Inc. (Catalis) to assist the AOC with developing and implementing an online platform to resolve medical debt disputes in Hamilton County, TN, before a lawsuit is …
September 1, 2023
Rural communities face unique challenges that impact their ability to deliver fair and equitable justice. Despite these challenges, rural communities rely on their many strengths to address the needs of their residents. In 2021, the National Center for State Courts, in partnership with Rulo Strategies, launched the Rural Justice Collaborative (RJC) to showcase the strengths …
July 1, 2023
The National Judicial Network: A Lifeline Helping Judges Better Serve Human Trafficking Victims and Immigrant Victims of Crime and Abuse The National Judicial Network (NJN): Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts offers judges an opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and information sharing. Judges from all over the country who are interested in the …
June 1, 2023
The Good Judge-ment Podcast is an educational, web-based podcast for judges, lawyers, students and nerds of all kinds. The podcast started in 2016 as a supplement to ongoing educational programming for Georgia Superior Court judges. From that beginning, it has grown to a bi-weekly program with hundreds of subscribers and over 125 episodes. The hosts, …