Part I. General
18VAC35-20-10. Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Board of Bar Examiners" or "board" means the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners, whose members are appointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia.
"Full-time practice of law" means at the discretion of the board, service as a law clerk for a trial or appellate judge or employment as an instructor or professor at an ABA approved law school.
"Program" means the law reader program authorized by § 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia and implemented in this chapter.
"Reader" means a person, whose application for enrollment in the law reader program has been accepted by the board.
"Six-year rule" means the maximum amount of time any reader shall be permitted to stay in the program without successfully completing the course of study, and is measured from the first day of the month in which the reader is authorized to begin the program. For good cause shown, the board may, in its discretion, extend the time a reader is permitted to stay in the program.
Statutory Authority
§ 54.1-3922 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 1.1, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-20. Purpose of regulation.
A. The law reader program authorized by subdivision 2 of § 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia and implemented in this chapter is administered by the Board of Bar Examiners, which is an agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
B. The law reader program is intended to provide an alternative legal education for people who, although otherwise qualified for admission to law school, are by reason of various circumstances unable to take or complete a law school course of study. The program is not intended for persons who are unable, by reason of academic, aptitude, or other deficiencies, to obtain admission to an approved law school. The program is designed to supply in combination a theoretical, scholastic and clinical experience.
Statutory Authority
§§ 54.1-3922 and 54.1-3926 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 1.2, eff. March 1, 1993.
18VAC35-20-30. Special considerations.
A. The law reader program is not an exact equivalent of law school. It cannot provide all the benefits traditionally associated with a law school environment and education.
B. These regulations are premised on concepts of good faith and integrity. The board cannot administer and supervise the readership on the daily basis expected in a traditional law school environment. The board expects the supervising attorney and the reader to adhere to the letter and the spirit of the program.
C. The board will not help an applicant for the law reader program find a supervising attorney and will not evaluate in advance the qualifications of a potential supervising attorney.
D. The reader may not be employed by and may not receive any remuneration or perquisites from the supervising attorney, any firm of which the supervising attorney may be a member or associate, or anyone with whom the supervising attorney may share office facilities. The supervising attorney is not precluded from charging reasonable monetary compensation in return for instructing the reader; but the law reader program is not to be used as a means for a supervising attorney to obtain inexpensive labor.
Statutory Authority
§ 54.1-3922 of the Code of Virginia.
Historical Notes
Derived from VR168-01-04 § 1.3, eff. March 1, 1993.