Moshe Y.

Admon
Tucson, Arizona 85718
admon@email.arizona.edu
(520) 247-9669
11/7/14

Diane Bosse
Chair, New York State Board of Law Examiners
Corporate Plaza, Building 3
254 Washington Avenue Extension
Albany, NY 12203-5195
UniformBarExam@nycourts.gov

Dear Ms. Bosse and Members of the New York State Board of Law Examiners,

I am writing to urge that the great State of New York adopt the UBE.
I am a native New Yorker born in Manhattan. I worked as a commodity broker in the New York
Mercantile Exchange at 4 World Trade Center prior to attending Rutgers University in New
Jersey, graduating with a B.Eng. and a B.A. I ultimately decided to pursue law, graduating in the
top 5% of my class with an LL.B. from the University of London, and am now in my final year
of a joint JD / LL.M. at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson,
Arizona.
Upon completion of my LL.B. I made a decision to forsake the traditional international route
of pursuing an LL.M. and sitting for the New York Bar, and instead chose to undertake a JD. I
initially looked at Tier 1 law schools in New York but the cost was prohibitive, particularly when
aggregating living expenses with tuition. I enrolled in the University of Arizona College of Law
and am immensely happy with my choice. My classmates and professors are exceptional, the
course and clinic offerings are extraordinary, the learning environment is outstanding, and the
cost is very manageable. There is no doubt in my mind, nor in the mind of multiple law school
ranking committees, that the legal education I am receiving in Arizona is on par with the that
offered by any top tier law school in New York.
Subsequent to graduating I have a keen desire to return to my home town of NYC to start my
legal career but am concerned about locking myself into the current New York Bar, which has no
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lateral flexibility for new practitioners. As you are fully aware, the legal landscape in the US has
changed drastically in the past several years, with a pronounced amount of graduates from the
entire spectrum of law schools struggling to find meaningful and financially rewarding
employment. Astutely, in response to this economic reality fourteen states, including Arizona,
have adopted the UBE. The flexibility of the UBE offers new graduates the pragmatic freedom
of movement so indispensable in todays employment climate.
Presently, if quality students contemplate sitting for the New York Bar, they have to think long
and hard before making their decision. If they fail to secure a job or have the misfortune of
being laid off they must repeat the hardship and expense of sitting for a different state bar exam.
By adopting the UBE, New York will maximize its potential to attract the best out-of-state talent,
and additionally will provide in-state students maximum value and versatility.
I have read several legal pundits stating that the New York Bar is a rite of passage, and by
adopting the UBE New York will lose its special standing. This argument is without any
merit. As the entire world is aware, New York is a beacon of freedom and opportunity, and will
forever have special standing on its own virtues with or without the UBE. New Yorks only
concern should be making itself more accessible for the worlds best talent to practice there.
Additionally, if these pundits are correct that the New York Bar Exam is the only worthy
standard, the present rules allowing New York to grant Admission on Motion/Reciprocity, or
Admissions on Pro Hac Vice basis seem out-of-place.
Factually, graduating law school is our rite of passage into the legal profession. Sitting for
multiple bar exams merely increases the already enormous pressures we face as law students,
and in many ways only benefits bar-exam-preparation companies. The ultimate goal of passing
the bar is not for the sake of hanging a New York Bar certificate on our wall to gain respect and
recognition, it is to grant us the means to successfully and skillfully practice our trade, benefiting
our clients, the greater public, and our esteemed profession as a whole. Ultimately rules of ethics
and, a fortiori, the highly competitive New York market will separate the wheat from the chaff,
and not the bar exam.
Because of this, I respectfully urge you to adopt the UBE.

Yours Sincerely,
Moshe Admon, B.Eng., B.A., LL.B.
2015 JD / LL.M. Candidate, University of Arizona
President, National Jewish Law Students Association