News & Events

This article originally appeared in The Bar Examiner print edition, Winter 2021-2022 (Vol. 90, No. 4), pp. 34–38.

Rule Changes

Illinois

Starting with the July 2022 exam, Illinois will no longer offer an option of transferring an MBE score to Illinois and then sitting for the one-day essay portion of the exam. Going forward, applicants must either transfer a UBE score or sit for the entire two-day exam.

Michigan

Michigan’s anticipated first UBE administration will be in February 2023, pending legislative action. At time of publication, Michigan has not announced a minimum passing score, when it will begin accepting transferred UBE scores, or whether a jurisdiction-specific component will be administered.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has announced its UBE minimum passing score will be 272. The jurisdiction will begin accepting transferred UBE scores in August 2022 with a maximum transfer age of 30 months. No jurisdiction-specific component will be administered. Pennsylvania’s first UBE administration is in July 2022.

People

Alabama

As of December 20, 2021, Karen Laneaux is the new Admissions Director for the Alabama State Bar.

Arizona

Carol Mitchell, Attorney Admissions Manager, Certification and Licensing Division, Arizona Administrative Office of the Courts, left her position as of August 2021. Lisa Parsons succeeded her in the post.

Delaware

Patricia Bartley Schwartz is now Executive Director, replacing Kelly Phillips Parker.

Florida

Jennifer Martinez Mooney is the newest chair of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. Rachelle ­Munson is now vice chair, and Cristina E. Groschel and Victoria J. Wilson are new board members. Jane A. Rose and Elaine G. Terenzi left the board after their terms of service expired. Ita Neymotin also left, ­having resigned earlier in 2021. Paula S. O’Neil, PhD is the New Public ­Member of the board, ­effective December 21, 2021. Dr. O’Neil replaced Terenzi.

Missouri

Stephanie Angerer became the Missouri Interim Executive Director on January 1, 2022. Andrea Spillars accepted another position and left the Missouri Board of Law Examiners on December 31, 2021.

Nebraska

Carol McMahon-Boies left her position as Administrator for Attorney Services Division as of February 25, 2022. Stephanie Ferris is filling in in an interim capacity.

New Mexico

Henry Alaniz is Interim Executive Director of the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners, effective December 2021. He replaces ­Victoria ­Garcia, who had stepped in as Interim Director after Sophie Martin left the Executive Director position in April 2021 to start as NCBE’s Director of Communications, Education, and Outreach.

Rhode Island

Former Rhode Island Board of Bar Examiners chair, Dennis J. Roberts II, passed away on October 20, 2021. Roberts had over 50 years’ experience in private practice and served three terms as Rhode Island Attorney General from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.

Utah

Carrie Boren is now Admissions Deputy Counsel in Utah, having succeeded Joni Dickson Seko, who retired from the Utah State Bar in June 2021, after 20 years in the position.

Washington

Gus Quiniones resigned as Admissions Manager at the Washington State Bar Association on October 15, 2021, after more than 21 years in bar admissions. Ramana ­Pendyala was promoted to Admissions Manager in November 2021.

NCBE News

After 12 years as NCBE’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, Kellie Early will retire from NCBE in June 2022. During her time with the organization, she oversaw the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) program, which grew under her leadership from 2 to 41 jurisdictions. She also served as the project director for NCBE’s three-year Testing Task Force study of the bar exam, shepherding the study from conception to completion. Early will be succeeded by ­Marilyn Wellington, who most recently served as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners, a position she has held since 2010.

Jeff Grove has been named Senior NextGen Implementation and Process Manager for NCBE. Grove will help guide NCBE’s development and implementation of the next generation of the bar exam. Prior to joining NCBE, Grove worked in the K–12 assessment industry for 20 years, serving as the Director of Assessment Development at Questar Assessments, Inc., and as the Mathematics Assessment Director at Educational Testing Service (ETS).

Mark Connally, Principal Research Psychometrician, retired on February 25, 2022, after 7 years with NCBE, and more than 22 years as a psychometrician overall.

Mark Raymond, Director of Assessment Design & Delivery, retired on March 11, 2022. Raymond joined NCBE in September 2019 after serving as a consultant to NCBE’s Testing Task Force, which he continued to serve, as well as serving on the implementation of the next generation of the bar exam.

2021–2022 NCBE Policy Committees

Three NCBE committees have had membership changes since those announced in the Summer/Fall 2021 Bar Examiner.

• Technology Committee: John Earles has replaced Brian Kunzi on the committee.
• MBE Policy Committee: Richard Nielson has left the committee.
• Communications and Outreach Committee: Andrea Spillars has left the committee.

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