Texas Bill HB 1387 Expands Bar Exam Eligibility Pathways to Include Paralegal Experience and Legal Apprenticeships

Original title: Relating to a person's eligibility to sit for the examination for a license to practice law in this state.

Last action · May 8, 2025: Left pending in committeeSponsors: Wes Virdell and 15 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

Law

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What This Bill Proposed

Official description

Relating to a person's eligibility to sit for the examination for a license to practice law in this state.

Why it matters

Aspiring attorneys in Texas gain alternative non-law school pathways to qualify for the bar examination, altering entry requirements for the legal profession.

Who It Would Have Affected

Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Bar examination candidates

Candidates gain alternative non-law school pathways involving apprenticeships or paralegal work to qualify for the bar examination.

Directly affected

Licensed attorneys

Attorneys are newly authorized to provide supervised two-year legal apprenticeships that qualify candidates for the bar exam.

Directly affected

Paralegals

Paralegals with at least two years of full-time professional employment in Texas become eligible to sit for the bar exam.

Key Facts

You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.

Frequently Asked Questions

What alternative pathways qualify a person to sit for the Texas bar exam under this bill?

In addition to completing an course of study, a person can qualify by completing a two-year apprenticeship supervised by a licensed Texas attorney or at least two years of full-time professional employment as a paralegal in Texas.

What else do you want to know?

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Where This Stands

This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.

Procedural history

10 actions

May 8, 2025House
Left pending in committee
May 8, 2025House
Considered in formal meeting
Apr 23, 2025House
Left pending in committee
Apr 23, 2025House
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
Apr 23, 2025House
Committee substitute considered in committee
Apr 23, 2025House
Considered in public hearing

Show 4 earlier actions

Apr 23, 2025House
Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 11, 2025HouseCommittee
Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
Mar 11, 2025HouseIntroduced
Read first time
Nov 18, 2024HouseIntroduced
Filed

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

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