Section 2.02 - Legal Education Degree Requirements(a) Any applicant seeking admission must have completed a course of instruction in and graduated with a J.D. Degree from a law school accredited by the ABA at the time of applicant's graduation, or a Tennessee law school approved by the Board pursuant to section 17.01 of this Rule at the time of the applicant's graduation.(b) To be eligible to take the examination, an applicant must cause to be filed as part of the application a certificate from the dean or supervising authority of the school of law in which the applicant is enrolled or from which the applicant graduated, certifying that either the school is accredited by the ABA or the school is a Tennessee law school that has been approved by the Board under section 17.01 of this Rule and that:(1) the applicant has completed all the requirements for graduation, or(2) the applicant will have the number of credit hours required for graduation by the date of the bar examination.(c) Any applicant seeking admission by transferred UBE score under section 3.05, without examination under section 5.01, or as the spouse of a military service member under section 10.06 shall provide evidence of the J.D. Degree in the form required by the Board.(d) An attorney who received a legal education in the United States or a U.S. Territory but is ineligible for admission because the law school attended does not meet the requirements of paragraph (a) above may be considered for admission by examination or transferred UBE score provided the attorney satisfies the following educational, licensing, and practice requirements: (1) The attorney holds a J.D. Degree, which is based on in-person attendance, from a law school approved by an authority similar to the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners in the jurisdiction where the law school exists and which requires the equivalent of a three-year course of study that is the substantial equivalent of the legal education provided by approved law schools located in Tennessee. (A) The applicant shall bear the cost of the evaluation of his or her legal education, as determined and as required by the Board, and the applicant shall not be eligible to sit for the bar examination until the applicant's legal education is approved by the Board.(B) In evaluating the education received the Board shall consider, but not be limited to, such factors as the similarity of the curriculum taken to that offered in law schools approved by the ABA and that the school at which the applicant's legal education was received has been examined and approved by other state bar associations examining the legal qualifications of non-ABA law school graduates; and(2) The attorney has passed a bar examination equivalent to that required by Tennessee in the state in which the law school exists; and(3) The attorney has been primarily engaged in the active practice of law, as defined in section 5.01(c) of this Rule, in one or more states or territories of the United States, or the District of Columbia, for three of the five years immediately preceding the date upon which the application is filed; and(4) The attorney meets all other requirements contained in the Rules of the Supreme Court of Tennessee pertaining to Admission of Persons to Practice Law.(e) No correspondence course will be accepted by the Board as any part of an applicant's legal education to meet the requirements of this Rule. Distance, on-line or other instruction that is not in person will be accepted as part of the curriculum at an ABA-accredited or Tennessee-approved law school only to the extent permitted by the ABA for accredited law schools without approval of a substantive change, or up to 100% of the curriculum for law schools approved by the ABA to offer distance-learning programs. The ABA permits distance learning without approval of a substantive change as provided in Definitions 7 and 8 and Standards 306, 311, and 511 of the Standards and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools. Amended by Order filed and effective 3/29/2019; amended by Order filed and effective 4/26/2019; and as amended by order filed and effective 10/31/2023.