RI Bar

2 steps down to this whole RI Bar process.
1) Take and pass MPRE. Check.
2) Turn in Bar application. Check (yesterday).

The only thing left is to take and pass the Bar exam. Yeah. If any of you remember the last time I took the Bar, you know you'll be hearing ALL about this during June and July.

So Rhode Island is already on my crap list for a couple of reasons. 1) They're the smallest state in the country and they're making me take the entire Bar even though I've already done this before and passed. Passed well enough to waive into DC even. And even though their laws are really, really similar to the laws of Massachusetts because in a lot of ways they're like Massachusetts Junior. 2) They made me retake the MPRE because I hadn't taken it within the 2 years of taking the Bar, which was just adding salt to the wound. I'm not positive, but I think Rhode Island may be the only state with this stipulation.

You would think this would have prepared me for the ridiculousness that is the application for the RI Bar, but I was still shocked. Here's all the information I've been gathering for the last few weeks:

• Every place I've lived since I turned 21.
• Every place I've worked for more than 6 months since I turned 21, plus an employment verification form from each of these employers.
• 27 references. TWENTY-SEVEN. That's 5 people generally, none of whom are related to me, have employed me, or went to law school with me. 2 people to fill out affidavits of my good moral character (Thanks, Jenn and Dave!). And since I've been a practicing attorney for a few years, as an added bonus, 3 attorneys and 2 clients, plus 5 upstanding people in each of the jurisdictions in which I've practiced law (which is 3 jurisdictions).
• A handwriting sample certified by my law school. Which makes me wonder what the people do who are trying to get admitted when they've been out of law school for 20 years. Thankfully I work down the street from my law school 2 days a week and the lady in the dean's office was VERY familiar with the RI Bar process.
• A copy of my law school application.
• A certified copy of my law school transcript.
• A copy of my credit report.
• A list of all of my debts and credit cards (even if they have no balance).
• Criminal background checks from every state I've lived in since I turned 21, which for me is 6 states. Thankfully two of them will only give that information to government agencies (Thanks, Arizona and Vermont!), so I only had to get 4 of those.
• Certificates of Good Standing from the two jurisdictions where I'm admitted to practice law.

All of that, plus all of my general information about everything about me ever except my blood type. And then I paid them $450.00 (which I'm being reimbursed for by the firm thankfully).

There's another attorney at my firm who took both the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Bars and he assured me that the hardest part of the RI Bar is the application. So I still have the Multistate to stress about, but I think I'll be ok with the state part of the exam.