Md. Rule 19-101 (2026)

In this Chapter and Chapter 200 of this Title, the following definitions apply, except as expressly otherwise provided or as necessary implication requires:

(a) ABA-Approved Law School. “ABA-approved law school” means a law school that is located in a state and is approved by the Council of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

(b) ADA. “ADA” means the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. § 12101, et seq.

(c) Applicant; Petitioner. “Applicant” means an individual who applies for admission to the Bar of Maryland (1) pursuant to Rule 19-202, or (2) as a “petitioner” under Rule 19-216.

(d) Board. “Board” means the Maryland State Board of Law Examiners.

(e) Court. “Court” means the Supreme Court of Maryland.

(f) Filed. “Filed” means received by the Board. A document is considered filed when:

(1) the document and any required fee are submitted electronically through the Board's electronic filing system; or

(2) the document and any required fee are received by the Board in accordance with the Board's policies and instructions posted on the Board's website.

(g) Legacy UBE. “Legacy UBE” means a bar examination administered using NCBE's Multistate Performance Test, Multistate Essay Examination, and Multistate Bar Examination in accordance with the UBE.

(h) Member of the Bar of a State. “Member of the Bar of a state” means an individual who is unconditionally admitted to practice law before the highest court of that state.

(i) MPRE. “MPRE” means the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination published and administered by NCBE.

(j) NCBE. “NCBE” means the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

(k) NextGen UBE. “NextGen UBE” means a bar examination administered using NCBE's NextGen Bar Examination materials in accordance with the UBE.

(l) Oath. “Oath” means a declaration or affirmation made under the penalties of perjury that a certain statement of fact is true.

(m) Qualifying MPRE score. “Qualifying MPRE score” means a score achieved on the MPRE that meets or exceeds the minimum passing score in Maryland established by Board Rule within the required time period established by Board Rule.

(n) Qualifying UBE score. “Qualifying UBE score” means a score achieved on the Legacy UBE or the NextGen UBE in a state that participates in the UBE that meets or exceeds the minimum qualifying score in Maryland established by Board Rule within the time period established by Board Rule.

(o) “Signed Electronically”. “Signed electronically” means a document is deemed to have an electronic signature because the document includes:

(1) a name typed in the space where a signature otherwise would appear, preceded by the characters “/s/”; or

(2) an electronic or scanned image of a signature.

(p) State. “State” means (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States or (2) the District of Columbia.

(q) Transmit. “Transmit” means to convey written material in a manner reasonably calculated to cause the intended recipient to receive it.

(r) UBE. “UBE” means the “Uniform Bar Examination,” which is a bar examination score portability compact coordinated by NCBE.

(s) UBE in Maryland. “UBE in Maryland” means a bar examination administered by the Board in accordance with the UBE.

(t) UBE State. “UBE State” means a state participating in the UBE to which or from which a qualifying UBE score may be transferred.

(u) UBE Transfer. “UBE transfer” means a bar application pathway in this State based upon a qualifying UBE score transferred from another UBE State.

Source: This Rule is derived in part from former Rule 1 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Maryland (2016) and is in part new.

Credits

[Adopted June 6, 2016, eff. July 1, 2016. Amended Dec. 4, 2018, eff. March 1, 2019; April 21, 2023, eff. nunc pro tunc April 1, 2023; Nov. 5, 2025, eff. March 1, 2026.]