Bar Exam Dress Code

I took the Virginia Bar in 2010, now 12 years ago. At the time, and still now, Virginia bar takers are required to wear suits and soft soled shoes. As a lawyer that primarily wears sweats at home, I’m still confused why bar takers have to wear a suit to take a standardized test.

If the concern is to ensure that each lawyer has legitimate court attire, the rule completely failed to accomplish that for me personally. I wore loose, comfortable pants I bought at TJ Maxx, with a sweatshirt material “jacket,” and ballet flats. I wore a comfortable sweater underneath the jacket, and as soon as I sat down in my seat, I took off the jacket.

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners should change its suiting rule for the Virginia Bar Exam, and if it’s concerned about applicants having court attire, it could have $5 from each bar application go to Dress For Success and other similar nonprofits. They just have the rule for tradition’s sake, it creates an unnecessary hurdle for low income applicants, and it has no impact on the ability to serve clients.

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