Dear Students,

I hope you had a restful, rejuvenating Spring Break. For those who are graduating in May, you are half-way through your final semester of law school. Be sure to complete the following tasks this month:

Below you will find:

All graduates participating in the Hooding Ceremony must wear approved academic regalia.  Academic regalia consists of a gown, tassel, tam, and hood (see picture to the left). 

LLM’s and MSL’s should order the “Master Package" and JD’s should order the “Doctoral Package."

To guarantee the appropriate size and timely arrival, all regalia orders should be placed no later than Wednesday, April 1. You have the option to ship your regalia to your residence for a fee or ship to the Campus Store for free.

Please note that regalia cannot be rented, but it may be borrowed from previous graduates. Please inspect your regalia upon arrival to confirm that all items are included and correct.

If you have questions regarding your order, please email Oak Hall or call them at 540-378-7001.

Please complete the relevant Graduate Survey below. The survey collects information about your post-graduation employment status and your plans regarding the bar exam. Toward the end of the survey, you will also be asked several graduation-related questions, including whether you and your guests will attend the listed events and how many tickets you would like for the Hooding Ceremony. The surveys will close on Friday, April 10.

During the Hooding Ceremony, your name will be announced as it appears on your Application for Diploma when you walk onto the stage. In order to ensure that your name is pronounced correctly, please add an audio recording of your name in the Graduation 2026 Blackboard Page. The recording may be up to 20 seconds long.  

The Degrees, Diplomas and Certificates page provides important information regarding diplomas and certificates. It includes timelines for posting degrees on transcripts, receiving diplomas and certificates, and accessing digital diplomas. Important details on diploma names, preferred names, and the process for obtaining an apostille are also covered.

You can view the law school's graduation webpage for the full schedule of events, graduation tasks, ceremony information, bar preparation, and more. 

If you are enrolled in Maryland Carey Law's Barbri Partnership, you should already see your post-graduation summer Barbri course (SU2026) listed in your account.  You do not owe any additional payments as the course was pre-paid through your student fee tuition payments.  You may however see an invoice from Barbri for $280.  DO NOT PAY THIS UNLESS YOU DESIRE HARDCOPY MATERIALS.  If not, simply contact Barbri and ask that the charge be removed.  Limited early access to some materials is available now.  The full course materials become available on Wednesday, April 15.

As part of Character & Fitness, jurisdictions routinely consult with the Law School to confirm your graduation status and ask whether you have exhibited behavior or conduct that raises significant concerns about your character or fitness for admission. Please send all bar certification forms, including those titled Dean's Certification form, to barcertification@law.umaryland.edu.

If the jurisdiction's board of law examiners prefers to send the form directly to Maryland Carey Law, it should also be sent to barcertification@law.umaryland.edu.

Note that bar certification forms are processed in the order they are received. Due to the high volume of requests, there is typically a turnaround time of 1-2 weeks. You will receive an email notification once your request has been processed.

If your form requires you to list a law school contact, please provide the following information:

Make sure to include the following in your email:

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the Office of Student Services at (410) 706-5235.

All jurisdictions conduct a character and fitness review of applicants seeking admission to the bar. As part of this process, the Law School receives a form from the Character Committee that seeks verification of your attendance and asks whether your student record reflects any incidents that could negatively impact your moral character or fitness to practice law. Please follow the instructions for supplementing your law school application if you failed to disclose matters that should have been disclosed when you applied OR if you need to disclose events that occurred after you submitted your application and/or enrolled at Maryland Carey Law. 

For those of you who are not enrolled in the Spring Bar Course, Professor Yarbrough was asked to share audio from his class discussion regarding Character & Fitness on Thursday, March 12 which begins at the 0:40:00 min mark. Passcode: tDu.t0NT

Deadlines for the submission of July bar exam applications are quickly approaching in many jurisdictions. Please mark your calendars as few have late filing opportunities.  If your jurisdiction has issued a seating capacity limit, be on time!

Law School’s Office of Registration and Enrollment

UMB's Office of the Registrar

Office of Student Affairs

Professor Micah Yarbrough

UMB’s Office of University Student Financial Assistance

If there is something missing from the Weekly Student Services Newsletter that you would like to see added, please let us know.