South Carolina provides special admission rules for deans and tenured law professors and a separate rule for law professors teaching in clinical law programs.
Dean and Tenured Law Professors
Rule 402(m) of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules permits the Dean and tenured law professors at the University of South Carolina School of Law and the Charleston School of Law to be admitted in South Carolina without taking the bar exam, Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”) or the South Carolina Bridge the Gap program.
Attorneys must be admitted to practice law in the highest court of another state or District of Columbia for at least five years, have been full-time and continuous members of the faculty at the University of South Carolina School of Law with the rank of assistant professor or higher for the previous three or more complete academic years, and have been recommended for admission by the Dean or President of the University of South Carolina.
Clinical Law Professors
Rule 414 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules allows law professors licensed in another jurisdiction for at least three years, and teaching in a clinical law program, to obtain a limited certificate of admission to practice law in South Carolina.