Bar Exam

Kim Kardashian says she finally passed the ‘baby bar’ exam after her apprenticeship studies

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has passed the “baby bar” exam required for would-be California lawyers who opt to learn the law through apprenticeship instead of law school.

Dec 14, 2021 3:08 PM CST

A few years after graduating from high school and college concurrently, 19-year-old preps for February bar

Braxton Moral isn’t sure what he wants to do after he passes the bar, and that’s OK. He’s only 19 years old. In addition to being years younger than the vast majority of candidates sitting for the February 2022 bar, Moral is set to graduate from Kansas’ Washburn University School of Law in 2.5 years rather than the traditional three. He claims he didn’t do well during his first semester but started to get the hang of it by the second.

Dec 8, 2021 8:46 AM CST

Are remote learning and burnout to blame for declining bar pass rates?

Bar exam pass rates dropped in July 2021, and some fear another decrease for 2022 graduates nationally because most candidates will have experienced at least half their legal education during the pandemic. Related problems mentioned by academics include getting used to online learning, isolation, anxiety and exhaustion.

Nov 16, 2021 3:37 PM CST

Law grad’s petition blames software crash for bar exam failure, seeks law license

Represented by his former law professor, a graduate of Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is seeking admission to the bar, despite a bar exam score that was five points too low.

Nov 9, 2021 10:51 AM CST

Weekly Briefs: ‘Copyright troll’ lawyer is suspended; law grad who married Japanese princess fails bar

‘Copyright troll’ lawyer is suspended in NY A New York appeals court has suspended a lawyer once deemed a “copyright troll” because of the large number of copyright complaints that he filed on behalf of photographers. The Appellate Division’s Second Judicial Department of the New York Supreme Court suspended lawyer…

Nov 5, 2021 3:16 PM CDT

New York sees decrease in pass rate for July bar exam

The overall pass rate for the July bar exam in New York is 63%, the New York State Board of Law Examiners announced Oct. 28.

Oct 29, 2021 9:46 AM CDT

Jurisdictions are switching back to in-person bar exam starting in February

The February 2022 bar exam for California will be administered in person, the California Supreme Court announced in a Wednesday order. Various jurisdictions have made similar announcements, including New York, Illinois and Texas.

Oct 21, 2021 9:46 AM CDT

Following repeat problems with remote bar exam, California releases investigation findings

Updated: Out of more than 7,000 people who took the July 2021 California bar exam, about 31% experienced software issues. But those problems didn't result in losses of testing time, the State Bar of California announced Monday.

Sep 28, 2021 10:51 AM CDT

National mean scaled score for August MBE slightly decreases compared to 2019

For the July 2021 Multistate Bar Examination, which had 45,872 test-takers, the national mean scaled score was 140.4, according to a Wednesday news release from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Sep 15, 2021 2:54 PM CDT

Technical problems again plague remote bar examinees, who blame software provider

Following various technical issues candidates faced with the remote October 2020 bar exam, the July 2021 online administration had problems as well, according to some test-takers. They reject software provider ExamSoft’s assertion that the complications were related to hardware.

Aug 5, 2021 11:27 AM CDT

When it comes to studying for the bar exam, how much is too much?

Bar exam candidates who start study sessions earlier in the day could have a better chance of passing, but keeping at it for 10 or more hours daily could harm one’s chances of success, according to a study released Tuesday by AccessLex.

Jul 13, 2021 12:15 PM CDT

What can bar applicants learn from the October 2020 exam?

For the 30 jurisdictions offering a remote bar exam in a few weeks, there are hopes the technology has improved since last year’s administrations, when candidates reported issues with facial authentication technology, software crashes and problems uploading videos. However, those who work in academic support advise July 2021 candidates to develop a worst-case scenario plan.

Jul 6, 2021 11:08 AM CDT

State supreme court asked to consider new licensure paths for lawyers

The Oregon State Bar Board of Bar Examiners has adopted a task force report suggesting supervised practice or law school experiential-learning programs as bar exam alternatives for attorney licensure.

Jul 1, 2021 12:52 PM CDT

New ABA data parses out bar exam pass rates by race and ethnicity

According to data released Tuesday by the American Bar Association's Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, 87.65% of the white candidates who took a bar exam for the first time in 2020 passed. For people of other races or ethnicities, the first-time pass rate ranged from 66.28% to 79.92%.

Jun 22, 2021 4:34 PM CDT

With criticisms of the NCBE, New York bar group suggests state create its own bar exam

A task force of the New York State Bar Association has recommended that the jurisdiction adopt its own bar exam and stop using the uniform bar exam, which is developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

Jun 15, 2021 12:25 PM CDT