Bar Exam

Scaramucci was ‘a big personality’ at Harvard Law, classmate says

Updated: Anthony Scaramucci —President Donald Trump’s communications director until Trump reportedly decided Monday to remove him—was well-liked and a “big personality” at Harvard Law School, according to one of his classmates from the class of 1989. “In some ways, Scaramucci is a funnier and smarter version of his boss,” Richard…

Jul 31, 2017 3:16 PM CDT

Was denial of open-book bar exam for man with memory loss an ADA violation?

Mark Tetzlaff, the Florida Coastal School of Law graduate who recently argued that his student loans should be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing because of undue hardships related to depression, being an alcoholic in recovery and having various misdemeanor convictions, is now suing the Illinois Board of Admissions…

Jul 26, 2017 6:03 PM CDT

California Supreme Court asserts its authority to determine passing bar exam grade

The California Supreme Court, not a board of the State Bar of California, will determine what constitutes a passing score on the state’s bar exam.

Jul 12, 2017 2:10 PM CDT

Montana Supreme Court sets rules for breastfeeding accommodation during state bar exam

Mothers who breastfeed and are taking the Montana State Bar Exam later this month will be allowed to have 15-minute breaks every three hours during test taking, the Associated Press reports. In February, a test-taker there was denied an accommodation request to breastfeed her child because the request came in…

Jul 11, 2017 9:17 AM CDT

Law school turns to crowdfunding for bar stipends

J. Rich Leonard, the dean of North Carolina’s Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, wants to help recent graduates prepare for the July 2017 bar exam, but he’s run out of discretionary funds for the endeavour. So he’s turned to the Internet and hopes that a crowdfunding campaign…

Jul 7, 2017 10:15 AM CDT

Want to expand access to justice? Offer tiered training and differing practice licenses, profs say

Corrected: Civil legal assistance is elusive for low-income and even middle-class individuals. Eighty percent of low-income people in the United States can’t afford civil legal assistance, according to a Washington Post op-ed by two law professors. Meanwhile, 40 to 60 percent of the middle class have unmet legal needs.

Jun 7, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

ABA to ask law schools how tightening bar passage standards could impact accreditation compliance

A questionnaire about the proposed revision to Standard 316 (PDF), which deals with bar passage rates, will be sent to ABA-accredited law schools, the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar decided this weekend.

Jun 6, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Does California make it too difficult to pass the bar? Two profs link low scores to ethics issues

In California, would-be lawyers have to receive a score of 144 on the multistate portion of the bar exam to pass. That’s a higher threshold than in every other state except Delaware. Law schools in California say the state’s so-called “cut score” is too high, the Wall Street Journal (sub.…

Jun 5, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Vanderbilt law prof who taught Argentine LLM student backs his bid to take the bar exam

A case filed by an Argentine lawyer seeking to take the Tennessee bar exam “speaks to the essence of equity, equality and opportunity,” according to a Vanderbilt law professor who taught the lawyer when he was in the school’s LLM program. The case filed by the lawyer, Maximiliano Gluzman, is…

Jun 1, 2017 11:41 AM CDT

‘Super’ exam for UK solicitor candidates coming in 2020

The United Kingdom’s Solicitors Regulation Authority will require candidates to pass a centralized “super” exam starting in September 2020. The two-part test will include computer-based multiple choice questions and a practical element that may be combined with work-based training, the Law Society Gazette reported. While alternatives exist, the current path…

May 1, 2017 1:30 PM CDT

Arizona Summit offers stipend for at-risk grads to put off exam and get extra bar prep

What may be a career saver for some law students has come under fire from some law school critics who see it as a way to change the bar-passage rates law schools are required to report under ABA accreditation standards. The cynical view is that money spent on the pilot program could be a cost of doing business for the law school, which has 279 students and charges $45,424 for annual, full-time tuition.

May 1, 2017 1:00 AM CDT

Have you taken a bar exam in more than one state?

At Attorney@Work, Phoenix lawyer Ruth Carter writes about her decision to take the California bar exam. “I have had to decline too many opportunities to help potential clients in California, and since they shortened the bar exam from three days to two (only one day for attorneys practicing for the…

Apr 12, 2017 3:38 PM CDT

Multistate bar exam scores drop to lowest point ever; is there a link to low-end LSAT scores?

The average score on the multistate bar exam in February 2017 dropped by another point, reaching the lowest level since the exam was first administered in 1972.

Apr 12, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

ABA House rejects bar exam proposal

The ABA House of Delegates voted against a proposal to tighten bar-passage rate standards for accredited law schools.

Apr 1, 2017 1:30 AM CDT

Graduate of two law schools who never attended college may take the bar exam, court rules

Caleb Alexander Harlin never attended college, but he has two law degrees and one law license. He now will have the opportunity to obtain a law license in a second state as a result of a ruling on Tuesday by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The decision overturns the Oklahoma Board…

Mar 30, 2017 8:00 AM CDT