Bar Exam

‘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

Harvard Law will accept GRE as entrance exam

Harvard Law School will accept the Graduate Record Examination in lieu of the Law School Admissions Test, starting this fall. The change is part of a strategy to expand law school access domestically and internationally.

Mar 9, 2017 8:35 AM CST

Will delaying the exam, adding training help Arizona Summit students pass the bar?

Corrected: A year ago, Kelly Blake was stressed out. The Arizona Summit School of Law graduate was studying for the state bar and suspected that her chance at passing was about 50 percent.

Feb 27, 2017 8:30 AM CST

ABA House rejects proposal to tighten bar-pass standards for law schools

The ABA House of Delegates on Tuesday voted against a proposal to tighten bar passage rate standards for accredited law schools. Under ABA rules, the house can send the proposed rule, Resolution 110B, back to the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar twice for…

Feb 6, 2017 3:33 PM CST

LSAT scores at high-risk schools getting worse, according to analysis by law school reform group

Despite increased attention to admissions standards for ABA-accredited law schools, LSAT numbers and bar-pass rates are getting worse at those schools seen as the most at risk for exploiting students, according to an investigation released Thursday by Law School Transparency. The group, which focuses on law school reform, first published…

Feb 2, 2017 2:25 PM CST

Proposal to tighten ABA bar-pass standards criticized by deans and state bar president

A group of 90 law school deans asked the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to pull a proposal that would tighten accreditation requirements on bar passage rates. Under the proposal, being in compliance with Standard 316 of the section’s law school accreditation…

Jan 19, 2017 3:50 PM CST

How to prepare for another try at the bar exam (podcast with transcript)

It’s not terribly unusual for a law grad to need to take the bar exam more than once to pass. But the experience of failing the bar can be crushing to one’s confidence–and concentration. After failing the bar exam, many students have a hard time studying for a retake. This…

Jan 4, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Georgia bar exam mistake takes toll on 90 law students

Imagine that you spend countless hours studying for the bar exam. You take the exam. You are told that you failed. Then you find out that you did, indeed, pass the exam after all.

Jan 1, 2017 3:10 AM CST

Conflicting views on proposal to link accreditation to bar passage results

No ABA-accredited law school has ever been out of compliance with a standard regarding bar passage percentages, and that may indicate that the standard is not working well. The ABA House of Delegates is expected to consider a proposal to revise the standard.

Jan 1, 2017 1:10 AM CST

What’s the best way to share a school’s bad bar exam results? These deans have some thoughts

David Faigman, the acting dean at University of California Hastings College of the Law, didn’t know that he’d get individual notice of bar passage rates. But one Friday afternoon in early December, his assistant brought him a letter informing him that Hastings’ July 2016 first-time pass rate was 51 percent.…

Dec 16, 2016 2:10 PM CST