Bar Exam

Top state court mulls proposal to let law students handle pro bono cases, seeks comments

In an effort to provide more pro bono services to those who can’t afford a lawyer, Iowa Legal Aid and the Office of Professional Regulation have asked the state’s top court to consider allowing recent law graduates and law students who have completed three semesters to handle some cases. They…

Jan 8, 2014 9:30 PM CST

Sex offender fights to take bar exam

A registered sex offender in Kentucky will ask the state supreme court to reconsider its decision barring him from taking the bar exam. Guy Padraic Hamilton-Smith has a Jan. 13 deadline to ask for reconsideration of its decision to block his bar admission, the Associated Press reports. Hamilton-Smith pleaded guilty…

Jan 7, 2014 4:31 PM CST

Undocumented immigrants can practice in Calif. under new law, top state court says

Giving its seal of approval to a new state statute that allows undocumented immigrants to practice law in California if they were brought to the state as children, the state’s top court on Thursday granted permission for the California State Bar to admit Sergio C. Garcia. “In light of the…

Jan 2, 2014 9:15 PM CST

Law prof’s quest for bar data to study racial preferences gets boost from California supremes

A law professor studying the impact of affirmative action has won a California Supreme Court victory in his quest to get the state bar to release records about bar applicants, including their exam scores, law school grade averages, and race or ethnicity. The California Supreme Court ruled (PDF) Thursday that…

Dec 20, 2013 3:41 PM CST

Lawsuit challenges DC federal court bar’s reciprocity rules

A national organization devoted to streamlining the process for multijurisdictional admission for attorneys has filed suit against the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging its reciprocity requirements for lawyers seeking membership in the D.C. bar. In a complaint (PDF) filed in Washington, D.C., federal district court last…

Dec 17, 2013 5:38 PM CST

Disgraced as journalist, Stephen Glass faces skeptical Calif. supreme court in law-license bid

Disgraced as a journalist when he was revealed to have fabricated all or part of over 40 articles for The New Republic and other publications 15 years ago, Stephen Glass wound up as the subject of a critically acclaimed 2003 movie that helped make him something of a household name.…

Nov 6, 2013 11:30 PM CST

ABA committee recommends pushing all jurisdictions to disclose bar exam results to law schools

An ABA committee has decided to ask the governing council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to press for the universal release to law schools of name-specific bar exam pass-fail information. The move comes as the section’s Standards Review Committee, which is conducting a comprehensive…

Oct 15, 2013 8:20 PM CDT

Undocumented immigrants may get a law license in Calif., but noncitizens still can’t serve on juries

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill that allows immigrants who are not U.S. citizens to get a law license in the state. California is the first state in the nation to allow undocumented immigrants to get law licenses, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Brown signed the bill…

Oct 8, 2013 11:52 AM CDT

California lawmakers pass bill allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain law licenses

The California Legislature has acted quickly to pass a bill that allows people who are in the country illegally to obtain law licenses. Lawmakers approved the bill on Thursday evening, though it was introduced just last week, the Los Angeles Times reports. The measure now goes to the governor. Assemblywoman…

Sep 13, 2013 2:53 PM CDT

State bar examiners change rules after dustup over religious headwear

The Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners announced last week that bar takers will be allowed to wear religious or medical necessity headwear without prior written approval. The policy change comes in response to a miscommunication with a young Muslim woman who was asked to remove her religious headgear by a…

Aug 23, 2013 8:28 PM CDT

Law prof creates ‘experimental’ calculator for bar exam-takers to predict whether they’ll pass

Will you pass the bar? At WITNESSETH, University of Pepperdine law professor Robert Anderson has posted an “experimental bar passage calculator” to help recent bar exam-takers calculate their odds. “This bar examination calculator designed to predict the probability of passing a particular state bar examination based on LSAT, law school…

Aug 16, 2013 1:30 PM CDT

Muslim woman taking bar exam endures miscommunication about her headwear

Corrected: As she was taking the Massachusetts Bar Exam on Thursday, a Muslim woman was handed a note by a proctor informing her that she would have to remove her hijab because prior written approval of religious headwear is required, the legal blog Above the Law reports. The unnamed woman,…

Aug 2, 2013 7:48 PM CDT

What are your tips for what not to do on bar prep / bar exam days?

For thousands of recent law school graduates, the bar exam is just days away. And more than a million other law grads have already experienced the bar exam and the preparation for it—sometimes passing on the first try, sometimes not. Today, we’d like to ask lawyers who have lived through…

Jul 24, 2013 4:52 PM CDT

Law grad, an ex-felon, gets her civil rights restored in hopes of getting a law license

A single mom and law graduate has been unable to take the Florida bar exam because of a 15-year-old felony drug conviction. Since serving a seven-month sentence, Jessica Chiappone of Boca Raton has worked to turn her life around, the Miami Herald reports. She achieved an important milestone on Wednesday…

Jun 27, 2013 3:51 PM CDT

Law firm versions of big-box stores; IRS summer hours; Airbnb for the bar exam?

Some law firms have a “big box” model, New York City-based law firm consultant Bruce MacEwen writes at Adam Smith, Esq. Which is to say that they are highly specialized in one practice area, have a great depth of resources and expertise in that practice area and are deeply invested…

Jun 14, 2013 1:30 PM CDT