Did you take a bar exam prep course? If so, did you take out a loan to finance it? Any regrets?

The time has come for new law graduates to turn their attention to the bar exam. Many law grads take bar preparation courses that cost between $3,000 and $4,000, and many finance those fees—as well as their living expenses while they study—with a bar review loan of up to $16,000.…

Jun 5, 2013 7:12 PM CDT

Simpler, tougher bar passage accreditation standard to be considered by ABA committee

An ABA committee has agreed in principle to a proposed new law school accreditation standard that would raise and simplify the current bar passage requirement. Under the proposed new standard, a law school would be required to show that 80 percent of its graduates who sat for the bar exam…

Apr 29, 2013 9:57 PM CDT

Quicker route to JD, uniform bar exam on ABA task force agenda; session will be live-streamed

Should law school be shortened with lower credit or time requirements for a JD? Should bar admissions officials offer the bar exam before law school graduation? Or create a unified national licensing system to reduce entry costs for new lawyers? Or create a category of limited-license legal professionals? Those are…

Apr 23, 2013 6:23 PM CDT

It’s not an April Fool’s joke: Illinois bar exam gets harder; which states have hardest tests?

Illinois has decided to make its bar exam more difficult beginning this summer by raising the minimum passing grade by four points. The minimum score will go up by another four points in July 2015. Above the Law first heard of the development when it received a professor’s email to…

Apr 8, 2013 10:39 AM CDT

Gulp! Civil procedure will be added to Multistate Bar Exam

Would-be lawyers who take the multiple choice Multistate Bar Exam beginning in February 2015 will have to deal with a seventh section—on civil procedure. The National Conference of Bar Examiners announced timing of the change in a Feb. 21 letter, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports. Kaplan Bar Review…

Mar 8, 2013 3:07 PM CST

A bar applicant is denied a law license for completing her sentences

An Ohio bar applicant won’t be able to practice law just yet because of a complaint that she continued writing for up to 60 seconds after time was called on some bar exam essay questions. In a Jan. 29 opinion (PDF), the Ohio Supreme Court denied a license to Jasmine…

Feb 6, 2013 1:19 PM CST

Proposal to let law students take NY bar after 2 years is worth study, says state’s chief judge

A proposal to let individuals who have completed two years of law school take the New York bar exam before they have earned their juris doctor degree is worth further study, the state’s chief judge said at a recent conference. Jonathan Lippman didn’t formally endorse the idea, which is still…

Jan 23, 2013 7:47 PM CST

No more 3Ls? Proposal would let law students skip their third year

A law professor who says two years of law school is sufficient preparation for the bar exam is getting a serious hearing for his idea. New York University law professor Samuel Estreicher is proposing that New York change its bar exam requirement to allow students to take the test after…

Jan 14, 2013 12:00 PM CST

Arizona Supreme Court OKs Proposal to Allow 3Ls to Take Bar Exam

Arizona will allow third-year law students to take the bar exam in February under a three-year experimental program approved on Monday by the Arizona Supreme Court. The Supreme Court order (PDF) approved an amended rule paving the way for the pilot program. Arizona is now the only state that currently…

Dec 12, 2012 2:28 PM CST

California Lawyer Accused of Lying to Get More Time to Take Bar Exam

A California lawyer who was granted more time for the state bar exam based on a false statement has agreed to cancellation of her law license. Leah Harmuth was granted time and a half and given a semi-private room to take the July 2009 bar exam because of an asserted…

Dec 6, 2012 2:37 PM CST

Arizona Law Schools Back Proposal to Allow 3Ls to Take the Bar Exam

The Arizona Supreme Court is scheduled to consider a proposal Wednesday to allow third-year law students to take the bar exam before graduation. All three law schools in Arizona support the proposal, the National Law Journal reports. If the idea is approved, Arizona would become the only state to allow…

Dec 4, 2012 12:00 PM CST

Final Call: Section Won’t Accredit Non-US Law Schools, But Foreign Lawyers Can Be Admitted

Oct 1, 2012 6:00 AM CDT

Minn. for First Time Admits Foreign Law Grad Without Requiring Her to Pass Bar Exam

For the first time ever, the Minnesota Supreme Court has admitted a graduate of a foreign law school to practice in the state without first requiring her to pass the bar exam. JaneAnne Murray, who earned her law degree from England’s renowned University of Cambridge, is licensed in New York…

Sep 28, 2012 10:09 PM CDT

Thirty-Four Years After His Graduation, Law Grad Joins the California Bar

It took 34 years and seven or eight tries for University of San Francisco law grad Jeffery Baker to become a lawyer. Baker, 62, will be sworn in as a California lawyer on Thursday, the Contra Costa Times reports. “If that’s not a record for the longest time between graduating…

Sep 6, 2012 12:13 PM CDT

Belief in Bias Can Block Your Success

Sep 1, 2012 6:00 AM CDT