Question of the Week

Should bar exam pass scores be lower?

  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • Print.

pass fail

This week, the State Bar of California released results of a standard-setting study of the state bar exam’s passing score. One proposal that came out of the study was to set a new interim California bar exam cut score at 1414 from the current 1440.

The California bar exam is known for being difficult: In fact, only 43 percent of the applicants who took the July 2016 exam passed.

So, we’d like to ask you: Should bar exam pass scores be lower? In every state? In the state where you practice? Or do you think the bar exam is a pointless exercise?

Answer in the comments.

Read the answers to last week’s question: Have you ever moonlighted to supplement your primary income?

Featured answer:

Posted by LarieBee: “I practice law full-time, and I’ve continued to occasionally cater for the business I worked at through college. You can’t beat the cash for serving high-end food and drinks in a party atmosphere. I also get to do a fair amount of networking at catering events, as many of the regular clients were happy to follow my success during and after school. While I have no desire to practice in Chicago, it’s nice knowing I have connections there if need be. As a young attorney in a rural area, I still enjoy surprising out-of-town guests who make assumptions about their servers.”

Do you have an idea for a question of the week? If so, contact us.

Give us feedback, share a story tip or update, or report an error.