ABA Journal

Bar Exam

541 ABA Journal Bar Exam articles.

Legal Ed data shows decrease in first-time bar pass rates

Data released Friday shows a two percentage point drop in bar pass rates for first-time test takers in 2022 compared to 2021.

Citing lack of lawyers, public defenders in this state ask to let law grads work before bar admission

A Florida proposal to allow court appearances for law school graduates, up to one year before bar admission, has been made by the state’s public defenders organization.

ChatGPT is asked 50 questions about Supreme Court; it got only 21 questions right

SCOTUSblog has no worries that its coverage of the Supreme Court will be displaced by the artificial intelligence program known as ChatGPT.

AI program earned passing bar exam scores on evidence and torts; can it work in court?

Artificial intelligence programs are making inroads in the legal field, showing proficiency in two sections of a practice bar exam and getting used for the first time in traffic court.

Relax with our favorite long reads of 2022

Feel like curling up next to the fireplace with a good read? ABA Journal Managing Editor Kevin Davis has curated a selection of our favorite feature stories that ran in the magazine and online in 2022.

Top 10 news stories of 2022

Every year, we like to take a look back at the news events and stories that most resonated with our online readers. This year, the financial state of the legal industry dominated the list, accompanied by disciplinary cases, law school rankings and the bar exam.

ABA Legal Ed council advances proposal to make law school admissions tests optional

Updated: The council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has advanced a proposal to make standardized admissions tests optional at accredited law schools.

Pass rates for first-time bar-takers decrease; are online classes the cause?

Aspects of law school remote learning during the pandemic, including open-book tests, are being blamed by some for first-time bar pass rate decreases in at least 31 jurisdictions.

Bar pass rates for California decrease slightly

California’s overall bar passage rate for the July 2022 administration was 52.4%, compared to 53% in July 2021. Results were released Thursday by the State Bar of California.

Washington admits bar applicant with sex-offender status, based on young age at time of conduct

A law school graduate with a 2010 conviction for voyeurism involving shared images of youths can be admitted to practice law in Washington, the Washington Supreme Court found in a 5-4 opinion.

Law grad who married Japanese princess has this in common with 23% of repeat test-takers of New York bar exam

The husband of a now-former Japanese princess has passed the New York bar exam on his third try.

Pass rate for New York’s July bar exam ticks up, as repeat and foreign-educated test-takers do better

Corrected: The pass rate for the July 2022 New York bar exam was 66%, which is an increase of three percentage points from the July 2021 bar exam.

As Golden Gate Law works to meet bar pass standard, new students get full scholarships

Almost a year after being found out of compliance with an ABA accreditation standard that requires a bar pass rate of at least 75% within two years, the Golden Gate University School of Law significantly reduced its first-year class size and awarded full-tuition scholarships to all newly admitted full-time JD students.

Examining the Bar

The profession often has a hard time with change, and some have said there’s a sense that keeping a bar exam will likely assure people in power that wealthy clients won’t be harmed by admissions alternatives. Nevertheless, lawyers interviewed by the ABA Journal say it’s important that states are even considering changes at all.

Scores for July MBE are similar to last year, NCBE says

The national mean scaled score for the July 2022 Multistate Bar Examination, which consists of 200 multiple-choice questions, is 140.3, the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced Tuesday.

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