ABA Journal

Bar Exam

539 ABA Journal Bar Exam articles.

Cut score for California state bar exam to stay at 1440—for now

The California Supreme Court announced Wednesday that it will not be adjusting the state bar cut score, which is 1440.

California bar brief pokes holes in some arguments for a lower bar exam cut score

Amidst arguments that lowering the California bar exam cut score may help diversity in the profession, increase lawyer access for moderate-income residents and have no influence on attorney misconduct findings, the State Bar of California filed a data-heavy brief with the California Supreme Court taking the position that there’s scant evidence for the majority of those claims.

California bar board of trustees sends state supreme court 3 options for bar exam cut score

Rather than suggest to the California Supreme Court that it should or shouldn’t lower its bar exam cut score, which is currently 1440, the State Bar of California's Board of Trustees voted Wednesday in favor of providing the court with three possibilities--keep the score where it is, lower the score to 1414 or lower it to 1390.

California Committee of Bar Examiners recommends keeping bar exam cut score the same

Updated: On Thursday, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners voted 13-1 to recommend leaving California’s bar cut score at 1440, Courthouse News Service reports. Some studies…

Gundersen to replace Moeser as leader of National Conference of Bar Examiners

Judith A. Gundersen, director of test operations at the National Conference of Bar Examiners, has been tapped to serve as the organization’s president and chief operating officer.

Gundersen replaces Erica…

An ABA Journal Legal Rebel who promoted uniform bar exam to retire

Erica Moeser, president of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, will retire this month.

Moeser, who pushed for acceptance of a uniform bar exam, tells Law.com (sub. req.) that…

More law school deans call for lowering California bar exam cut score

Law school deans at public hearings this week in San Francisco and Los Angeles called on the state of California to lower its bar exam cut score.

Proposal to lower California bar exam cut score considered

A proposal to set a new interim California bar exam cut score at 1414 from the current 1440 is being considered by the State Bar of California. The proposal is one possibility to come out of standard setting study (PDF) the state bar commissioned.

Scaramucci was ‘a big personality’ at Harvard Law, classmate says

Updated: Anthony Scaramucci —President Donald Trump’s communications director until Trump reportedly decided Monday to remove him—was well-liked and a “big personality” at Harvard Law School, according to one of…

Was denial of open-book bar exam for man with memory loss an ADA violation?

Mark Tetzlaff, the Florida Coastal School of Law graduate who recently argued that his student loans should be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing because of undue hardships related…

California Supreme Court asserts its authority to determine passing bar exam grade

The California Supreme Court, not a board of the State Bar of California, will determine what constitutes a passing score on the state’s bar exam.

Montana Supreme Court sets rules for breastfeeding accommodation during state bar exam

Mothers who breastfeed and are taking the Montana State Bar Exam later this month will be allowed to have 15-minute breaks every three hours during test taking, the Associated…

Law school turns to crowdfunding for bar stipends

J. Rich Leonard, the dean of North Carolina’s Campbell University Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, wants to help recent graduates prepare for the July 2017 bar exam, but he’s…

Want to expand access to justice? Offer tiered training and differing practice licenses, profs say

Corrected: Civil legal assistance is elusive for low-income and even middle-class individuals. Eighty percent of low-income people in the United States can’t afford civil legal assistance, according to a Washington Post op-ed by two law professors. Meanwhile, 40 to 60 percent of the middle class have unmet legal needs.

ABA to ask law schools how tightening bar passage standards could impact accreditation compliance

A questionnaire about the proposed revision to Standard 316 (PDF), which deals with bar passage rates, will be sent to ABA-accredited law schools, the Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar decided this weekend.

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