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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The ABA Journal wants to host and facilitate conversations among lawyers about their profession. We are now accepting thoughtful, non-promotional articles and commentary by unpaid contributors.
.png)
