Bar Exam

ABA OKs Bar Exam Courses for Graduation

The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates this afternoon concurred in Resolution 112B (PDF) of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar that law schools may now require students to take and pass bar exam prep courses given by the schools prior to graduation. House rules require it…

Aug 11, 2008 8:03 PM CDT

Kaplan Offers ‘Full-Service Bar Review’ in Three States

A company that provides bar review courses for the multistate exam will offer state-specific bar review courses in three states. Kaplan PMBR announced it will offer “full-service bar review” courses in New York, New Jersey and Florida, according to a press release. The Florida program will be available for the…

Aug 6, 2008 6:01 PM CDT

More Stress for Calif. Bar Takers: An Earthquake

This question wasn’t on the California bar exam. But it was on the mind of many Los Angeles area test-takers yesterday, after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered about 30 miles south of the city rattled the area, just as they were finishing up the morning portion of the exam. If…

Jul 30, 2008 6:31 PM CDT

Laptop Woes Last Year in N.Y., Bar Exam Legalese This Year

Last summer’s New York bar exam debacle, in which some test-takers who used laptop computers lost their answers because of a software problem, appears to have had a significant impact on those who administer the test as well as those who are taking it today and tomorrow. In this year’s…

Jul 29, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Judge Certifies Non-Wisconsin Law Grads, Axes Bar Admission Class Action

Not law graduates for nothing, a small group of juris doctor degree holders have successfully sought federal class action status over Wisconsin’s policy of allowing only graduates of in-state law schools to practice without passing the bar exam. But, at least for now, they have lost their U.S. commerce-clause case…

Jun 18, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

McCarter & English Chairman is Tough on Typos

The chairman of McCarter & English is apparently a stickler for good grammar. Chairman Drew Berry tells the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that every first-year lawyer at his firm gets a copy of The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. And he expects the rules to be followed.…

May 30, 2008 4:30 PM CDT

U of C Law Grad Accused of Submitting Phony Grades to Sidley Austin

Updated: A lawyer who attended the University of Chicago Law School has been accused in an ethics complaint of lying about his grades when he applied for a summer position at Sidley Austin. Loren Elliotte Friedman is accused in a complaint filed May 6 by the Illinois Attorney Registration and…

May 20, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Big Firms Often Pay Bar Exam Costs, Sometimes Pay Signing Bonuses

Most of the big law firms help their lawyers pick up the costs of bar exam fees and bar review courses, according to an informal survey of readers by the blog Above the Law. Fewer readers were paid a graduation bonus, a salary advance or a “stub bonus” for the…

Apr 28, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

Boalt Beefs Up Calif. Bar Prep After 2007 Pass Rate Dips to 82 Percent

Rattled by a pass rate on the California bar exam among its graduates in July 2007 that dipped to 82 percent, one of the state’s most prestigious law schools is focusing on better preparing its students to succeed on the ticket-punching test. In particular, graduates’ ability to pass the bar…

Apr 25, 2008 4:44 PM CDT

Law Grad Apologizes for Gay Marriage Bar Exam Question

A law grad who filed a lawsuit because he flunked the Massachusetts bar exam is apologizing to gays for being “an instrument of bigotry and prejudice.” Stephen Dunne had filed a lawsuit claiming he failed the exam because he didn’t answer a question that required him to implicitly support gay…

Jan 11, 2008 12:30 PM CST

Want to Take the N.Y. Bar Exam? Sign a Waiver

Those taking the New York bar exam on their laptops this February will be required to sign a new, detailed waiver protecting the state Board of Law Examiners from liability if the exam software malfunctions. The test takers will be using new software, following a glitch this summer that lost…

Jan 3, 2008 12:27 PM CST

Pass List May Not Be Final for July ‘07 N.Y. Bar Exam

A “fail” may not be the final answer for some individuals who took the New York bar exam in July. If they were among those who failed the exam because of apparent software glitches that prevented some answers on computer laptops from being saved, a successful appeal may be possible,…

Dec 14, 2007 8:45 PM CST

Judge Finds BAR/BRI ‘Puffing’ Not Actionable

A New York federal judge has ruled that advertising claims by BAR/BRI were mere puffery that cannot be the basis for a lawsuit. The suit had claimed BAR/BRI engaged in false advertising and caused tens of thousands of law students to overpay for the bar review course. U.S. District Judge…

Dec 13, 2007 3:08 PM CST

Cardozo and CUNY Gain in Bar Pass Rates

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law has nudged out higher-ranked Cornell for third place in a ranking of New York bar exam pass rates. The top law school was New York University, with a 96 percent pass rate on the July 2007 bar exam, the New York Law Journal…

Dec 3, 2007 3:06 PM CST

CUNY Bar Scores Up

Bar exam snafus aside, there’s some good news for students at CUNY School of Law. The Flushing school has posted the program’s highest-ever first-try pass rate on the state bar: 83 percent, the New York Post reports. Even though the pass rate trails the state average, it’s far better than…

Nov 27, 2007 6:05 PM CST