Changes in leadership, oversight come to State Bar of California
In the wake of California’s disastrous rollout of a new, proprietary bar exam in February, the state is mandating additional oversight responsibilities to its testing process.
Among the oversight changes adopted Thursday by the California Supreme Court, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners now must review all exam questions; establish standards for selecting subject matter experts and validation panelists to review new questions; and create standards for third-party vendors’ ability to administer or proctor the exam, either in person or online.
Some finance-related changes include mandating a cost-benefit analysis for proposed changes; restoring the Committee of Bar Examiners’ oversight of the state bar’s Office of Admissions’ budget; and allowing the committee to set all admissions-related fees, including those for the bar exam and law school accreditation.
The moves follow the February bar exam, when the cash-strapped state bar attempted to launch its own test to save money. It resulted in technical failures, troubles with exam proctors and use of questions created by artificial intelligence. And many candidates were left hanging for months as attempts to fairly grade the test were made. Lawsuits are pending, including the state bar suing ProctorU, which administered the early 2025 test.
Meanwhile, last week, the state bar’s board of trustees swore in two new leaders—neither of whom are attorneys. Jose Cisneros, who has been the treasurer for San Francisco for more than two decades, was named the new chair. Mark Toney, the new vice chair, previously led the Utility Reform Network, a consumer advocacy group.
These personnel shifts came as the board announced last week that Laura Enderton-Speed will replace Leah Wilson as the state bar’s executive director. Wilson retired in July.
Enderton-Speed was the supervising attorney of governmental affairs at the Judicial Council of California before being appointed the director of the judicial council’s leadership support services office. She will take the post Nov. 3, according to the state bar.
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