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California Holds On Tight To Its Notoriously Difficult Bar Exam – Above the Law

(Image
via
Getty)

There
was
a
plan
for
California
to
provide
an
alternative
to
its
notoriously
difficult
bar
exam
(with
a
cut
score
40
points
above
the
national
average).
The

Portfolio
Bar
Exam
,
which
was
designed
similarly
to
the
Covid-era
Provisional
License
program,
would
have
allowed
law
school
graduates
to
bypass
the
bar
exam
instead
opting
to
shadow
experienced
attorneys
for
four
to
six
months
to
become
barred
in
the
state.

But
as
you
might
have
gleaned
from
the
past
tense
usage
(and
the
headline),
that
has
been
scrapped.
The
Supreme
Court
of
California

rejected

the
bar
exam
alt,
saying
it
would
cause
an
“array
of
ethical
and
practical
problems.”

As

reported
by

Reuters:

The
court
also
said
the
program
would
compromise
“fairness,
validity,
and
reliability
as
a
measure
of
an
applicant’s
competence.”
It
noted
that
applicants
placed
with
more
skilled
or
more
dedicated
supervisors
could
establish
better
portfolios
of
work
than
counterparts
with
“less
committed
supervisors.”

Despite
the
California
Supreme
Court’s
harsh
word
about
alternative
licensing
programs,
they
are,
in
fact,
trending.
Two
other
West
Coast
states,
Oregon
and
Washington,
have
already
approved
similar
programs
as
the
one
rejected
by
the
Golden
State.


Earlier
:

Oregon’s
Supreme
Court
Could
Greenlight
Hands-On
Bar
Exam
Replacement


Washington’s
Supreme
Court
Green-Lights
Three
Ways
To
Skip
The
Bar
Exam




Kathryn Rubino HeadshotKathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of

The
Jabot
podcast
,
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer
.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email

her

with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter

@Kathryn1
 or
Mastodon

@[email protected].