(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
COVID has forced us to have a serious talk about the bar exam. The anachronistic test invented to screen attorneys entering the profession without any formal legal education simply makes no sense in a world where almost every jurisdiction now requires a three-year degree from an ABA-accredited school to enter the profession. Most years we just shrug off this fact, but in the midst of a global pandemic, as some states feverishly jam applicants into convention halls in the name of taking the test, the ritual rings hollow. The crisis provides an opportunity to take stock and ask if we really need this thing after all and if there isn’t a better way to regulate the profession than asking people to quiz people from memory about doctrines they will never see in practice and then never check in with them again over the rest of their four decade career.
One person who didn’t need the crisis to have serious doubts about the bar exam is Greta Van Susteren. Five years ago, she videotaped a message of encouragement to everyone taking the bar exam and explained exactly how she feels about the test from her perspective as a legal analyst who practiced for years and has taught as an adjunct.
Yup.
Over the weekend, the video earned a second jolt of fame when current examinees found it and realized that, if anything, it’s more relevant now than it was then. Van Susteren joined in on social media to add support to the effort to reform professional licensing.
#Scam indeed.
And it’s all in the name of a mad quest for cash that only hurts the applicants.
Personally, I think she undersells the competition aspect, especially in states like Delaware and California. Adding to the mountain of debt upon law school graduates is more of an effect than a purpose, but that doesn’t blunt her point.
As for a replacement mechanism, Van Susteren has an answer.
Diploma privilege it is!
It may not be the ideal solution absent the pandemic. There are law schools out there that are very close to the definition of “#scam” themselves and a long-term diploma privilege solution must work hand-in-hand with a more robust accreditation process that can guarantee graduates are prepared to practice law. But the “crisitunity” afforded by COVID doesn’t provide the luxury of waiting and could greatly advance the reform effort by allowing a longitudinal study of the fitness of a class admitted without the exam.
As one might expect, the diploma privilege world swiftly embraced Van Susteren as a high-profile ally in a struggle that far too often gets denigrated as “kids who don’t want to take the exam.”
As they say in political Twitter, “welcome to the resistance.”
Except, Greta’s been with the resistance since before it even got rolling and she has the YouTube receipts to prove it.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.