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Bar exam

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The Bar Exam Does More Harm than Good
The Bar Exam Does More Harm than Good
The goal of any licensure process should be to make sure the public is protected from incompetence without serving as an artificial barrier to people entering the legal profession. Indeed, this is precisely what the bar exam purports to do. But does the bar exam actually do those things?
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Better Lawyer Licensing, Part 2: The Second Three Building Blocks of Minimum Competence
Better Lawyer Licensing, Part 2: The Second Three Building Blocks of Minimum Competence
In October 2020, IAALS published its groundbreaking report on the 12 building blocks of minimum competence to be a lawyer, our 5 insights for assessment, and our 10 recommendations for better legal licensing—with the goal of improving the bar exam and the overall licensing process. Here, we cover the fourth, fifth, and sixth building blocks of minimum competence.
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hands stacking building blocks
Better Lawyer Licensing, Part 1: The First Three Building Blocks of Minimum Competence
Better Lawyer Licensing, Part 1: The First Three Building Blocks of Minimum Competence
In October 2020, IAALS published its groundbreaking report on the 12 building blocks of minimum competence to be a lawyer, our 5 insights for assessment, and our 10 recommendations for better legal licensing—with the goal of improving the bar exam and the overall licensing process. Here, we cover the first three building blocks of minimum competence.
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Building a Better Bar: Capturing Minimum Competence
Building a Better Bar: Capturing Minimum Competence
The legal profession has never had a clear, explicit understanding of the minimum competence needed to practice law and how it should be tested on the bar exam (or through other licensing approaches). Through this project, we have defined minimum competence and have new recommendations for how the legal licensing process—including the bar exam—must change to better serve the public.
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broken pencil during test
No Small Measures: We Must Radically Reconsider Lawyer Licensure and the Bar Exam
No Small Measures: We Must Radically Reconsider Lawyer Licensure and the Bar Exam
The pandemic’s disruption to the status quo brought with it a critical view of the bar exam, how it is administered, and whether it actually tests what it purports to. The status quo—and tinkering around its edges—is not good enough. It is time we had the courage and will to look beyond the assumptions that underpin the current bar exam and towards outcomes and purpose for a new era.
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IAALS Study Reveals the Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, Recommends Changes to Bar Exam and Lawyer Licensing
IAALS Study Reveals the Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, Recommends Changes to Bar Exam and Lawyer Licensing
In a groundbreaking report, IAALS, in partnership with Professor Deborah Merritt at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, has defined the minimum competence that new lawyers need to be qualified to practice law—and provides recommendations for how legal licensing processes like the bar exam must change to be more fair to bar applicants and to better protect the public.
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The Legal Profession's Leaky Pipeline Is Leaving Black Americans Behind
The Legal Profession's Leaky Pipeline Is Leaving Black Americans Behind
The legal profession is fraught with systemic barriers to entry that form ripple effects on the road to becoming a lawyer. The pathway is much like narrow pipeline—entry is limited and every segment is springing leaks, disproportionately affecting people of color along the way—creating a profession that is among the least diverse in the country.
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Regulatory Reform and Racial Justice
Regulatory Reform and Racial Justice
Unauthorized practice of law rules grant lawyers a monopoly on providing legal advice and prevent “nonlawyers” from providing any meaningful legal assistance. This mindset codified in the UPL rules, along with our country’s staggering racial wealth gap, have a chilling effect on Black Americans' access to the legal system.
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Bar Examiners Task Force Releases Phase 2 Report on National Practice Analysis
Bar Examiners Task Force Releases Phase 2 Report on National Practice Analysis
In 2018, the NCBE created its Testing Task Force to conduct a three-year project that, in part, examines whether the bar exam is a valid measure of minimum competence to practice law. Last month, NCBE released a report detailing the findings of Phase 2, a national practice analysis, which will provide a foundation of data for bar exam reform.
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ABA Resolution Urges States to Authorize Legal Practice by Law School Graduates Despite Bar Exam Cancellations
ABA Resolution Urges States to Authorize Legal Practice by Law School Graduates Despite Bar Exam Cancellations
On April 7, the ABA Board of Governors approved a resolution urging state licensing authorities to immediately adopt emergency rules that would authorize recent law school graduates to practice law without passing a bar exam, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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