Just announced:
California Sets Online-Only Bar Exam for October, Permanently Lowers Passing Score
Read The Recorder article about it here.
Nearly half of all prospective lawyers who took the California Bar Exam in July passed this year. 49.6% of test-takers passed the exam, up from 43% last year, which was the lowest pass rate in about 30 years, according to The Recorder. 62% of first-time applicants and 28% of repeat applicants passed the exam.
In total, 8,545 people took the exam and 63.2% were first-time applicants. The July 2017 exam was the first time the test has been administered in a two-day format. Exams are held in February and July each year.
A pass list from the exam was published on the CA Bar’s website yesterday. More detailed statistics about examination results will be available in approximately three weeks. If you’d like more information about the passage rates and statistics of this year’s exam, please CLICK HERE to see the published results from the California Bar.
Congratulations to the 4,236 applicants who passed the exam this year!!
Currently the score for a “pass” on the California State Bar exam is 144 but a California State Bar committee, which included deans from many California law schools, recommended that it be lowered to 135. The Law School Counsel, which includes many California law school officials and California State Bar Examiners, also endorsed lowering the score.
135 is the most common cut score in other states. Many deans feel that the higher pass score in California puts California test takers at a disadvantage compared to students in other states, while others argue that the higher pass score produces top-notch attorneys who are more likely to adhere to ethical guidelines.
You can read more from The Recorder here.
The California Supreme Court has declined to temporarily lower the score need to pass – for now. Recently, democratic legislators and law school deans complained that the California Bar Exam’s minimum passing score is too high. Currently California’s required score is the second highest in the nation. Read more from The Recorder.
A San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled that the California State Bar does not have to disclose test results, including bar exam results, to the public. Releasing these results to the public would invade the privacy of attorneys while providing no real benefit to the public. “The general public has a strong interest in avoiding unhealthy and unwarranted comparisons among legal professionals, including attorneys who are public figures, candidates for office, or those who serve in elected or appointed positions…Additionally, the public has a strong interest in maintaining and encouraging diversity in the legal profession, and in avoiding the stigmatization of individuals or groups of individuals.” Judge Mary Wiss wrote. Read more here.
