Board OKs
two-day bar exam starting in 2017
By Laura
Ernde
Staff Writer
A proposal to shorten California’s bar exam from three days to two starting in July 2017 won unanimous
approval from the State Bar Board of Trustees last month.
The first
format change in more than 25 years will bring California in line with a
majority of states that offer a two-day bar exam and save $1.1 million a year.
The Committee
of Bar Examiners, which oversees admissions and law school regulation, has been
studying the change for years as a way to save money and improve efficiency. The
committee held a public forum on the proposal in 2013 and
recommended a change in March.
The current
test for new law graduates includes six one-hour essay questions and two
three-hour performance tests. Starting in 2017, it would be trimmed to five
one-hour essay questions and one 90-minute performance test. There would be no
change to the Multistate Bar Examination, a 200-question multiple choice test
given over the course of one day.
Experts hired
by the committee concluded that going to a two-day format would improve test
quality while maintaining existing pass/fail standards.
The savings
in administrative costs will delay the need to raise bar exam fees in the
future, said Admissions Director Gayle Murphy. It may also result in shorter
grading times for staff, she said.
Murphy said the
committee heard from some objectors who expressed concern that a shorter exam is
less rigorous. However, the experts said those fears are unfounded. The test is
meant to measure competency and not stamina, the experts said.
Trustee
Michael Colantuono pointed out that containing bar exam costs will help
“address a barrier of access to the profession” and “keep the doors open to our
profession as wide as we can.”
On the
suggestion of Trustees Gwen Moore and Miriam Krinsky, the board called for a
status report after the new exam has been administered for two years to
determine whether there were any problems or disparities.
The proposal
is subject to consideration by the California Supreme Court, which has plenary
authority over bar admissions but has delegated the responsibility for
administering the test to the Committee of Bar Examiners.