Tag Archives: ABA

Is the UBE easier than other Bar Exams?

30 Jul

Since the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) was established, several people have asked me whether the UBE is an easier exam to pass — should they wait until the UBE to try taking the exam.

I’ve been rather curious myself, so I started keeping track of the passage rates before and after UBE implementation.

For those of you unfamiliar with the legal practice, each state requires passage of the state bar exam as part of the qualifications for legal certification. Although in the past, each state offered its own unique exam — the UBE is a standardized legal test with scores easily transferred across jurisdictions.

States are not obligated to implement the UBE, and many have chosen to continue using their own exam. Those who do do implement the UBE may also choose to add a state-specific component requirement. But the bar exam itself is more or less consistent across the member states.

The question is whether applicants are finding it easier to pass the UBE than they were the original state exam.

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Falling National #Average on the #BarExam

10 May

Here are the National average Bar Passage Rates from 2007 – Current day.

  • 2007 ~ 67%
    • February ~ 55%
    • July ~ 73%
  • 2008 ~ 71%
    • February ~ 58%
    • July ~ 76%
  • 2009 ~ 68%
    • February ~ 53%
    • July ~ 74%
  • 2010 ~ 68%
    • February ~ 56%
    • July ~ 73%
  • ​2011 ~ 69%
    • ​February ~ 60%
    • July ~ 73%
  • ​2012 ~ 67%
    • February ~ 55%
    • July ~ 71%
  • ​2013 ~ 68%
    • ​February ~ 58%
    • July ~ 72%
  • 2014 ~ 64%
    • ​February ~ 57%
    • July ~ 67%
  • ​​2015 ~ 59%
    • February ~ 52%
    • July ~ 63%
  • ​2016 ~ 58%
    • February ~ 49%
    • July ~ 62%

I cant be the only person who thinks it was strange that the national average sat on 67-68% for several years. Nor the only person who finds it questionable that in 3 years, it suddenly dropped 10%. Something is wrong, and it cannot just be the students level.

I cannot count a lot of the states (they don’t say how many students sat and passed), but for the 19 states I could count for February 2017 the average was 50.01%.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tips & Advice for the Bar Exam

30 Nov

Image result for Bar Exam

Continue reading →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bar Statistics Start to Fall Again in 2016 (Week 1)

2 Apr

Bar Results are starting to come out and some of the passing rates seem to be falling again!

  • North Carolina (26% – if you compare applicant list to passing list) – Fall of 17% from Feb. 2015 unless a bunch of people just haven’t taken the MPRE yet (unlikely, but we’ll hope).
  • Oklahoma (69%) – Steady
  • Kansas (50%) – Fall of 31.5% from Feb. 2015
  • Illinois – Unknown, Statistics not shared.
  • West Virginia (50.4%) – Fall of 17.7%

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

A.B.A. to Enforce Stricter Timeline for Law Graduates to Pass the Bar Exam

16 Mar

**Law Students – Input? DB

“A.B.A. to Enforce Stricter Timeline for Law Graduates to Pass the Bar Exam”

by Elizabeth Olson via “NY Times“

American Bar Association’s accrediting body put law schools on notice Monday that it intended to tighten a rule that sets a deadline for graduates to pass state bar exams — a near-universal requirement for becoming a practicing lawyer.

The new measure would clarify the existing deadline that 75 percent of students pass within two years. Bar passage rates have been falling noticeably across the country.

At issue for the schools is their accreditation by the association. The theory behind the rule, which is one factor in accreditation, is that schools should be accepting students who are likely to have the qualifications to become practicing lawyers. Proponents of the change say that schools exploit students when they accept those who — based on admissions tests and other measurements — have a small chance of succeeding. . . .

READ MORE

Tags: , ,

Get Excited! New Fees from the legal Basic Skills Course!

12 Jun

(For those of you unfamiliar with the process, law students in Iowa have to take a “Basic Skills” course their first year that covers everything they were just tested on for the bar exam.)

Now, on with the show.

Just received an email that started off really exciting, with lots of exclamation points:

“This Year’s Annual Meeting and Basic Skills Course are going paperless!” (Bold red font straight from the email).

Naturally, you start going Woohoo! we’re helping the environment.  I’m all about this!

But then they go on. . . 

“It is strongly suggested attendees print off the materials in advance of the event.”  (Lack of bold red print fresh from the email).

Oh.  So not helping the environment, just shifting the printing costs onto the obviously poor new lawyers that just graduated from a college degree that permits students to take no jobs.  Students who paid a couple thousand dollars for a bar exam that didn’t cost that much to administer. As opposed to the bar association and supreme court that arranges and requires the multiple day event involved lots of paperwork.  Organizations who have plenty of money due to us paying for a bar exam that didn’t cost that much to administer.  

Now, before our first job arrives, we need to pay for:

  • The Event ($100+)
  • The Hotel ($100+)
  • The Transportation ($100+)
  • Food (min $20+)
  • and Printing (One document for one event ~ there are several each day of four days ~ was 80+pages.) 

Sorry,  this “Breaking, Exciting News” press release was an epic fail.  Not seeing the excitement this message acted like it was supposed to incite.

Tags: , , , , , ,