On March 15, 2018, results for the 2017 Legal Specialist Examination were sent via U.S. mail to the address listed in your State Bar profile. The overall pass rate for the 2017 Legal Specialist Examination was 74.9 percent.
Successful examinees are now eligible to file their post-examination applications by April 24, 2019. The application forms are available on the State Bar’s website on the forms page.
The State Bar encourages unsuccessful examinees to register for the next Legal Specialist Examination scheduled for Tuesday, October 22, 2019. Registration will be available in January 2019. Please check back for updates.
Note: Allow a week to receive your results. Requests for duplicate results will be processed no earlier than April 1, 2018.
The legal specialist examination tests whether an attorney has basic knowledge of the usual procedures and laws in which a certified specialist should be prepared to demonstrate their proficiency. It includes questions about:
The examination is held every two years and is next scheduled for:
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019 Locations: Northern California and Southern California Registration deadline: TBD
Legal specialist examination $350 Laptop computer fee $150
Test-takers can choose to handwrite their essays or to type their answers on their own computers. There is an additional fee to use a laptop for the exam. If you choose to use a computer, you will be sent a link to download ExamSoft’s SofTest software onto your computer.
Bring your computer for the morning session only. Test-takers will use pencil and paper to take the multiple-choice portion of the exam in the afternoon and computers will not be allowed in the testing room.
The one-day exam is broken into two parts administered in the morning and afternoon:
Doors to the test centers open at 7:00 a.m. All applicants must be seated no later than 7:30 a.m. The examination will begin immediately following the instructions. Additional information concerning the timing and other administrative rules and policies are contained in the bulletin that will be provided with your admittance ticket for the examination.
There are no optional questions. Your score is based on how well you answer all questions on the exam.
Some applicants choose to stay at a nearby hotel the night before the examination to get an early start the next morning. There are many hotels located near the testing sites. Testing sites open at 7 a.m. on the day of the examination. Parking is available for a fee at the testing centers.
Most applicants will not be allowed to bring reference books into the examination rooms and those examinations have been designed with this in mind. However, test-takers in one of four specialty fields are allowed to bring in one of the following code books, in either the annotated or unannotated version:
Only the publications listed above will be allowed. You cannot use digital or electronic versions, homemade or home-printed copies. Publications must be bound, commercial volumes and completely free from markings, writing, highlighting, underlining or tabs of any kind.
Department of Legal Specialization State Bar of California 180 Howard St. San Francisco, CA 94105 Phone: 415-538-2120 Fax: 415-538-2180 legalspec@calbar.ca.gov