News Releases

State Bar Board of Trustees to Partner with Supreme Court on Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the California Bar Exam

At its May 14 meeting, the State Bar Board of Trustees approved establishment of a joint Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the California Bar Exam, in partnership with the California Supreme Court.

“The State Bar’s extensive study of the bar exam and stakeholder dialogue have yielded numerous insights on what could and should be done to improve the exam, some of them with far-reaching policy implications,” said Alan Steinbrecher, Chair, Board of Trustees. “We are excited to partner with the Supreme Court, which has authority over the exam, to chart a path forward so that the exam best serves its public protection goals in a rapidly changing legal profession.”

The formal charge of the commission will be developed in collaboration with the Supreme Court, but is expected to include:

• Carefully considering the report and recommendations of the California Practice Analysis Working Group as well as the results of the 2020 job analysis conducted by the National Conference of Bar Examiners
• Analyzing if there is sufficient alignment between the California and national job analyses, and any national plan for changes to the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), to consider adopting the UBE
• Developing recommendations for the Court and the State Bar regarding revisions to the California bar exam if the UBE is not recommended for adoption
• Recommending whether to adopt methods, other than those used in the current bar exam, to ensure minimum competence in certain subject areas or skills

During the meeting, the Board reviewed the State Bar’s most recent bar exam studies, which include:

• The California Attorney Practice Analysis (CAPA)—This effort, which involved analyzing survey responses from over 16,000 active, licensed attorneys in California, provides the first state-specific data examining current legal practice and its relation to bar exam content. The CAPA Working Group’s final report creates a blueprint for future selection of bar exam topics and skills to be tested.
• Differential Item Functioning Analysis—An evaluation of the fairness of the bar exam that analyzed the potential differential impact of exam questions by race, gender, and other factors. Examining 20 bar exams from July 2009 to February 2019, the study found no major areas of concern, but recommended further action to continue improving the exam by eliminating sources of differential impact. The Board directed the Committee of Bar Examiners to work with the Council on Access and Fairness to convene a panel that will review those questions where differential performance was identified and, based on that review, to develop guidelines to minimize future risk of differential item functioning.
• Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Review—After the premature release of bar exam topics in July 2019, the State Bar asked the California DCA to review exam administration and security processes and procedures to determine if State Bar practices are consistent with best practices defined in the Standards for Educational and Psychological testing. The DCA concluded that, “Overall, the State Bar is meeting professional guidelines and technical standards in most areas,” but pointed to opportunities for further improvement in procedures for dealing with flagrant cheating, connecting the scoring rubric to minimum competence, conveying these policies to applicants, and more.
• Evaluation of Grading Processes—As an outgrowth of recommendations from the 2017 Governance in the Public Interest Task Force, the State Bar’s consulting psychometrician evaluated the State Bar’s multiphase exam grading process with an emphasis on identifying efficiencies and best practices while continuing to ensure necessary consistency in the grading process.

The Board directed the Committee of Bar Examiners to address several of the shorter-term recommendations that resulted from these studies.

Other actions taken by the Board of Trustees:

Working Group on Closing the Justice Gap

The Board approved formation of a new working group to explore the development of a regulatory sandbox, as described in the final report of the Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services. Staff was directed to form the working group and prepare a charter for Board approval, emphasizing the twin goals of public protection and enhanced access to legal services. The working group will focus on ways to evaluate possible changes to existing laws and rules that otherwise inhibit the development of innovative legal service delivery systems, including consumer facing technology that provides legal advice and services directly to clients at all income levels and other new delivery systems. The working group will examine the propriety of relaxing rules regarding the unauthorized practice of law, fee-sharing, and nonlawyer ownership, among other issues.

Moral Character Process Improvements

The Board approved moral character decision-making tools and related documents develop by the Moral Character Working Group and recommended for adoption by the Committee of Bar Examiners. The working group evaluated the standards applied to moral character determinations in order to ensure greater uniformity and consistency in decision-making, provide transparency into the evaluation process, and ensure that the State Bar provides appropriate consideration for rehabilitative efforts undertaken by applicants. Their work products include a purpose statement and guidelines on moral character evaluations, decision matrices, and best practices and talking points for law schools. The Board directed staff to revise related policies and procedures and make these documents widely available by July 31, 2020.

Governance in the Public Interest Task Force

The Board received an update on the report of the 2020 Governance in the Public Interest Task Force, which focuses on how the concept of risk-based regulation could be applied to make the attorney discipline system more proactive and effective. The task force report will be transmitted to the Legislature on May 15.

In other actions, the Board approved support for a budget priority identified by Assemblymember Mark Stone to secure an additional $35 million for the Equal Access Fund in the coming budget year. Amid the sharp economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, funds from Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, a primary source of legal aid funding, are projected to decrease by more than 80 percent in two years. The Equal Access Fund supports local legal aid organizations that provide direct civil legal services to low-income Californians.

###

Follow the State Bar online
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram

The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.