Certified Legal Specialist Exam Grading and Scope

The Legal Specialist Examination includes both essay and multiple-choice questions and is administered in one day.

The eight essay questions are administered two questions at a time in four one-hour sessions (four hours total). The 75 multiple-choice questions (MCQ) are administered in one 76-minute session to complete questions 1–38, and one 74-minute session to complete questions 39–75 (two and one-half hours total).

Scope and sample questions

The Legal Specialist Examination is made up of 13 specialty exams. Each exam tests whether an attorney has a proficient understanding of the key laws, rules, and procedures applicable to that area of law, and whether an answer based upon legal analysis and application of facts is sufficient.

Select a specialty area below to learn more about the subjects and skills tested on the specific exam, as well as sample questions that were administered in previous exams.

Grading and scoring

The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization (CBLS) has established procedures to ensure a fair and accurate system of grading. All essay answers are evaluated by attorneys who are certified specialists in the area of law for which they are grading. Graders are supported by grading consultants in a tightly controlled process to maintain consistency.

Applicant anonymity is preserved throughout the grading process, including during the results reporting phase. Even after grading is complete, the graders do not learn the identity of any of the applicants, or whether a particular applicant actually took or passed the examination.

Scoring components

An applicant’s raw multiple-choice score is the number of items answered correctly. ; no penalty is deducted for incorrect multiple-choice answers. An applicant can earn up to 75 raw points on the multiple-choice questions. 

An applicant’s raw essay score is the sum of the assigned grades on each of the eight essays. Each essay is graded on a scale from one to five, with five being the highest score. Thus, an applicant can earn up to five raw points on each of the eight essay questions, for a maximum of 40 raw points for all essay questions. 

To calculate the final exam score, the raw scores from both sections are first converted to scale scores with the same average and spread (standard deviation). This allows the two sections to be combined fairly. The final score is then calculated so that the written section counts for 75% of the total score and the multiple-choice section counts for 25%. Applicants need a total scaled score of 453 or higher to pass the exam. 

Results

Results are traditionally released in March following the October exam. Results are posted on the Applicant Portal.

Reconsideration of grade

The CBLS believes that its grading and administrative systems afford each applicant a full and fair opportunity to take the exam, fair and careful consideration of their answers on the exam, and that no useful purpose would be served by further consideration by CBLS.

Automatic reconsideration already applied

Applicants who received a total scaled score of at least 440 but less than 453 points automatically had their examination responses reviewed a second time by a grading consultant who is a member of the reappraisal review team. The reappraisal review team member reviewed each answer to verify the scores awarded and to determine whether, taken as a whole, the answers merit a pass or fail. Because only a Pass/Fail decision is made in reappraisal, the scores reported in the result letters to applicants whose examinations were reappraised are the scores achieved after the initial reading.  
Since an additional review has already been conducted for examinations achieving scores within thirteen points of the pass line, the CBLS does not accept appeals or requests for further reconsideration. All reported results reflect final decisions. 

Related links