The State Bar of California plans to administer its own bar exam starting in February, but faced a setback on Wednesday when the California Supreme Court denied its petition for the change. The court noted in a brief docket entry that the state bar had failed to follow the proper procedure in transitioning to the new exam. It invited the state bar to resubmit its petition after its committee of bar examiners “considers and approves” the proposal.
A court spokesperson, declining to provide additional comments on Thursday, referred inquiries to the docket entry.
In a message posted on its website, the state bar expressed its intention to seek court approval as soon as possible, reaffirming its plan to offer the new bar exam in February. Brandon Stallings, chair of the State Bar board of trustees, stated in a prepared message on Thursday that the bar “respects” the court’s decision.
The court’s denial follows criticism from some legal educators who believe the state bar has rushed the process of changing the bar exam and has managed it in a disorganized manner. California, the nation’s second-largest bar exam jurisdiction after New York, saw 11,320 aspiring attorneys take the exam in 2023.
The new exam will feature multiple-choice questions developed by Kaplan North America, replacing those from the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Multistate Bar Exam, which most states use for lawyer licensing.
This latest development is one of several challenges for the new California bar exam. State bar officials estimate the new exam could save up to $3.8 million annually since it can be administered remotely in smaller testing centers rather than large venues. However, the state bar’s admissions arm currently faces a “fiscal crisis,” according to Stallings, while the broader agency also grapples with financial shortfalls.
The plan to revamp the bar exam, which state bar officials have been working on for 15 months, experienced another delay in May when the National Conference of Bar Examiners raised copyright concerns over Kaplan’s similar test questions. The state bar subsequently reached an agreement with Kaplan to share any legal expenses that may arise from copyright infringement claims before proceeding.
National Conference of Bar Examiners President Judith Gundersen stated on Thursday that the conference had provided the state bar with a contingency plan in May. Under that plan, California could use the Multistate Bar Exam in February, as it had previously done, though that test would need to be administered in person.
