A midwestern state is the first to transition to a uniform bar examination process endorsed by the American Bar Association and the National Conference of Bar Examiners, ending the state-specific approach to testing that has been the norm in all U.S. jurisdictions.
Although the advent of the multi-state bar exam in 1972 introduced an element of uniformity in bar examination, states have adhered to a state-specific essay component as an essential feature of bar passage. Applicants to the Missouri’s bar exam will be the first to take the new exam, which will consist of six short essay questions and two long writing assignments.
If Missouri's decision becomes a trend, it would be a major step toward “nationalizing” attorney licensure, particularly if participating states recognized recently-taken tests for a period of years after passage in lieu of requiring incoming lawyers to retake the exam as a part of their application process.
Supplanting a “homegrown” state essay examination with a national version is seen as a logical step to making lawyers more portable in a world in which lawyers are less and less likely to plant lifetime professional roots. The repercussions of the change could be significant. A non-state-specific exam, for example, makes the geographic location of a law school irrelevant to giving students a leg up in preparing to take a bar examination in the law school's home state, although students desiring to be schooled in state law and procedure where they intend to practice would continue to find value in a law school within that state’s borders, providing it includes specific instruction on that state's law.
Any state that decides to incorporate the uniform bar test into its process will be able to set its own passing grade and other criteria for admission to its bar. States also can limit the amount of time that a uniform test score is valid in their state.
Michigan already has “gone nationwide” with use of both the multi-state bar exam (MBE) and the multistate professional responsibility exam (MPRE) as two of three components of its examination.
For more information about the multistate essay exam, click here: http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mee/
HT: ABA Journal
