Starting in May 2024 in Oregon law graduates can become licensed without taking the dreaded bar exam. There are two options to forgo the exam. The first option is an apprenticeship program where post-law school students must work for 1000-1500 hours under the supervision of an experienced attorney. The other option is to allow in-state students to turn their last two years of law school into a curriculum focused on Oregon practice.
These are exciting alternatives to the typical bar exam. An apprenticeship is likely a much better use of time and a better learning experience than cramming for the bar exam. In addition, it would be very valuable to have 1000-1500 hours of experience in a particular field before actually starting to practice law. The curriculum focused last two years of law school is also very interesting as it sounds like it will be much more practical and state-specific than traditional law school courses.
As these programs are implemented I am curious to see what students decide to do, as well as how these new alternative programs pan out. I'm not sure that I would go as far as to say this should replace the bar exam but this is definitely a step in the right direction in requiring more practical elements into testing whether someone should become a licensed attorney. I am also curious to see if any other states will follow suit and provide similar alternatives to the bar exam.
This is a phenomenal idea. The bar exam is a ridiculous and impractical hurdle of the profession. A single test, across several areas of practice, determined based on rote memorization of the laws and their elements to apply them. It is unrealistic and definitely not real world applicable. All of law school they have pushed us on research, research to look up and apply the laws, but the test takes away all that research learning and makes you do pure memorization which only truly comes to those who practice in a set focus of law and has had several years in it to really be confident enough to practice and apply their memory based skills into legal practice. The bar does not test you on how well you can practice, only on what you can memorize and apply. Especially more so with the all-or-nothing points grading.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. The way legal education has been done for too long has been stubbornly resistant to any sort of change. The Bar exam as a whole really is obsolete, and is based on when "town lawyers" practiced every aspect of law for everyone in their town. Despite this, the "I did this so you have to" mentality persists in law and the Bar exam is a great example of that.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how those options for prospective Oregon lawyers works out, but I think there needs to be more experimentation such as this to replace the Bar exam as a means to obtain a law license that better reflects the specialization of the law practice in modern times.
I took the Bar Exam long ago. My first day just happened to be the day Prince Charles and Diana Spencer were married - so yes, a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, nothing on the Bar Exam related to anything I have done in 43 years of practicing law. In my view, it is an irrelevant hope we still make law graduates jump through onlly because those in control had to jump through the same hoop.
There are better ways to assure that law grads are ready to practice law. Oregon has found two possibilities.
I think this is an amazing idea. I have always thought that people need real life practice and experience in the field before they should be allowed to practice because reading and learning about something is not the same as actually doing it. I would think even combining the curriculum focused program and the apprenticeship would be a great way to fully prepare someone for the field.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commenters that this is a great idea. While I've heard of the apprenticeship approach before, I've never heard of converting the last two years of law school into state-specific material to forego the bar exam. I'm jealous of that option.
ReplyDeleteI think ditching the bar exam is an amazing idea. While I don't think that diploma privilege (like Wisconsin has) is a great idea, I think the option of allowing an attorney to practice after a supervised period or classes being required to focus more on in-state law is amazing. That way people would both not have to go through the hell that is the bar exam, but also go into professional practice having some experience or training in law.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea and something that all states should be doing. An apprenticeship is so much better for students to learn how to do their job rather than studying a ton of subjects that they will only use a small percentage of. I hope the rest of the country follows suit in the future.
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