In a recent article from Bloomberg Business, they reported that the people who took the most recent bar exam in July were more likely to fail than those who took it last year. They also claimed that on one portion of the test, the scores dropped to their lowest point in 10 years.
Bloomberg’s report wondered if America’s law graduates are “getting dumber?”
The National Conference of Bar Examiners, the people who put the bar exam together, seem to think so. The report states that this year’s grads’ pre-law-school test scores declined from the year before, and did so every year from 2010 to 2013. However, this does not explain the poor performance on this year’s bar exam. They didn’t do slightly worse, they did much worse.
Several law professors felt the reason may have been do to a software glitch causing the test company problems in uploading the answers the first day. No answers were lost but there was much time and anxiety spent with this issue which some feel may have contributed to the poor performance on the remainder of the test.
Many observers feel this should not deflect the issue. The scores are getting worse on a yearly basis. Some people feel that as law schools get fewer applications, they may be accepting less than qualified applicants in order to meet their bottom line.
We also caution perspective law students that it could be possible, in order to fill the classrooms, some law schools may be more lax in the applicant’s background. Even though the school accepts the applicant, the Florida Bar may not.
The Soreide Law Group represents those seeking admittance to the Florida Bar, and existing attorneys, for both Investigative Hearings and Formal Hearings before the Florida Bar.
For more information about our services at no cost call: (888) 760-6552.