State Bar Examination

The Times’ editorial (May 9), “Lower the Bar?” suggested that the State Bar of California lower its standards for passing the bar examination.

The Times contended that there is “no clear correlation between an applicant’s score on the bar exam and his skill as a lawyer.” To the contrary, the exam results do correlate to possession of the basic skills that are essential for practice.

In 1980, 500 applicants took a second “special” two-day bar examination after they completed the regular bar exam. This special test required the performance of tasks typical of those conducted by newly licensed attorneys in daily practice, such as conducting legal research and interviewing clients.

A sample of those applicants had their performance in the special test evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges, law professors, and other members of the bar. The panelists had no prior involvement in constructing or grading the bar exam, nor did they know the applicants’ scores. However, the panelists’ pass/fail decisions corresponded very closely with those made on the regular bar examination.

In addition, the hiring practices of law firms indicate they believe there is a close correlation between bar exam scores and the skills they are seeking. This is evidenced by the very high and well-documented correlation of bar exam scores with both law school grades and law school admission standards--factors on which law firms rely heavily in hiring attorneys.

The Times concluded that lowering California’s passing standard is the only way to insure that most minority applicants pass the exam. The Times is misinformed. Although many minority applicants do not pass on their first attempt, about two-thirds of all the black applicants and 80% of the Hispanic and Asian applicants do pass after devoting additional time in preparation. The same is true for those Anglo applicants whose law school admission scores and grades are comparable to those of their minority classmates.

While the passing percentage on the California bar examination may be lower than in the other states referred to by The Times, California has the lowest educational requirements for taking the exam. For example, only graduates of American Bar Assn.-approved law schools may take the exam in the four states mentioned by The Times, while graduates of unaccredited schools, correspondence schools, and those who studied under a lawyer in place of attending law school qualify in California. One-third of the applicants taking the California exam would not even qualify to take the exam in those other states.

The State Bar agrees with The Times statement that the purpose of the bar examination is “to protect the public from incompetent practitioners.” Lowering the standard of competence would not be beneficial to the public interest.

DON W. MARTENS

San Francisco

Martens is a member of the State Bar Board of Governors and chair of the Board Committee on Admissions.