A major new study by the State Bar of California seeks to determine the skills and competencies the state’s lawyers need to do their jobs and how those traits can be tested on the bar exam.
The results of the study, dubbed the California Attorney Job Analysis Study, will inform further research and considerations of the state’s closely watched bar exam. The exam has been under intense scrutiny in recent years as pass rates plummeted to an all-time low of 27.3 percent in February, fueling criticism that the state’s notoriously high cut score should be lowered. (California has the second-highest cut score in the country at 144. Only Delaware has a higher cut score, at 145.)
