State bar leaders on Friday voted to pursue the creation of an alternative pathway to becoming a licensed lawyer in California that does not include passing the notoriously difficult bar exam.

The unanimous vote bypassed a deadlocked commission that, after 19 meetings, could not reach a consensus in its final report on whether law school graduates should be admitted to the bar after they complete some combination of supervised work, a portfolio of accomplishments or an alternative assessment in lieu of taking the traditional bar exam alone.