Law Students May Take the Bar Exam While Still Students?

Maybe I’m partial, but Arizona’s legal community does some pretty innovative things. Full disclosure, my mom (Rebecca Berch) was the Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court when the State adopted many of these initiatives (such as admission on motion and adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam). The initiative I’m going to briefly write about here is less well-known: the early bar exam.

Effective with the February 2013 bar exam, Arizona permits students in their final semester of law school to sit for the February bar, even though they will not graduate until May (or later, as students who take the bar early have 120 days from the first day of exam administration to graduate). Students at all three Arizona law schools can participate.

Data from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University shows that in 2014, twelve students participated in the program and all twelve passed (100% passing rate). In 2015, again twelve students participated, but this time, ten passed (83% passing rate). This year (for the February 2016 bar), four ASU students are taking advantage of the early bar exam. Students who take the bar exam early pass at about the same rates, or even higher, than might be predicted by general ABA pass rates, even though we have no reason to think that the students electing to take the bar early have better credentials than the regular cohort of bar exam takers.

Arizona launched the early bar exam to allow students to gain bar admission months ahead of when they ordinarily would qualify to begin the full practice of law. The several additional months of salary that they can earn by starting work in June rather than the following October allows them to support their families and perhaps even start paying off debt.

Although previous early bar programs (such as one in Georgia) have not been successful, Arizona made some creative tweaks. Students who take the February bar exam need to plan ahead, because their final (spring) semester will look different from other students’. Their spring will be broken into two parts. During the pre-bar time, students may take no more than two units, and they are encouraged to take the two-unit “Bar and Professional Skills Study Course,” which is pass/fail. During the post-bar period, students may take up to eight units, including traditional courses, but also experiential learning courses, clinics, externships, journals, and courses to fulfill substantial writing requirements.

Arizona’s program is still a pilot program, but it is attracting some interest. Last February, New York began a version of the early bar exam. Students must participate in the “Pro Bono Scholars” program, which involves a pro bono placement after the February exam as the students’ final semester. Last February, New York had 106 pro bono scholars, and ninety passed (85% passing rate) — again, a higher passing rate than might otherwise be expected according to general ABA pass rates.

Other jurisdictions have expressed interest in this program as well. We wait for more results from Arizona and New York, and to see if other states join in this innovation.