Return orders from the Supreme Court of California back to the multi -state bar exam.

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Return orders from the Supreme Court of California back to the multi -state bar exam.

By Julianne Hill

May 6, 2025, 13:45 PM CDT

The state bar of California, which was still from the catastrophic start of his bar test in connection with chaplain, was recently made with orders from the Supreme Court in California, which prescribe the return to the multi -stelled bar test in July and reduce the bar pass score for the exams in February.

On Monday, the public prosecutor announced that 55.9% of the test participants had passed in February compared to 34% in February 2024. According to a press release from the State Bar, this is the highest spring pass rate since 1965. The results were originally planned for the release on May 2.

A big reason why the percentage was so high was that the overtaking values ​​were reduced as a means after the administration of the remote February test that had widespread technical disorders and failures.

On Friday, the Supreme Court of California indicated that the public prosecutor's office for the next administration of the law firm had to replace the 200 multiple-choice issues of its new examination with the MBE, the widespread examination, which was developed by the national conference of the attorney. This is followed by the revelation at the end of April that some of the questions of non -volume were collected with the help of artificial intelligence without being aware of the state's highest court.

Although it was found in the petition of the yardstick that the test contained a sufficient number of reliable multiple choice questions in February, “the court remains on the processes used to create these questions, including the previously not mentioned use of artificial intelligence” in accordance with the arrangement.

The NCBE has contact with the state bar of California to use the exam in July, says Sophie Martin, the communication director of the NCBE.

“According to our best knowledge, the court was not made in relation to future administrations,” she adds.

The uniform bar examination, including the MBE part, will be replaced after the administration in February 2028 sunset and by the Nextgen uniform bar examination.

This is followed by the Supreme Court of California on March 4, which leads the public prosecutor's office to “schedule the submission of the Californian attorney examination in July 2025 in the traditional personal format”.

The return to the MBE does not surprise some.

“Nothing that took place after the botched test would believe a reasonable court that the problems will be resolved by July,” says Sean Silverman, owner of Silverman Bar Exam & Lsat Tutoring. “It would have been ruthless for the court to decide something different for this next exam than a return to the MBE.”

California switched to a hybrid and remote examination that was triggered by financial problems, and the state lawyers last summer signed an agreement on a five-year $ 8.25 million contract with Kaplan last summer. The test introduced in February was plagued with widespread technical and administrative problems.

“In California, the change was never about developing an exam that the MBE was superior,” wrote Dean E. Barbieri, the former test director in the State Bar, to the ABA Journal. “It was always a matter of saving money due to prior mismanagement and the desire to offer a high-stakes test from afar.”

In addition, the order of the court approved the application of the public prosecutor on Friday to check the RAW pass score to 534, lower than the 560 recommended by the test expert, for February due to the large number of technical and logistical problems with which they are confronted.

“Nevertheless, many takers of the bar in February will fail, not because they were not properly prepared or minimally competent, but because the disorders they met were too extensive to overcome them,” says Mary Basick, the deputy dean for academic skills at the University of California at the Irvine School of Law.

The State Lawyers 'Committee of the Lawyers' Committees did not discuss any other not sound opportunities in the meeting on Monday, including the provisional license, an supervised practice path and special approvals for lawyers who were licensed in other states.

The decision of Friday was announced hours after Leah Wilson's announcement, the executive director of the public prosecutor's office, that she will resign. Her last day takes place on July 7th and withdraws from work with the state.

More than 5,600 candidates had originally registered to take the new exam, but according to State Bar, around 1,300 withdrew after the troubled advance.

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