Cal Bar’s press release appears below.  Main takeaways: The press release says the first exam that Kaplan will help draft is the next one, February 2025.  We’ll see if NCBE sues for copyright infringement about Kaplan’s questions and if that results in a delay in the use of Kaplan’s questions to a future exam. The […] The post Cal Bar, Kaplan sign 5-year exam development contract: first affected exam to be Feb. 2025 appeared first on Calweasel ..read more

On Friday, July 19, the Cal Bar issued this press release authorizing the Cal Bar to negotiate with Kaplan to enter into a 5-year agreement to draft bar exam items into the future.  MBEs for February 2025, and essays and PTs in 2026. Reuters published an article (https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/california-forges-ahead-with-plan-give-its-own-bar-exam-2025-2024-07-19/) about the potential Cal Bar-Kaplan agreement.  In the article, it claims that the NCBE’s potential concerns have been addressed: The national conference in May raised copyright concerns over Kaplan ..read more

From the unsuccessful applicants memo:   The essay and PT answers of those applicants who are unsuccessful on the California Bar Exam are accessible through your Applicant Portal. You may save or print a copy for your records. The files will be removed from the Applicant Portal on May 31, 2024. The post For unsuccessful applicants on February 2024: Save/print exam files by May 31 appeared first on Calweasel ..read more

From the Cal Bar’s web site:   The State Bar announced today that 1,337 applicants (33.9 percent) passed the February 2024 General Bar Exam, and 197 applicants (52.7 percent) passed the Attorneys’ Exam. If those who passed satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California. “Congratulations to the 1,534 applicants who passed the February California Bar Exam,” said Leah Wilson, State Bar Executive Director. “We recognize their hard work and share in their excitement and celebration and wish them the very best in ..read more

Hello everyone! Results Day is today.  Hope the February 2024 Cal Bar test-takers receive good news tonight! If you receive good news tonight, CONGRATULATIONS!  Celebrate responsibly, and no felonies!  Remember, the goal is to get sworn in, right?  Felonies don’t help with that, even if you commit one after you pass the Bar Exam. If your name does not match a name on the database of names of people who passed, mourn your result for 30 minutes, and then contact me.  Good tutoring programs fill up quickly.  I usually fill up within a few days of publication of resul ..read more

Hello everyone! It is Results Day!  Congratulations to those who passed tonight.  For those who are eligible to take the Cal Bar in February 2024, my heart is with you.  I failed twice before I passed, and I remember Results Day from July 1998 like it was yesterday.  And that’s nearly 25 years to the day.  Part of me died that day.  But I found a way to pass, and I can help you do the same.   If you didn’t pass tonight, mourn the result.  It’s a big event, and many of you didn’t think you would fail.  But if that’s the case, let’s talk.  Mourn ..read more

The link will take you to the July 2023 percentile table:   https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/Percentile-Table.pdf   Interestingly, 50% scored below 1394.  The pass line is 1390.  That means very, very few people passed on re-read.     The post July 2023 Cal Bar Exam Percentile Table appeared first on Calweasel ..read more

Hello everyone.   The overall pass rate was 51.5%.  Not bad at all.  Just under a 1% decline from last July’s 52.4%.   When I calculated “The Bottom Line” – what it takes to narrowly pass on the first read with identical scores across the Board, here’s what I came up with:   60% across the board (with the July 2013 MBE Conversion Table, the last one available, for MBE scores) = 1375.3122.   61% across the board = 1398.9546.   From that perspective, a very normal, typical Cal Bar Exam.  Although I found it interesting that the California mean MBE was abou ..read more

Of note:  CA’s pass rate declined as it did for many jurisdictions.  The four states referenced below had declines between 3-7%, while California declined 1.4% from February 2022.   State Bar of California Releases Results of February 2023 Bar Exam Friday, May 5, 2023     Categories: News Releases Today the State Bar announced that 1,224 (32.5 percent of applicants) passed the February 2023 California General Bar Exam, and 205 (56.9 percent of applicants) passed the Attorneys’ Exam. If those who passed satisfy all other requirements for admission, t ..read more

According to the Cal Bar General Bar Exam Pass Rate Summary, the General Bar pass rate for the February 2023 Cal Bar Exam was 32.5%, which is the lowest for a February exam in three years.  Similarly, the Attorneys’ Exam pass rate was 56.9%, lowest in three years since February 2020.   February exam pass rates have dropped in 22 states before today’s announcement, and half of those have seen double-digit declines, according to Reuters on April 21. The post February 2023 Cal Bar Exam General Bar Pass Rate 32.5% appeared first on Calweasel ..read more