Lowest Bar Exam scores in nearly a decade prompts schools to seek answers, and state action

July 2014’s Multistate Bar Exam produced the lowest results in nearly a decade, spurring questions about test reliability and a search for alternatives.

About 80 law deans sought details on how questions were chosen and tests were scored, but the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) did not provide additional information, which the NCBE did not provide.

Article here.(via aba journal).

Additionally a few state's Bar Associations are making efforts for applicants to be able to "waive" the MBE portion of their state bar application. This is similar to Wisconsin's approach to licensing new attorneys.

Michigan Bar exam - Results before appeals

This is the breakdown the BLE (Board of Law Examiners) has for the folks who took the July 2014 Michigan Bar Exam, as broken down by school.

Why did so many people fail the bar exam this time?

This article (via taxprof blog) suggests that lower LSAT scores for entering classes is the reason why the bar exam is tougher to pass:

From the article:

Are America’s law graduates really getting dumber? The people who put together the bar exam seem to think so.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners, a nonprofit that prepares one of the state-specific multiple-choice sections in which scores dropped dramatically, sent a curt message to law school deans in October. “The results are correct,” wrote Erica Moeser, the group’s president, in an Oct. 23 memo. “The group that sat in July 2014 was less able than the group that sat in July 2013.”

This is sort of a egg-then-chicken analysis, for what it's worth. Or it could be that state-level Law Examiners are making their scoring system tougher?  As a side note, Michigan has yet to release it analysis of passers by school, etc., which they call the "results before appeals." I will post them once the BLE releases them, or go here for updates.

Also, the LSAT is supposed to indicate how a test taker will perform in their first year of law school, not whether that taker will the pass the bar. Law school is designed to weed out students, a job which it does very well (my entering class had more than double the number of people I graduated with).

(Sorry! I know that image has very little to do with the bar exam. I just love Mr. Darcy, and I needed a laugh. Thanks for reading!)

Michigan July Bar exam results - list of certified passers

The Board of Law Examiners has posted the list of certified passers for the July 2014 Michigan Bar Exam.

List here.

This is results before appeals.

Michigan July 2014 Bar Exam results posted

Results for the Michigan July 2014 Bar Exam have been posted - by seat number.
Takers will be notified later of scores, and names of passers will be posted
at this link.

Best of luck to all takers!