New Jersey May Adopt The Uniform Bar Exam

Seventeen states are already using the UBE, and New Jersey may soon become the eighteenth state to adopt it.

After New York announced in May that it would be begin administering the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) in July 2016, we knew that it was only a matter of time before more states in the tri-state metropolitan area would follow suit.

Seventeen states are already using the UBE, and New Jersey may soon become the eighteenth state to adopt it.

The state’s highest court announced yesterday afternoon that it may do away with its own state bar entirely in favor of adopting the UBE. The newly formed New Jersey Supreme Court Ad Hoc Committee on the Uniform Bar Examination, led by Justice Jaynee LaVecchia and retired Justice John E. Wallace Jr., will weigh in on whether it’s appropriate to make the shift to the UBE in the coming years. The Bergen Record has some additional details on the potential move:

The Uniform Bar Examination is designed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which means New Jersey officials would lose some control over the questions and subject matter if they made the switch. The state already uses some components of the Uniform Bar Examination.

In New York, the national test will replace the state test next summer. About half of those who take the bar exam in New Jersey also take it in New York, according to state statistics.

“New York’s transition to the UBE will have a substantial effect on law students who want to be licensed to practice law in New Jersey,” said Chief Justice Stuart Rabner of the New Jersey Supreme Court. “The committee will carefully study this issue.”

It would certainly make it easier for test-takers to prepare for two exams with the same format over three days instead of having to conquer two completely different beasts.

New Jersey has yet to release the results of its July 2015 administration of the bar exam, but if the results of the February 2015 test are any indication (only 52.64 percent passed), we suspect we’ll soon hear some dark news. Perhaps another metaphorical bar exam massacre will inspire New Jersey to switch to the UBE sooner, rather than later.

New Jersey weighing switch to a national bar exam for lawyers [Bergen Record]
New Jersey To Consider Adopting Uniform Bar Exam [Law 360 (sub. req.)]

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Earlier: New York Moves To The Uniform Bar Exam

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