Task Force To Determine Whether Uniform Bar Exam Leads To New Lawyers Being Unprepared To Practice Law

Just because you passed the bar exam, it doesn't mean you know how to practice law.

We don’t approach this from a point of a prejudgment. We’re not certain there is a problem. We’re not certain there isn’t a problem. We’re trying to find out about it.

— Presiding Justice Alan Scheinkman of the New York Appellate Division, Second Department, commenting on the New York State Bar Association’s decision to create a task force and launch a study on whether the adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam is responsible for lawyers being unprepared to practice in New York. Less than 20 percent of students at New York law schools take New York practice courses, but in the past, that number was as high as 80 to 90 percent. New York Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager says it’s “unfathomable” that new lawyers are starting their careers “without the most basic knowledge of the rules that govern almost every aspect of practice in the New York State Courts.”


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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