Law Commons^™

Safeguard Or Barrier: An Empirical Examination Of Bar Exam Cut Scores, Victor D. Quintanilla, Sam Erman, Michael B. Frisby

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 2019, nearly 70,000 people took the bar exam. More than forty percent failed. Given the existing scores required to pass those exams (the “cut score”), nearly 30,000 test-takers otherwise qualified to practice law were lost to the profession. Had the cut score been lower, many would now be lawyers. So it goes every year, with staggering costs. Legal educators devote substantial resources to teaching tens of thousands of people legal skills that never get put to use in law practice. A national crisis in access to justice grows more entrenched. Applicants invest three years and countless thousands of dollars …