By Selena Sanchez
On September 18, 2024, the California Supreme Court temporarily blocked the State Bar of California from rolling out the proposed bar exam written by Kaplan Exam Services, LLC (Kaplan). The denial stated that the Bar must comply with the Rules of Court requiring the Committee of Bar Examiners to consider and approve any changes to the exam’s content. In addition, the Court authorized the Bar to push back the February 2025 exam application date from October 1st to October 15th.
On August 13, 2024, the Bar announced an $8.25 million five-year exam development agreement with Kaplan. The agreement “authorizes Kaplan to develop and create multiple-choice, essays, and performance test questions for the California Bar Exam.” As part of the agreement, Kaplan will provide study guides for its exam questions, and the State Bar will distribute them to faculty and students at no additional cost. Kaplan would also exit the retail bar prep business specific to California.
On June 21, 2024, the Committee of Bar Examiners held a meeting and discussed the Kaplan plan. The Director of the Office of Admissions, Audrey Ching, explained that the State Bar would continue to engage Kaplan and the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) to address any IP and contractual concerns.
The Bar and Kaplan finalized the agreement on August 9, 2024, with the goal of launching the new California Bar exam in February 2025. According to the State Bar, the multiple-choice questions will replace the NCBE Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) by February 2025.
The Bar announced plans for its Bar Exam Experiment, “designed to inform upcoming and possible future changes in how the bar exam is administered.” The experiment will be conducted in two phases, with Phase Two set to occur on the third day of the June 2025 bar exam. Phase One of the experiment will be held on November 8, 2024. It will test Kaplan’s newly developed multiple-choice questions and the new platform for remote and test center exam delivery. The Bar is offering any third-year law students or those planning to take the June 2025 California Bar exam to take part in Phase One by signing up for the Bar Exam Experiment (Phase One Application). Interested students are encouraged to visit the Bar Exam Experiment Phase One-FAQ for more information.
At its September meeting, the Board of Trustees discussed the new changes to the Bar exam. After receiving the Court’s order, Bar staff were prevented from moving forward until the Committee of Bar Examiners approved the changes.
The Committee of Bar Examiners will meet on September 30, 2024, to discuss and consider approving the modifications to the California Bar Exam starting in February 2025, pursuant to the California Supreme Court’s Order.
The meeting will be held remotely via Zoom. Members of the public can sign up to make public comments at the meeting. Those wishing to submit written comments may email them to CBE@calbar.ca.gov. The deadline to sign up and submit written comments is 24 hours before the start of the meeting.