By Jamie Russo
On January 31, 2025, the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) held its first meeting of the year. CBE took its first steps to develop the new California-specific Bar Exam, provided an update on the February 2025 Bar Exam, and reviewed its 2025 Work Plan. CBE oversees the California Bar Examination and moral character determination process and recommends rules and guidelines governing admissions functions. CBE is responsible for determining the bar exam’s format, scope, topics, content, questions, and grading process—subject to the California Supreme Court review.
On October 10, 2024, the California Supreme Court adopted the Bar’s recommendation to develop a California-specific Bar Exam. At its December 6, 2024, meeting, CBE discussed establishing a steering committee to guide the development of the new bar exam; CBE debated the steering committee’s composition but delayed a vote until their next meeting.
At CBE’s January 2025 meeting, CBE approved a proposed composition for the steering committee and submitted its recommendation to the Board of Trustees for its approval. The steering committee is comprised of nine voting members and a nonvoting Supreme Court liaison. The steering committee would include two CBE members, a member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the judiciary, and testing experts. Under CBE’s proposal, the steering committee would serve for eighteen months. The steering committee’s recommendations would be subject to approval by CBE, the Board of Trustees, and ultimately, the California Supreme Court.
CBE also discussed forming an advisory group of at least eleven nonvoting members, including law school deans, practicing attorneys who manage law firms or supervise new attorneys, current students, a recently admitted attorney, a disability expert, and representatives of the California Lawyers Association and Council on Access and Fairness. However, CBE decided that the steering committee ought to have a voice in the development of the advisory group and halted discussions on the advisory group until the formation of the steering committee.
The next step in developing the new California bar exam will be the Board of Trustees’ February 20–21, 2025, meeting, where the Board will vote on whether to approve the steering committee composition. After the Board of Trustees approves the proposed composition, CBE must select committee members, which the Board and then the Supreme Court must separately approve before the steering committee can begin work on developing the new bar exam.
CBE also provided an update on the February 2025 Bar Exam. This is the first time applicants can take the California Bar Exam remotely or in person. It is also the first time that the California Bar Exam will use the Kaplan-developed multiple-choice questions instead of the Multistate Bar Exam multiple-choice questions.
CBE fielded public comments and concerns regarding bandwidth and network issues because all test-takers, no matter their physical location or time zone, will begin the bar exam at 9 a.m. PST. CBE reassured consumers that they worked extensively with Meazure Learning to mitigate any testing network issues. Notably, two-thirds of applicants will sit for the bar exam remotely.
Finally, CBE reviewed its 2025 Work Plan and reaffirmed the committee’s prioritization of the new California-specific Bar Exam.