Chapter 8. Crossing the Bar

The precise format of the bar exam varies from state to state and over time. But almost all states use the Multistate Bar Examination, one of those standardized multiple-choice exams, like the SAT and ACT, where you use a number-2 pencil to fill in the oval on a separate sheet. The exam consists of legal problems and asks the applicant to commit professional malpractice by making an off-the-cuff analysis, taking no more than a minute or two to study and think about a problem that inevitably has many dimensions. The correct answer to every question on the Multistate is "Let me do some research and get back to you," but that's never an option.

Not only is the applicant required to spout off irresponsibly, but he or she is often not given the option to choose the correct answer. The four options typically include two obviously wrong answers and two that are arguably right, but often both of the latter are a little too simplistic to be altogether correct, or a little off-topic. So the applicant has to choose between an answer that's about 75 percent correct and one that's about 65 percent correct. That's a more significant conceptual problem than it might at first seem, because the object of a lawyer's advocacy isn't to be right but to make the best available argument on behalf of the client. For three years we're trained to see all the possible alternative ways of analyzing a problem, and then we're tested on our ability to see only one. The Multistate tests the applicant's ability to function more like a judge than an advocate, but uses that to grade the applicant's capability as an advocate.

On the plus side, the Multistate exam can be graded by machine.