Baby Steps Toward Adoption of NCBE's Uniform Bar Exam

No state has formally adopted all components of NCBE's Uniform Bar Exam but at least 10 states are expected to switch to the Uniform Bar Exam, and 22 other jurisdictions are positioned to adopt the test in the next few years reports Leigh Jones in Uniform Bar Exam Drawing Closer to Reality. 48 states and the District of Columbia already use the Multistate Bar Exam component (list of jurisdications). The other two components are the Multistate Essay Exam (jurisdications using the MEE in 2010) and the Multistate Performance Test (jurisdications using the MPT in 2010). The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination is required for admission to state bars of all but four U.S. jurisdictions (list of jurisdications).

Adoption of the NCBE's Uniform Bar Exam would allow law school graduates to transport their bar scores across state lines without re-taking exams if state bars score the components uniformly and establish score portability. See also Uniform Bar Exam Inches Closer to Reality. Hat tip to Mitchell Rubinstein, Adjunct Law Prof Blog (see Rubinstein's comments).

Douglas Berman (OSU) offers his opinion about the Uniform Bar Exam in a recent Law School Innovation blog post, Will a uniform bar exam influence law school education for the better or for the worse?:

I have no doubt that the adoption of a uniform (and portable) new bar exam can and will have a profound impact on legal education, at the very least in those states that adopt the exam and probably in all states near states that adopt the exam. 

Because the nUBE will definitely impact law schools -- especially those schools that have a significant student populations (1) eager to practice in nUBE-friendly jurisdictions and/or (2) that tend to worry a lot about bar passage -- the title of this post question whether that impact will be a good or bad development.  Because I think the status quo of bar exams tends to impact law school education for the worse, I am eager to believe that the nUBE might have a positive impact on legal education.  But I may be naively optimistic on this front...

[JH]