It requires three long years of time, study, and money. Law school is a significant barrier to entry. As far as barriers to entry, the Bar Exam is not really necessary. Nobody really uses the rules as formulated on the Bar Exam.ĩ. The time taken to study for the Bar is wasted time, with little value to the person studying or to society.Ĩ. Right now, time studying for the Bar is time that could be spent helping others or doing something more productive. This time could be used much more productively in ways that help out the community. The Bar consumes hours upon hours of time. Does a criminal lawyer need to know the rule against perpetuities?ħ. There is no need for lawyers to know much about a lot of Bar Exam subjects. The Bar often weeds out people who don't have the money to take an expensive legal education.Ħ. The investment in time to retake the Bar Exam can be too much for many if they are going to a state without reciprocity.ĥ. The Bar Exam often serves to inhibit practicing lawyers from moving readily from state to state. The Bar Exam is largely a memory test, and memorizing legal rules is not something that most lawyers really need to do.Ĥ. It often tests on obsolete legal rules.ģ. It doesn't test on the kinds of skills a good lawyer should have.Ģ. He addred the following arguments against the Bar Exam: All the time spent studying for testing could be used for pro bono work, which would provide a benefit to the community and practical training for future lawyers, he said. He suggested that in lieu of the Bar Exam, states should permit all students who graduate from an accredited law school to become members of the Bar after working a certain number of supervised pro bono hours. Solove, the Bar Exam is as a way for states to restrain competition among lawyers. In short, he claimed that the Bar Exam was an "unproductive waste of time".Īccording to Prof. He added that it did not test actual law used in legal practice, but esoteric legal rules, many of which were obsolete, and most of which were of absolutely no value to a practicing attorney. Solove wrote ( that the US Bar Exam should be abolished because it "prevented mobility among lawyers, making it cumbersome and time consuming to move to different states". The one-year legal internship program, on the other hand, will enable aspiring lawyers to have the practical education, skills, and knowledge necessary to represent clients, she said. She added that it any testing should be done for admission to the practice of law, aspiring students should take it before they enter law school and not after graduation. She cited Bar examination statistics which showed that of the more than 5,000 law graduates who take the Bar each year, only 20 percent to 30 percent examinees actually pass the Bar. Actual practice of law is the best index of legal competence. The Bar examination is just one index of legal competence, and other factors should be considered.Ħ. Passing the Bar is a matter of chance and luck.ĥ. Examinees are expected to know everything at one time.Ĥ. The Bar examinations is a test of memory and not of competence.ģ. Passing the Bar is not an absolute guarantee of successful practice of law.Ģ. She cited a study entitled "S urvey of the Legal Profession" by former UP College of Law Dean Merlin Magallona and lawyer Manuel Flores Bonifacio which showed that a sizable number of lawyers think the Bar examinations is not a good index of legal competence for the following reasons:ġ. She claimed that the Bar exams is not the best gauge of one’s aptitude to practice law because it fails to test the skills needed in the legal profession and that it does not focus on the full spectrum of legal knowledge. The NLSAT will be similar to the National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) for aspiring medicine students. She stated that the NLSAT will better evaluate the verbal, writing, analytical proficiency, and reading comprehension skills of prospective law students. Santiago proposed the taking of a National Law School Aptitude Test (NLSAT) and a one-year legal internship as pre-requisites for admission in the study and practice of law. The Constitution grants it the power to promulgate rules governing admission to the practice of law. Under Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court conducts the Bar examinations every year. Miriam Defensor Santiago urged the Supreme Court to abolish the Bar examinations as a prerequisite for practicing law in the Philippines because "passing the Bar examinations is a matter of chance and luck" and "is j ust one index of legal competence."
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