Washington state SC rules the bar exam is racist to prospective lawyers

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The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that the bar exam is no longer a requirement for prospective lawyers. On Friday, The Bar Licensure Task Force explained that the bar is “minimally effective for ensuring competency” and “disproportionally and unnecessarily blocks marginalized groups from becoming practicing attorneys.”

According to The Spokesman-Review, after appointing the task force in 2020 to assess “disproportionate impacts on examinees of color and first-generation examinees,” the courts agreed to substitute the exam with “experiential-learning alternatives.”

The task force was made up of over 50 groups of representatives and “examined the character and fitness process for lawyer licensure.” Although students have historically interned under another lawyer before becoming attorneys, they still had to pass the bar to get their license to practice.

Under the new guidelines, lawyers can forgo the bar, first administered in Delaware in 1783, by participating in a six-month apprenticeship and finishing three courses. Additionally, students must complete a minimum of three hours of legal work per week and 12 skills credits as licensed legal interns, garnering up to 500 hours of law experience before graduation to complete their portfolios.

The eligibility to become a licensed law practitioner will also extend to law clerks even if they haven’t finished law school by completing 500 hours of work as a licensed legal intern and “completing standardized educational materials and benchmarks under the guidance of a mentoring attorney.”

“These recommendations come from a diverse body of lawyers in private and public practice, academics, and researchers who contributed immense insight, counterpoints and research to get us where we are today,” explained task force chair and Washington Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, in a statement.

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