Note (A. Cibellis), Taking Back the Bar: The need for State Legislation Directed at Addressing the Disparate Impact of the Bar Exam and Holding the NCBE Accountable, 52 Hofstra L. Rev. 445 (2024).
From the introduction:
This Note will begin by describing the bar exam’s discriminatory history and its roots as an intentionally exclusionary tool to the legal profession. Part II will first examine the concept of disparate impact and the role disparate impact analysis has played in targeting practices that are facially neutral but have an adverse effect on minorities. It will then examine the historically rooted disparate impact of the bar exam on minorities. Part III will examine the failed attempts to challenge the disparate impact of the bar exam and address the need for legislative intervention in regard to the NextGen bar exam.16 Part IV will propose a legislative solution where the states will more closely examine the effects of the NextGen bar exam to ensure that targeted efforts to lessen the disparate impact are being implemented. It will go on to discuss that state legislation allowing disparate impact claims against the bar exam to be heard will help put pressure on the NCBE to fix the deep-rooted problems, as well as hold it accountable for the problems that have persisted for decades. Lastly, Part IV will examine a workable alternative pathway to lawyer licensing that can help achieve a more diverse legal profession that does not work to exclude capable candidates, and will conclude by addressing counterarguments from supporters of the exam who contend that the bar exam is necessary to ensure minimum competency for practice.
[Posted by Louis Schulze, FIU Law]
