California Supreme Court Approves More Rigorous Standards for Bar Exam Experts

The California Supreme Court on Thursday approved a proposed set of qualification standards for experts involved in developing California’s Bar Exam, but the court modified the proposal to tighten the eligibility requirements for those responsible for question accuracy, content validation, and score setting.

In approving the State Bar’s proposal, the court made several modifications, including:

• Expanded eligibility for content validators and score-setting panelists to include active or retired California judges and justices.
   
• Added “well-qualified” as a qualification standard for selecting content validators and score-setting panelists, which the court defined as the ability to demonstrate expertise in the knowledge and skills being tested and familiarity with the abilities required of an entry-level attorney.
   
•  Added a new disqualification standard for law school faculty or consultants who have recently served in positions involving substantial responsibilities related to securing or maintaining a law school’s accreditation.
   
• Expanded eligibility for subject matter experts to include licensed attorneys and active judges and justices.
   
• Added “outstanding in their field of expertise” as a qualification standard for selecting subject matter experts, which the court defined as including those having major professional awards, leadership roles, membership in organizations requiring outstanding achievement, high academic credentials, tenured status, authorship of published work, prior experience evaluating the work of others in the same field, or letters of recommendation.

The court in September approved amendments expanding the Committee of Bar Examiners’ role in overseeing changes to the Bar Exam. Those amendments also required the development of these qualification standards.

The State Bar and the Committee of Bar Examiners will implement the court-approved qualification standards in any future efforts relating to the development of the California Bar Exam.