The California Bar had a problem. Administering the bar exam costs money and the licensing process found itself in the red. Working with the National Conference of Bar Examiners — a non-profit with $151 MILLION in net assets — had the California outfit running a roughly $4 million deficit. Between the direct expense of working with the NCBE and the administrative costs involved in booking dangerously frigid conference venues because the NCBE requires the exam be taken in person, officials proposed ditching the bar exam monopoly and having bar prep provider Kaplan produce a new test.
After some initial hesitation, California will make the switch opening the door to a new challenger in the bar exam game.
Kaplan will produce a multiple choice test for the February 2025 exam, with an essay and performance questions arriving in 2026. This is a tight turnaround — driven by the dire financial situation — but the alternative is the NCBE’s NextGen Bar Exam, which legal educators recently called out for having a disastrously rushed and murky rollout. So there’s a lot of risk for applicants either way.
It’s unclear which of the logistical proposals under consideration made it to the final cut — one included a hybrid remotely proctored option and another involved using Kaplan prep facilities in lieu of having to book giant venues (with the added advantage of saving applicants the expense of traveling across the giant state for the test). Either way, Cal saved money.
From the ABA Journal:
Public discussions for California’s plan for Kaplan to create an exam started in May but were put on hold after the NCBE wrote Kaplan, reminding the test prep company that creating questions based on NCBE-produced tests could violate their licensing agreement.
After negotiating with Kaplan, “we believe that the copyright concerns have been addressed,” Bridget Gramme, special counsel at the State Bar of California, said at the Thursday board of trustees meeting.
Since Kaplan wasn’t about to lift exam questions verbatim, the NCBE was apparently trying to assert intellectual property rights around the whole idea of asking legal questions. Bold. And, unsurprisingly, something they’ve now dropped.
California is a big domino to fall in the bar exam game. The ABA Journal reports that Nevada is already “Kaplan curious.” If this gathers momentum, it’s hard to imagine rival prep companies stay out of the action.
No matter how the next few years play out, it’s an uncertain moment for law students.
New Paths for Licensure: California confirms Kaplan bar exam, Arizona launches second chance program [ABA Journal]
Earlier: The California Bar Is Flat Broke And Its Plan To Fix This Involves Throwing Out The Existing Bar Exam
California Bar Risks Going Bankrupt Rather Than Change Its Exam
Bar Exam Rollout Dumpster Fire Should Terrify Law Students
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
