Minimum Competency
Unlike law school, the goal of the bar exam is not to rank you. It is a licensing test requiring you to pass a minimum threshold.
The standard to pass the bar exam is "minimum competency" to practice law as a lawyer. It requires mastery of certain minimum skills that all lawyers should have in order to competently practice law.
Here are the instructions from the State Bar of California's Essay Exam:
Your answer should demonstrate your ability to analyze the facts in question, to tell the difference between material and immaterial facts, and to discern the points of law and fact upon which the case turns. Your answer should show that you know and understand the pertinent principles and theories of law, their qualifications and limitations, and their relationships to each other.Your answer should evidence your ability to apply law to the given facts and to reason in a logical, lawyer-like manner from the premises you adopt to a sound conclusion. Do not merely show that you remember legal principles. Instead, try to demonstrate your proficiency in using and applying them.
If your answer contains only a statement of your conclusions, you will receive little credit. State fully the reasons that support your conclusions, and discuss all points thoroughly. Your answer should be complete, but you should not volunteer information or discuss legal doctrines which are not pertinent to the solution of the problem.
Unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application.
The National Conference of Bar Examiners, the company that prepares the MultiState Bar Examination, provides a description of its testing in an informational booklet that can be found on its website
www.ncbex.org.
The questions on the examination are designed to be answered by applying fundamental legal principles rather than local case or statutory law. A given question may indicate the applicable statute, theory of liability, or comparable principle of law.
Many of the questions require applicants to analyze the legal relationships arising from a fact situation or to take a position as an advocate. Some questions call for judgments about interpreting, drafting, or counseling.
Most of these skills are introduced in the first year of law school and tested throughout your law school career. Some professors are better than others at teaching these skills. Some will teach you more deliberately and some will "hide the ball." Nevertheless, you will be required to show your mastery on the bar exam.
- Analytical and critical thinking, reading and listening
- Identify legal issues from a set of facts
- Develop a "rule of law" by synthesizing statutes and cases
- Apply the rule of law to the facts
- Articulate arguments pro and con
- Reason to a logical conclusion
- Organize rules of law into a body of law
- Communicate in writing
- Manage time and prioritize tasks
Granted, these are minimum skills. A good lawyer should also have the following skills.
- Verbal communications
- Legal research
- Fact gathering and discovery
- Client control
- Negotiations
- Trial techniques
- Knowledge of diversity issues
- Marketing
- Networking
- Computer competency
- Office management
- Personnel management
- Stress management
- Professionalism
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