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Apprentice program seeks to fix Arizona's 'legal desert' by boosting those who narrowly failed bar exam (www.tucsonsentinel.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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  In many rural areas, it's hard for Arizonans to find legal representation. A new program will allow aspiring lawyers who narrowly miss a passing score on the bar exam to work as apprentices in rural communities before becoming licensed to practice on their own.

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[+] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Arizona Bar exam, which is the lowest bar of entry,

You are completely and totally incorrect:

" Last fall, Arizona lowered its minimum passing score for the bar exam from 273, what was previously the highest in the country, to 270. The new score is still the nation’s highest, though it’s shared by 18 other states, including Colorado, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

Many University of Arizona law grads who fall short within a few points often leave for New Mexico or Utah, where the passing score is 260, said Jessica Findley, director of bar and academic success and professor of practice at the UA’s James E. Rogers College of Law. The goal of the ALAP is to keep aspiring lawyers in the state."

Arizona had the highest bar exam requirements in the Nation. And is now on par with 18 other states. The cutoff for this program is 10 points under passing - so 260. Equivalent to New Mexico.

The problem is that there is literally lower bars in bordering states - and they go there instead. Sure, we could just dismiss them as flunkies, but I doubt that a score of 260-270 indicates that they're "incapable".