Diploma Privilege - Explained

Level 3 - Advanced Concepts

Welcome back! Recently, there was an article in the news that the state of Oregon will no longer require a bar exam to practice law in the state. There are obvious nuances here, but this continues a trend of redefining who is eligible to be a licensed attorney within a given state that has emerged over the last several years.

As many of you begin applying to law school, we thought it would be a good idea to review the concept of diploma privilege and provide our thoughts.

Understanding the current process

Before we do, let’s make sure everyone is aware of the general process of how you become a practicing attorney.

In the US, you generally apply and are accepted into law school. Through law school preparation and bar prep material, you typically take the bar exam in a given state after the 3L year.

That bar exam is 2-3 day, and along with other professionalism requirements, dictates whether you are barred in a given state.

There are a lot of criticisms of the current bar exam, but they chiefly rest on three arguments

1. The bar exam does not accurately test whether someone is ready to practice law

2. The bar exam topics do not accurately reflect the things a lawyer needs to know to practice in the current environment (e.g., how important are wills and estates to someone who is planning to be a prosecutor)

3. The bar exam can be “gamed” by individuals who study how to take the test as opposed to individuals who actually prepared to practice throughout law school

We are not here to get into the validity of any of these arguments. Its just the arguments that have been made and have encouraged a change in the bar exam.