Bar Examinations and Bar Passage
Is Bar Exam Failure a Harbinger of Professional Discipline?
Document Type
Law Review Article
Publication Date
1-2017
Keywords
bar performance impact, lawyer discipline
Abstract
Two of the reasons students fail the bar exam are lack of diligence and incompetence; these are also the primary reasons attorneys are disciplined. Using bar exam and disciplinary data from Tennessee, this Article substantiates the following theses: (1) The more times it takes a lawyer to pass the bar exam the more likely that lawyer will be disciplined for ethical violations, particularly early in the lawyer’s career; and (2) The more times it takes a lawyer to pass the bar exam the more likely that lawyer will be disciplined for lack of diligence—including non-communication—and/or incompetence.
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