That would be the bar exam, necessary in most American states for practicing law. Professor Ilya Somin on The Volokh Conspiracy makes the case, boosted by the problematic risks and logistics of taking the bar exam in the midst of a pandemic:
The standard argument against diploma privilege is that the bar exam requirement is needed to protect consumers from incompetent lawyers. But there is no evidence that bar exams actually achieve that goal, as opposed to serving as a barrier to entry that protects incumbents in the profession from competition. The quality of legal services in Wisconsin has not suffered from its longstanding diploma privilege policy. Bar records indicate that attorneys in that state have disciplinary records similar to those in other states.
Such results are not surprising. The truth is that the bar exam is a test of arcane memorization, not a test of whether the applicant is likely to be a good attorney. That’s why, as my co-blogger Orin Kerr puts it, “when it [the exam] is over you can forget everything you just learned.”
For that reason, I have long advocated the abolition of bar exams …
I’m not sure what life would be like without the looming wall of the bar exam for new lawyers. I’m a cautious fan of hurdles, marking an accomplishment, and the societal mythos bestowing on those who make it over the hurdle with both opportunities and responsibilities – such as being an Officer of the Court. I think, sometimes, that I might have benefited from such formalities.
But maybe not. I was completely mystified by the celebration of graduating high school. I was just glad to be gone. I suppose I should have gone to the graduation ceremony for University, but I believe I was quite ill at the time – and didn’t feel like I was part of a community in any case.
But extraordinary exams such as the bar are not exclusively about testing knowledge that can be looked up just as easily; it’s also about putting together the gumption to actually sit and pass it. Much like the despised long hours for doctors during their internships, big, big challenges are necessary for lawyers who may find themselves in charge of matters involving large sums of money – or the liberty and lives of defendants.
