California Supreme Court Rejects Proposed Alternate Apprenticeship Route To Become a Lawyer

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday against a proposed alternate way for Californians to become lawyers without passing the bar exam.

For the last few years, several states have passed alternative ways to get licensed as an attorney. In November of last year, Oregon became the first state to allow an apprenticeship pathway to becoming licensed, with prospective lawyers having the option of either passing the bar or perform a 675 hour paid apprenticeship with a licensed Oregon attorney. Washington state followed in March, with their state Supreme Court allowing it. As of this month, several other states, including Minnesota and Utah, are currently considering it.

As many wanted experience going into such a bar exam, as well as pointing out how expensive a bar examination can cost through test prep, as well as how many hours away from work people needed to prepare, an alternative apprenticeship method grew in popularity. California has been considering the apprenticeship method for those very reasons ever since Oregon’s was passed last year, and just needed to get past the final hurdle of the California Supreme Court allowing it. Through their own Portfolio Bar Exam (PBE), the California method would closely follow both Oregon and Washington’s: between 4-6 months of an apprenticeship followed by the submission of a portfolio of work. Many states had been waiting to see what California would do before  trying to get their own apprenticeship methods approved.

The State Bar endorsed the PBE last year, but the PBE also faced a multitude of criticism, with many in the legal profession saying that it reduces the requirements to become a lawyer and would create a dangerous precedent on licensure. However, on Thursday the California Supreme Court soundly rejected the proposal. In their order, the Supreme Court said that the Portfolio Bar Exam would not have the fairness, validity or the reliability of the bar exam.

“A portfolio program based with a supervised practice model involving actual clients implicates an array of ethical and practical problems that would compromise the PBE’s fairness, validity, and reliability as a measure of an applicant’s competence,” said the Court.

PBE rejection

Proponents of a PBE system were dejected on Thursday by the Court’s decision. In a statement, Loyola Law School Professor Susan Smith Bakhshian, who developed the Portfolio Bar Exam, said that “I’m disappointed by the decision. The court missed an opportunity to better protect the public and to improve attorney licensure.”

However, others in the legal profession praised the State Supreme Court’s ruling. Legal advisor Heather Colfax told the Globe on Thursday that “Work experience is very important. No one is arguing that an apprenticeship would be a huge learning experience and a leg up. But a PBE bypasses the bar exam. A bar exam is crucial, as it shows competency, that you know how to appropriately operate in a legal setting, and tests your skills you picked up. A bar exam is something you can’t work around or butter someone up with. It’s a plain test, pass or fail.

“An apprenticeship, you know, the lawyer working with them can help them out a lot, they can fudge hours, they can do so much to, pardon my language, half ass it so they get the hours and complete a portfolio. Those going through a PBE may not be ready, and that harms clients. There’s too much room for human error in an apprenticeship. And the California Supreme Court saw that.

“Let’s wait and see on Oregon and Washington. How will they handle those lawyers not doing everything needed so their apprentices pass. Or if they fudge the numbers. How will everyone respond. Most critically, we need to take a look at the numbers. How many pass, how many fail, and if the exam or apprenticeship proves to be better in passing people. But right now, the bar exam is the proven way, tried and true. PBE’s, let’s see how the other do after a few years. Let’s see if PBE lawyers truly are prepared and can act right as a lawyer.”

Several states currently have their own PBE’s under consideration.