For California ABA-accredited law schools, the pass rate for first time test-takers was 81%, up 5 percentage points from 2023. The State Bar of California reported today that 53.8 percent of applicants passed the July 2024 General Bar Examination (GBX).
The State Bar of California's Committee of Bar Examiners on Friday voted 8-3 to allow bar takers to sit for the exam remotely or in test centers located in other states or countries—provided they take it at the same time as those in California to reduce the risk of cheating.
California's General Bar Exam pass rate of 53.8 percent is up from last year's July pass rate of 51.5 percent, and 2022's July pass rate of 52.4 percent. Preliminary statistical analyses show that of the 8,291 applicants who completed the GBX, 67.7 percent were first-time takers.
California's bar exam is known for its rigorous content and low pass rates compared to other states. In fact, even though California recently lowered its passing score from 1,440 to 1,390, that is still higher than the 1,350 score required for a passing grade in many other states.
The directory maintained by the state bar or its disciplinary board is sometimes called the "Roster of Attorneys" or the "Roll of Attorneys." Six (6) states do not publish a searchable database online. In those jurisdictions, you must call or email the state bar to confirm a lawyer's bar license status or bar number.
Is The California Bar Exam Hard? Yes, the California bar exam is widely considered to be the most difficult of all state bar exams in the US. The California bar exam has a pass rate of 34%.
California Bar Examination All other attorney applicants must take the general bar exam. Please note that the State Bar does not offer reciprocity or accept bar exam scores from another jurisdiction.
It doesn't get easier or harder. As an equated and scaled test, the difficulty of the bar exam remains the same for each administration. The remaining possibilities are the law graduates taking the test or the law schools admitting students and preparing their graduates to take the test.
There is no reciprocity between Florida and any other jurisdiction. Submission to the Florida Bar Examination and completion of a character and fitness investigation is required of all applicants.
California Reciprocity California doesn't offer reciprocity but offers a shorter bar exam for attorneys who are admitted in other states and who have been in good standing as an attorney in those states for at least four years prior to their application.