Page 30 - Delaware Lawyer - Summer 2022

FEATURE
a Good Lawyer?
Rodney A. Smolla
What Makes
Competency-based alternativestothe traditional bar exam
Consider the following questions: (1) Does the current bar exam regime operate as a negative factor in diversifying the legal profession? (2) Is the bar exam a poor vehicle for ensuring the ethical and competent practice of law? (3) Is it possible to imagine a creative new approach to law school education, and to admission to the bar, that would both enhance the diversity of the profession, and enhance the ethical compass and practical competency of novice lawyers entering the profession, by adopting approaches to assessment that have proven successful in other programs across the country?
Now, consider some working answers to these questions.
The Current Regime Hurts Diversity
The traditional bar exam operates as a negative force in efforts to diversify the legal profession. As a broad consor- tium of legal organizations supporting reform noted in an “Open Letter” writ- ten in August 2020: “We have a shared recognition that diversity in the legal
profession remains woefully inadequate, and the bar exam is one of many struc- tural barriers that contribute to that problem.”1
Unfortunately, “[s]tark racial dispar- ities mark the legal profession’s licens- ing process.”2 In 2020, for example,
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28 DELAWARE LAWYER SUMMER 2022