SUBJECT: The Committee of Bar Examiners proposes to increase the passing score required for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination from a scaled score of 79 to a scaled score of 100, out of a maximum scaled score of 150.

The MPRE is produced by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (Conference) and is administered by the Conference three times a year. Applicant scores are reported to the various jurisdictions as directed by applicants. Each jurisdiction established its particular passing score, which in California is a scaled score of 79 or approximately 28 to 33 correct answers out of 50.

The passing score of 79 has remained unchanged since the Committee of Bar Examiners of The State Bar of California (Committee) began requiring the MPRE as part of the California admissions process in 1980. For students intending to pursue admission to practice law in California, they are eligible to take the examination after completing one year of law study. Once they achieve a passing score, it is good for however long it may take to meet the other requirements for admission.

The Committee proposes increasing the passing score on the MPRE to a scaled score of 100 out of a maximum scaled score of 150, which depending on the particular examination translates to approximately 32 to 37 correct answers, effective January 1, 2007, the Committee believing that the spirit if not the letter of Section 6046.6, California Business and Professions Code requires two years advance notice of the change.

The Committee believes that public protection and the legal profession will be enhanced if additional emphasis is placed on the topic of professional responsibility in the process of gaining admission to practice law in California.

To this end, the Committee has been including at least a crossover professional responsibility issue in at least one written question, or one question with the specific topic of professional responsibility, each administration of the California Bar Examination for the past three years. The Committee believes this was a good first step toward increasing the professionalism of newly admitted lawyers and that even further steps should be taken.

Specifically, the Committee believes that the scaled score now required to pass the MPRE should be increased to the point where preparation for the examination and the importance of the topic receive appropriate attention from those who wish to be admitted to practice law in California.

At its June 2003 Committee meeting, representatives from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) addressed the Committee concerning the scope and minimum passing scores on the MPRE. During that presentation, California’s minimum passing score of a total scaled score of 79 was compared with the minimum passing scores of the other jurisdictions using the MPRE. It was pointed out that California’s minimum passing standard on the MPRE of 79 was lower than 31 jurisdictions that use the MPRE and that for the November 2002 MPRE, to achieve a passing scaled score of 79, applicants needed to correctly answer only 28 of the 50 MPRE questions, or 56%. On the November 2002 administration, the overall passing rate in California for the MPRE was 83%.

Following the presentation in June 2003, the Committee expressed its desire to study the effects of raising the minimum total scaled score required to pass the MPRE. The NCBE was asked to research all of the recent administrations of the MPRE and provide a comparison of the respective raw and scaled minimum passing scores for those examinations.

During its July 2003 Committee meeting, the research compiled by NCBE was considered. Had the California minimum passing standard on the MPRE been increased from a total scaled score of 79 to 100 on the MPRE examinations administered from March 2000 through November 2002, the effect of such an increase would have been the minimum passing scaled score of 100 correlated to a correct raw score of between 32 (November 2001) to 37 (March 2001). The corresponding percentages of correct answers were from a low of 64% to a high of 74%.

After considering the research and reviewing the minimum passing standards in California, and comparing those standards with those of the other jurisdictions that require passage of the MPRE as a prerequisite for admission to the practice of law, the Committee decided to explore further the proposal to raise the minimum passing standard required to pass the MPRE from the current total scaled score of 79 to a total scaled score of 100.

The Committee recognizes that some may believe that the proposed increase in the minimum passing score is too great and that a lower passing score (but still greater than the current score) should be established. While the Committee appreciates those concerns, it does not believe they should be controlling where public protection is concerned.

The MPRE is not a high stakes examination as is the California Bar Examination. Most law students take professional responsibility classes early in their legal education, and most take the MPRE prior to graduation.

The Committee believes additional facts supporting the argument in favor of the increase include: 1) there is no limit on the number of times that the MPRE may be taken, and 2) only five or six more correct answers would be required to achieve the increased passing scaled score of 100.

SOURCE: The Committee of Bar Examiners

COMMENT DEADLINE: August 25, 2004

DIRECT COMMENTS TO:

Gayle Murphy
Office of Admissions
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-538-2322
415-538-2304 Fax