Oregon High Court to Consider Dropping Bar Exam for New Lawyers

Oregon officials are weighing whether to drop the requirement that law school graduates must pass the bar exam to practice law, and, instead, allow more reliance on coursework and practical experience to earn a license.

The Oregon Supreme Court is scheduled on Wednesday to consider a task force’s newly submitted recommendations to overhaul the licensing system. A new scheme would upend decades of relying on a written test that includes essays and a multiple-choice exam, for which lawyers in training spend weeks studying and often take costly preparation courses.

The proposed alternatives to attorney licensure follow turmoil in traditional in-person ...