The Colorado Bar Examination: Report of an Opinion Survey
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 9 No. 9 Pg. 1840 |
| Pages | 1840 |
| Publication year | 1980 |
1980, September, Pg. 1840. The Colorado Bar Examination: Report of an Opinion Survey
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Harry L. Arkin, Denver, is president of the firm of Arkin, McGloin and Davenport, P.C. and chairman of the Bar Examination Subcommittee of the Colorado Bar Association's Committee on Legal Education and Admissions.
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The Bar Examination Subcommittee of the Colorado Bar Association's Committee on Legal Education and Admissions has been studying the bar examination process during the past two years. One of the factors leading to this reassessment was the October 1978 encounter of the late Mr. Justice Groves with a group of law sudents at the University of Colorado who expressed dissatisfaction with the present examination. An opinion survey was designed and questionnaires mailed to 954 attorneys, approximately 10 percent of persons admitted to the Colorado Bar. This article presents a summary of the Subcommittee report which included an overall discussion of responses and the actual survey questions and results.
The result of two years of work by the Subcommittee, this bar examination survey was believed to be the first in the United States made of practicing attorneys concerning the examination process. The survey received a timely response of 74 percent (706 of the 954 persons sent questionnaires). While disclaiming expertise in the composition of the survey, the Subcommittee felt that the results and the indication of interest evidenced by this high response combined to make the last two years' efforts worthwhile.
One surprising aspect of the survey results was that 68 percent of those reponding agreed with the proposition that the present Colorado Bar examination is fair, while only 7 percent expressed no opinion and, of the balance, only 7 percent strongly disagreed with the proposition (question 21). A strong majority expressed the belief that the Multistate should also be retained as part of the Colorado bar examination (question 29).
The majority of the respondents agreed that the function of the bar exam is to test the applicant's knowledge of substantive law and legal analytical skills, as well as knowledge of the Code of Professional Responsibility and of law peculiar to the state of...
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