California has tightened the reins on its bar exam system after February’s disastrous test left aspiring lawyers fuming and state officials scrambling.
Governor Gavin Newsom has now signed a trio of bills designed to make sure the licensing exam never melts down again. The most sweeping of them freezes any major changes to the test until at least 2027—and demands the State Bar of California give long notice before altering how the exam is delivered or who provides it.
Under the new law, the bar must provide two years’ warning before moving from in-person to online testing and 18 months before switching vendors for the multiple-choice section. It must also disclose any use of artificial intelligence in creating or grading exam questions.
The move follows the February exam debacle, when California replaced the long-used Multistate Bar Exam with questions from Kaplan Exam Services in a cost-cutting experiment. What was supposed to save $3.8 million a year instead cost more than $6 million after technical glitches derailed the hybrid test. The state quietly reverted to the traditional format in July.
Another newly signed measure orders the California State Auditor to investigate the February fiasco, with the bar itself footing the bill. Lawmakers and the state’s Supreme Court are expected to review the findings once complete.
Senator Tom Umberg, who led the reform push, said the new laws will inject much-needed transparency and accountability into the process. “We need to make sure the exam is fair, consistent, and administered by competent hands,” he said.
A third bill requires the bar’s exam committee to run a full cost-benefit analysis before making further changes—and to reconsider whether California should finally adopt a national uniform bar exam. Forty-five other states are already moving toward the revamped “NextGen” version of that test, which emphasizes real-world legal skills over rote memorization.
For now, California’s bar exam will stay firmly grounded in its old-school format—but with a legislative magnifying glass hovering over every move.
