Revisiting the Bar Exam

The Barrister and Solicitor examinations in Ontario are ripe for reform. With the continuous influx and new generation of law students, I have found that the current examinations are not properly testing the competency levels of incoming students. The current exam structure rewards groups of students who have a lesser understanding of the law than others who fail the exams, but are better at finding answers in materials quickly and efficiently. Moreover, it does not weed out those students who are not truly interested in practicing law after law school. I think the Law Society benchers would be well advised to initiate a pilot project to investigate the examination’s current suitability.