March 2024
Multnomah
Lawyers associated for justice, service, professionalism, education and leadership for our members and our community
Lawyer
Est. 1906
by Theresa L. (Terry) Wright MBA President
MULTNOMAH BAR ASSOCIATION 620 SW FIFTH AVE., SUITE 1220 PORTLAND, OREGON 97204
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID PORTLAND, OR PERMIT NO. 00082
Volume 70, Number 3
mba CLE
No Bar Exam? Really? As hopefully most everyone knows, the Oregon Supreme Court has recently approved a different type of bar exam for admission to the Oregon State Bar. Is it the traditional bar exam? No. Is it a bar exam? Yes. This decision has been controversial, but it shouldn’t be. All Oregon lawyers should embrace this change. The National Council of Bar Examiners (the folks who bring you the bar exam) is implementing the NextGen Bar Exam beginning in July 2026. This exam focuses much more on testing skills rather than black letter law. Over the last few years, there has been a recognition that the traditional bar exam doesn’t necessarily test a person’s readiness to practice law, but rather, tests a person’s ability to take a standardized exam. Also, studies have shown that those from less traditional backgrounds and those with disabilities have a much more difficult time passing this type of exam than those from more traditional backgrounds. The new Oregon bar exam option is called the Supervised Practice Portfolio Exam (SPPE). Note the word exam is in the title. The premise behind this new bar exam is that applicants will create a portfolio of work to be submitted to the Board of Bar Examiners for review. Those applicants whose portfolio work meets minimum standards will be admitted to the bar (assuming they pass the character and fitness aspect of the application process); those whose work does not meet minimum standards will not be admitted. Sounds The premise behind kind of like the bar exam, right? That’s this new bar exam is that applicants will because it is. Applicants will be preparing their create a portfolio of portfolios under the supervision work...[which] meets of an experienced lawyer. The minimum standards... applicant will have to spend at least 675 hours working on preparing the portfolio. This corresponds with the number of hours the average traditional bar taker spends studying for the bar. The applicant also must perform certain tasks satisfactorily, including client interviews, document drafting, legal analysis, exposure to diversity and equity issues, and demonstrating competence in legal ethics. Sounds like law practice, right? The supervisor must confirm that the applicant has satisfactorily completed all requirements of the program before the applicant’s portfolio will be considered by the Board of Bar Examiners. In my first paragraph I said lawyers should embrace this change. Why do I say that? Legal education has not kept pace with today’s world. The traditional bar exam is no exception. I don’t know about you, but once I started practicing law, I used hardly any of the information the bar tested. I doubt that has changed. I learned almost everything I know about practicing law from doing just that, practicing. It seems the main reason to continue to embrace the traditional bar exam is because we all got our licenses that way. Is that really a valid reason to continue the status quo? I don’t think so.
March 2024
While the Oregon Bar is working toward more diversity in its ranks, we have a long way to go before we are reflective of the population in general. The Supervised Practice Portfolio Exam will move us further toward a more diverse bar. In my many years of skills education, I have learned that often those who make the best lawyers are not the ones with the best grades or the highest bar exam score. They are the people who have ...I suspect that for experienced life, spent time with people many, the SPPE route from a myriad of backgrounds, and who have good judgment and problem- will be more difficult solving skills. None of these can be than that traditional measured by the traditional bar exam, bar exam. or really by the NextGen bar exam. The SPPE fills in the gap to test skills that lawyers really use. I equate this to doctors. I would much rather see a doctor who talks to me about symptoms and uses her experience to assess my health care concerns versus someone who has to resort to researching what might be happening (and I’ve had one or two doctors who did that). Why shouldn’t we expect the same of lawyers and test their abilities actually to work with clients and prepare relevant documents? There are certainly downsides to the SPPE. First and foremost is that, unlike the traditional bar exam, scores and bar memberships are not transferable to another state’s bar. There is also the difficulty that new law school graduates will have in finding a qualified attorney to serve as their mentor and to pay them while they spend 675 hours preparing their portfolios. And if the applicant’s portfolio doesn’t pass muster with the Board of Bar Examiners, what then? They will probably have to return to the drawing board and take the more traditional bar exam. And I suspect that for many, the SPPE route will be more difficult than that traditional bar exam. But in my mind the upsides outweigh the downsides. First and foremost, those who have never been good test-takers will have an alternative way to demonstrate their competence. Beyond that, though, we will develop a more diverse bar. Many bar takers (and hence, eventually lawyers) have disabilities. While it is true the bar offers accommodations for many taking the bar, how does that translate to learning how to practice law with those disabilities? It doesn’t. Under the SPPE, the applicant will certainly have to confront any difficulties they have with law practice and develop coping mechanisms. As is clear from this column, I strongly approve of having more than one bar exam format for law school graduates to demonstrate their competence to practice law. This new bar format will make the legal profession more diverse, and will honor the various learning styles and backgrounds people bring to our bar. Please join me in supporting this new format, and by all means, offer to be a SPPE mentor!
Save the Date! MBA 118th Annual Meeting, Dinner & Judges Reception Wednesday, May 8 5-8 p.m. Hilton Portland Downtown 921 SW Sixth Avenue Sponsorship opportunities available. Contact Kathy at the MBA at 503.222.3275.
See details on p. 3. To register, visit www.mbabar.org/cle and input your OSB number to register at the member rate.
MARCH 3.1 Friday Appellate Law Update Judge David Rees Cody Hoesly 3.12 Tuesday Multnomah County Presiding Court Update Judge Judith Matarazzo Barbara Marcille 3.20 Wednesday Custody and Parenting Time Evaluations Roundtable Dr. Wendy Bourg Dr. Landon Poppleton Dr. Zvi Strassberg
APRIL 4.4 Thursday The Oregon Secretary of State’s Advisory Report on a Statewide Strategy re: Domestic Violence Andrew Love Krystine McCants Kip Memmott 4.10 Wednesday Racism in Oregon History The Two-Hour Version Eliza Canty-Jones Mari Watanabe 4.11 Thursday Drafting Effective Trial Briefs Justice Stephen K. Bushong 4.15 Monday Family Law Update Judge Susan M. Svetkey Patricia Arjun Amy Fassler
MAY 5.1 Wednesday Campaign Finance in Candidate Elections Lisa Howley Alma Whalen
In This Issue Calendar ������������������������������������������ 2 CLE �������������������������������������������������� 3 Announcements ������������������������������� 5 Ethics Focus ������������������������������������� 5 Around the Bar ��������������������������������� 6 News From the Courthouse ��������������� 8 Tips From the Bench ������������������������� 8 YLS �������������������������������������������������10 Pro Bono Thanks ����������������������������� 13 Classifieds �������������������������������������� 15
Multnomah Bar Association 620 SW 5th Ave Suite 1220 Portland, Oregon 97204 503.222.3275 www.mbabar.org
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