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78 U. Colo. L. Rev. 69 (2007)
The Relationship between Law School and the Bar Exam: A Look at Assessment and Student Success

handle is hein.journals/ucollr78 and id is 75 raw text is: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW SCHOOL AND THE BAR EXAM: A LOOK AT ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT SUCCESS LORENZO A. TRUJILLO* Law schools have a moral and ethical obligation to society-and, to an even greater degree, to their students-to adequately prepare the students to succeed as professionals. Ultimate success for law students is measured by the ability to competently practice in the legal profession, which requires passing the bar exam. A recent downward trend in national bar passage rates highlights the need for law schools to address the factors negatively affecting bar passage rates. Based on research conducted at the University of Colorado School of Law, this article discusses methods to reform new attorney licensure and also highlights strategies to improve bar passage. It suggests ways to minimize the effects of the bar exam's negative factors and recommends ways to better prepare law students. INTRODUCTION Bar passage rates have been of increasing concern for law schools as the national bar passage rate has declined over the past decade. Un- doubtedly, a school's bar passage rate figures prominently into the all- important U.S. News and World Report Law School rankings methodol- ogy.1 However, as educational institutions, law schools should be at least equally concerned with falling bar passage rates to the extent that those rates reflect the quality and effectiveness of legal education--or * Lorenzo A. Trujillo is the Assistant Dean of Students and Professional Programs and Professor-Attendant Rank at the University of Colorado School of Law, and is Of Counsel with the Law Firm of Cage Williams, P.C. The author wishes to thank and acknowledge the work of his research assistants, Joseph G. Martinez, William Kozeleski, and Siddhartha H. Ra- thod, for their assistance in the preparation of this article. The author also thanks Dean David Getches, Marianne Wesson, Clare Huntington, Javier Trujillo, Karen Trojanowski, and Shan- non L. Rathod for their review of this article. Special gratitude is given to Jennifer R. Jacobsen for her patient, detailed, and professional editing. 1. William D. Henderson & Andrew P. Morris, Student Quality as Measured by LSAT Scores: Migration Patterns in the U.S. News Rankings Era, 81 IND. L.J. 163, 165 (2006).

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