Toward Meaningful Reforms in the Bar Examinations
![handle is hein.journals/philplj77 and id is 247 raw text is: TOwARD MEANINGFUL REFORMS IN THE BAR EXAMINATIONS
Justiir Viwznte 1. MendoZa*
Admission to the bar through a system of written examinations is a uniquely
American tradition, which was transplanted into the Philippines in the early 1900's. I
Most of our bar examination procedures and practices remain the same as they were
when bar examinations were first introduced in this country, largely through the
efforts of Justice E. Finley Johnson and the American Bar Association of the
Philippine Islands.2 These include the appointment by the Supreme Court of an ad
hoc Committee on Bar Examinations chaired by a member of the Court, the pure
essay-type of questions, the assignment of a single lar examiner in each test area, the
use of weighted averages in grading, the provision for adjusting the passing standard,
and the anonymity of the bar examiners.
Over the years, the changes in the bar examinations were essentially
structural or procedural in scope, rather than substantive or methodological in
nature. For example, the membership of the Committee on Bar Examinations, three
in the beginning in 1901, was increased to five in 1909 and then to eight in 1940;
while the subjects were increased from six3 in 1906, to seven4 in 1916, and then to
*Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the Philippines and Chair, Committee on the 2W2. Bar
Examinations. I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of my son, Roger L. Mendoza, Ph. D., Almarin Phillips
Associate Professor of Economics, Drexel University, in the preparation of this paper, particularly Part III on
the calibration method as used for grading essay examinations in state bar examinations in the United States,
and in arranging my meetings with officials of the Educational Testing Service (r.TS) at Princeton, Ncw Iersey
and the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners at Trenton, N.J., on October 7, 2002. 1 want to thank Robert B.
Hailer, Ph.D., John Dumont, Ph.D.,. John -. Yopp, Ph.D., Thomas Ewing, Margaret J. Murphy, Ph.D., and
Susan Chyn, all of the ETS, for their warm reception and helpful suggestions. I am equally indebted to L ,aura S.
Brooks, Esq., and Audrey Matissa, Esq., both of the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners at Trenton, NIJ., for
patiently explaining some of the procedures of the NIJ. bar examination. As a result of my conferences with
these officials, I received confirmation of the validity of some of the ideas in this paper which had been
gestating in my mind for several years.
During the Spanish regime, the licensing of attorneys was based on an individual's attainment of
the degree and title of Lecenciado de Juridicos (Licentiate in Law), or its equivalent, followed, in many
instances, by a period of legal apprenticeship. See abro DI.\N C. WORCFsrER, THE PHILIPI'INIS: PAST AND
PRESENT 57-59 (1914).
2 .4n'hisal Golkcion of Letter, o/ Eha, F. ]ohn.n, Bentley Historical Library, The University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Before coming to the Philippines Mr. Justice Johnson was a member of the
Board of Education and Bar Examiners of Michigan. He was the longest serving member of the Philippine
Supreme Court (1903-1932).
1 These are: Civil Law, Civil Procedure, Mercantile Law, Criminal Procedure, Private and Public
International Law, and Practical Exercises.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/philplj77&div=20&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Toward Meaningful Reforms in the Bar Examinations
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