Popular bar exam??? Forum

[Nybar2015]

I know it's a silly question but I (a foreign lawyer) wonder why most of the USA law graduates like to take CA, NY or Texas bar exam and Offcourse Ube now (thankfully). Why do they have so much popularity or hype compared to other State bars? Definitely one reason being there are more job opportunities in those cities but doesn't passing other State bar exams find us decent jobs?? Is legal market really saturated in other States??

[A. Nony Mouse]

The legal market is saturated everywhere, but it's just a function of population - there are more people and therefore lawyers and legal jobs in NY, CA, and TX. (The top 4 most populous states in the US are California, Texas, Florida, and New York. Florida has a more difficult bar to pass and much smaller legal markets than the other three states.) Also, California doesn't allow reciprocity - if you want to practice in California you have to take their bar exam (whereas other states will let you waive into the bar if you've practiced a certain number of years.) It's also sort of a function of where the most/most important legal jobs are based in the US, but that's a sort of chicken/egg thing with population.

[AspiringCALawyer]

I know it's a silly question but I (a foreign lawyer) wonder why most of the USA law graduates like to take CA, NY or Texas bar exam and Offcourse Ube now (thankfully). Why do they have so much popularity or hype compared to other State bars? Definitely one reason being there are more job opportunities in those cities but doesn't passing other State bar exams find us decent jobs?? Is legal market really saturated in other States??

It's a function of where one wants to live. Although there are 50 states, not all of them are equally places one would like to live.

[L_William_W]

I'm not sure about Texas, but California is popular because everyone wants to work in Los Angeles and near the California beaches. They have this romanticized view of California. People want to work in New York City because it's "cool" and there's this mystique about working in these large, corporate office buildings.

The level of difficulty of a particular bar exam is commensurate to the population of a state. For example, if someone attended law school in Wisconsin, they don't have to take the bar exam to become a lawyer in that state. Conversely, the California bar exam is harder than the exam to get into med school.

[SLS_AMG]

The level of difficulty of a particular bar exam is commensurate to the population of a state.

Uh, no.

[Nybar2015]

I would agree that one of the main reason for taking a particular bar exam is for settling in that place, be it CA or NY. But I don't think the CA bar exam is tougher than med school exam. That's just a HYPE n don't get carried by what others say. Exactly why we have spent so much money and wasted a carrier in law. Even though I passed the bar on my 3rd attempt, I still think it's a doable exam if you just study properly for 3-4 months.

I know that I am diverting from the topic but my anger and frustration is that there is so much hype about legal profession in US. Soon the market is going to open the flood gates for many more non-legal people. The salaries for legal professionals is dropping day by day compared to a doctor or engineer. The hype about law and bar exam is purely a gimmick created by law schools. The lawyers know that surviving the profession is tougher than the stupid exam.

I am sure it will be a joke in few days because people from all areas would be allowed to take it without law degrees. Worse being law schools admitting students based on GRE scores (just becoz law school admissions have dropped- educational institutions set rules as per their convenience).

My point being - bar exam is a hype and nothing more. Get over the hype and you will pass.