Deborah Jones Merritt sent this notice of a virtual conference on bar exam reform that Mitchell Hamline, the University of Minnesota, and the University of St. Thomas are sponsoring on Friday, April 22, from 9:30-4:00 pm Central Time.  The notice includes a link to register.

Several states are now actively considering alternative pathways to licensure, and the organizers hope this conference will be a “one stop shop” for stakeholders interested in those alternatives.

Morning panels of the conference will offer critiques of the current bar exam.  Afternoon panels will offer insights into alternative forms of licensing.

Here’s a working draft of the program for this free conference.

Professor Merritt is the co-author of the study, Building a Better Bar: The Twelve Building Blocks of Minimum Competence, which found, among other things, that law graduates are “woefully unprepared” to work with clients.