PROGRAM: BAR EXAM PASSAGE CONFERENCE

The Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) are jointly sponsoring a conference this fall to assist law schools in addressing and improving bar exam passage rates of graduates. The conference will spotlight programs at several ABA-approved law schools that have shown demonstrable results in preparing graduates for successful completion of the exam. Attendees will take away information and material that will assist them in implementing new strategies and approaches to bar exam preparation. The conference will also focus on outcome measures, and ongoing law school interest and commitment to addressing a broader set of outcome measures, regarding student achievement beyond bar passage and job placement.

Who should attend? Any law school with a first-time bar passage rate below 90% should be attracted to this conference. The programs and strategies presented will be applicable to all law schools, regardless of size, mission or location, that are interested in assisting students as they prepare for the bar exam. We will limit attendance to no more than three attendees per school, with an expectation that the program will be of relevance to deans, associate deans for academic affairs, academic support faculty, and bar preparation course teachers. The first two registrants from a law school will pay a registration fee of $200 each, and a third attendee from the same school will pay no fee (thus a total of $400 for three attendees). This conference will move beyond the theoretical or speculative to focus on approaches that have demonstrable results.

The tentative attendance limit will be 70 law schools, so we encourage you to register before October 9, 2008.

Recap:

Goal: Organize a conference run by and for law schools facilitated by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar and the Law School Admission Council. Provide a resource room for schools to display program information and materials for other schools to take away.

Format: Thursday night dinner/keynote speaker, Friday and Saturday programs, depart Saturday mid-day.

Target Audience: Deans or Associate Deans at schools with 90% bar passage and below, Academic Support professionals (teaching bar prep courses), Bar Prep faculty.

Location: Renaissance Chicago O’Hare, Chicago, Illinois. Date: October 16-18, 2008. Registration: $200.00 each for the first two attendees from the same school; the third attendee is free.