[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-160502-en":3,"doc-seo-160502-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},160502,7971461741311,"Ophelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000253aff267980c6?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779345379180704826",8,"Research & Report","An Inclusive Model for Licensing New Lawyers - Bar Exam Reform Using a Social Work Approach","A critical analysis argues that the U.S. system for licensing new lawyers is broken and imposes intrusive, ineffective “character and fitness” review followed by a high-stakes bar test weakly linked to law school learning or real legal practice. The costs and delays, funded largely by applicants, intensify burdens from student debt and restrict entry for communities of color, people with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged candidates. The article proposes bar-exam reform informed by social work’s inclusive professional model, integrating education into licensing to broaden participation while aligning ethics and professionalism with workable practice.","AN INCLUSIVE MODEL FOR LICENSING NEW LAWYERS  \n*  \nBY ELIZABETH SHEROWSKI  \nI. INTRODUCTION  \nThe American system of licensing new lawyers is irretrievably broken.1 Law school graduates seeking licensure are put through an intrusive and ineffective “character and fitness” evaluation2 before taking a high-stakes test that bears little relation to either what they learned in law school, or what they will do as practicing attorneys.3 This process, costing an average of $6,700,4 is solely funded by the applicants, many of whom already carry oppressive student loan debt and have no secure offer of  \nCopyright © 2022, Elizabeth Sherowski.  \n* Assistant Professor, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Thanks to Profs. Patrick Meyer, Julie St. John, and Cara Cunningham Warren for their helpful feedback and support with this article. A special note of appreciation to my daughter, Anne Knotts Woofter, LSW, who inspired this project.  \n1 See Deborah Jones Merritt, Validity, Competence, & the Bar Exam, ASS’N AM. L. SCHS. NEWS, [https://www.aals.org/about/publications/newsletters/aals-news-spring-](https://www.aals.org/about/publications/newsletters/aals-news-spring-)[ ](https://www.aals.org/about/publications/newsletters/aals-news-spring-)2017/faculty-perspectives/ [[https://perma.cc/7GFJ-SMHK](https://perma.cc/7GFJ-SMHK)]; William J. Carney, Curricular Change in Legal Education, 53 IND. L. REV. 245, 245 (2020); Christine A. Corcos, Legal Uncertainties: COVID-19, Distance Learning, Bar Exams, and the Future of U.S. Legal Education, 8 CAN. J. COMPAR. CONTEMP. L. 71, 115–16 (2022) .  \n2 Joseph A. Valerio, The Impact of the Character and Fitness Honesty and Financial Responsibility Requirements on Underprivileged Groups, 30 GEO. J. LEGAL ETHICS 1093, 1095 (2017) .  \n3 Merritt, supra note 1.  \n4 Kenneth W. Boyd, Bar Exam Costs & Fees, CPA ACCT. INST. FOR SUCCESS, [https://www.ais-cpa.com/bar-exam-costs-and-fees/](https://www.ais-cpa.com/bar-exam-costs-and-fees/) [[https://perma.cc/52AU-6PKM](https://perma.cc/52AU-6PKM)] (Jan.  \n19, 2023) (explaining this figure includes registration, exam fees, background checks, bar preparation courses, and lost wages during the bar study period) .  \n78 CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [51:77]  \nfuture employment.5 The process disadvantages applicants from communities of color, applicants with disabilities, and applicants from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, perpetuating the lack of diversity in the legal profession.6  \nA growing movement to re-imagine new-lawyer licensing has taken place on several fronts. There is a movement to re-imagine the bar exam, to make it more reflective of legal education and the tasks of a practicing attorney,7 and more uniform across jurisdictions.8 There is also a movement to abolish the bar exam altogether in favor of “diploma privilege,” wherein law school graduates (or at least those from certain schools or with a certain grade point average) would automatically be licensed in the state in which they attended law school.9 Finally, there is a movement to provide alternative pathways to licensing that do not involve standardized testing.10 All of these models have looked to the licensing  \n5 Allen Mendenhall, Razing the Bar, FOUND. FOR ECON. EDUC. (Apr. 14, 2015), [https://fee.org/articles/razing-the-bar/](https://fee.org/articles/razing-the-bar/) [[https://perma.cc/4CJE-MAPL](https://perma.cc/4CJE-MAPL)].  \n6 Valerio, supra note 2, at 1107.  \n7 See DEBORAH JONES MERRITT & LOGAN CORNETT, INST. FOR ADVANCEMENT AM. LEGAL SYS, BUILDING A BETTER BAR EXAM: THE TWELVE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MINIMUM COMPETENCE 5–12 (2020), [https://iaals.du.edu/publications/building-better-bar](https://iaals.du.edu/publications/building-better-bar)[ ](https://iaals.du.edu/publications/building-better-bar)[[perma.cc/X82V-77HH](perma.cc/X82V-77HH)].  \n8 Marsha Griggs, Building a Better Bar Exam, 7 TEX. A&ML. REV. 1, 5 (2019) .  \n9 MERRITT & CORNETT, supra note 7, at 81–82; Karen Sloan, COVID-19 B","cbCaijrGQUpuo8J1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijrGQUpuo8J1","pdf",1005570,4,1,72,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Problems with the current licensing system\n## Reform movements for new-lawyer licensing\n## Proposed approach: social work as an inclusive model","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article say the current lawyer licensing system is broken?\",\"answer\":\"It criticizes the intrusive “character and fitness” evaluation and a high-stakes test that has little relation to law school learning or what lawyers do in practice.\"},{\"question\":\"What groups does the licensing process disadvantage?\",\"answer\":\"The article states it disadvantages applicants from communities of color, applicants with disabilities, and applicants from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, harming diversity in the profession.\"},{\"question\":\"What reform model does the article propose for bar exam reform?\",\"answer\":\"It focuses on bar exam reform but proposes using social work as a new professional model, emphasizing an inclusive approach that integrates social work education into licensing.\"}]","An Inclusive Model for Licensing New Lawyers - Bar Exam Reform Using a Social Work Approach | PDF",1788064371,181,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"an-inclusive-model-for-licensing-new-lawyers-bar-exam-reform-using-a-social-work-approach","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,49,52],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":50,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":53,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/an-inclusive-model-for-licensing-new-lawyers-bar-exam-reform-using-a-social-work-approach/160502/",{"url":53,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-08-30",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"Why does the article say the current lawyer licensing system is broken?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It criticizes the intrusive “character and fitness” evaluation and a high-stakes test that has little relation to law school learning or what lawyers do in practice.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"What groups does the licensing process disadvantage?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"The article states it disadvantages applicants from communities of color, applicants with disabilities, and applicants from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, harming diversity in the profession.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What reform model does the article propose for bar exam reform?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"It focuses on bar exam reform but proposes using social work as a new professional model, emphasizing an inclusive approach that integrates social work education into licensing.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":53,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":53},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,111,116,121,124,129,132,136],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":48,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]