I disagree.
The problem is that the bar exam doesn’t test smarts and the practical practice of law is more of an exercise in understanding where to find information as opposed to recalling thousands of useless nuances of law.
I have been a practicing attorney for 20 years and I will be the first to admit that the bar exam has no bearing on intelligence or one’s ability to practice law. Some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known didn’t pass the bar exam on the first try.
I would prefer to see licensing be based upon a mandatory internship system rather than a bar exam. Require three years of law school and 1-2 years of hands on internships. Couple that with an ethics background check.
We are required to do a one semester clinical internship at one of the school’s pro-bono clinics, but from what I understand, this is an unusual requirement. However, more schools are requiring experential education in their programs.