Hat tip to Above the Law, and the WSJ Law Blog for talking about this but a letter from the National Conference of Bar Examiners has announced a significant change to the bar exam, the first change in nearly 35 years.
If you’re a 3L right now and planning on taking the bar exam this year – then don’t worry about this change. If you’re not about to take the exam then get your Kaplan test preparations in order because starting in 2015 you’re going to need to know civil procedure for the exam.
I think this is an obvious addition to the exam. The currently tested sections, Con Law, Contracts, Crim Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property and Torts are all important but honestly now that I’m out in the real world practicing law, the Rules of Civil Procedure are far more important to the everyday practice of law than the rules of Real Property. I have to echo the sentiment of ATL that it’s far more important to understand what FRCP Rule 11 does than the difference between a covenant and an easement.
Civ. Pro isn’t the “sexiest” subject in law school though I was fortunate to have a great professor at Suffolk who made the topic palatable, it is one of the more important aspects of the practice of law, and if you’re unable to get a basic grasp of the subject matter for the bar exam, then you’re going to be in trouble when you get into practice.
Massachusetts Divorce Law 