The Supreme Court this week “proposed a series of amendments clarifying the authority of the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) over the California Bar Exam and attorney admissions,” a California Courts news release by Merrill Balassone reports.
The focus has rightly been on the proposed rules’ impact on administration of the bar exam, especially after the February exam debacle. As Malcolm Maclachlan’s lede in the Daily Journal stated, the amendments are “designed to restore the Committee of Bar Examiners’ role in overseeing the bar examination.” In her March State of the Judiciary Address, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero pledged, “the court plans to enhance oversight over admissions, including the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners [a role she said “has been diminished”], to ensure high standards and improve the administration of future bar exams.”
However, there’s also a proposal to establish procedures for requesting depublication of State Bar Court opinions. (Proposed rule 9.16.2.) The new rule would be parallel to the system in rule 8.1125 for requesting depublication of Court of Appeal opinions.
Rule 5.159(D) of the State Bar’s Rules of Procedure already provides, “If the Supreme Court orders a [State Bar Court] Review Department opinion depublished, the opinion is not citable as precedent.”
