SC changes Bar exams, hikes fee

MANILA, Philippines - Law graduates taking this year’s Bar examinations in November will not only deal with new multiple-choice tests, they also have to pay higher exam fees.

The Supreme Court (SC) approved the increase in the Bar exam and admission fee from P2,750 to P3,000. The Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC), which administers the Bar exams, asked for the increase to meet the rising cost of materials and personnel requirements for the exams, which will be held in the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila.

The coverage of the Bar exams, according to deputy clerk of SC and OBC chief lawyer Ma. Cristina Layusa, shall be by topic and sub-topic rather than by simply stating the covered laws.

Another change is the use of multiple-choice questions that are constructed to specifically measure the candidate’s knowledge of and ability to recall the laws, doctrines, and principles that every new lawyer needs, and assess the candidate’s understanding of the meaning and significance of those laws and principles as they apply to specific situations.

The examinations shall also include essay-type questions, which will not be Bar subject-specific. One essay, which will account for 60 percent of the essay portion grade, will require the candidate to prepare a trial memorandum or a decision based on a documented legal dispute. The remaining 40 percent will be covered by an essay that will require the Bar candidate to prepare a written opinion sought by a client concerning a potential legal dispute facing him or her.

In computing a candidate’s final grade in the Bar exams, the results of the multiple-choice questions examinations will be given a weight of 60 percent, while those of the essay-type examinations will be given a weight of 40 percent.

Since this is the first time that the new format will be implemented, the answers of all candidates in the essay-type examinations will be corrected irrespective of the results of their multiple-choice questions examinations, which are known earlier because these will be checked electronically.

In future Bar exams, however, the Bar chairperson shall recommend to the court the disqualification of those whose grades in the multiple-choice questions are so low that it would serve no useful purpose to correct their answers in the essay-type examinations.

Associate Justice Roberto Abad, chair of 2011 Bar committee, has conducted a series of seminars nationwide to orient law deans, professors, and students of the changes.