i just found out that attorneys are hired to grade the bar exam. Usually these attorneys are young attorneys new to the practice of law.

Not sure if that is good or bad?

I think its good that the bar exam has both an objective and subjective section. The problem with the subjective section is that there could be miss-grading.

My friend had to appeal her bar exam failure and she won. It cost her $4,000 in attorney fees but she is now a licensed attorney.

I think that happens on in a few situations. People who usually fail do so by a wide margin.

I have a friend going through the exam now. We had this discussion, I don't know how every state works, but hte attorrneys that grade these test are suppose to have at least 7 to 10 years experience, its not just young attorneys. Most usually have much more experience. Also, the graders are experienced in the feild of the question. So if you have a property question a property attorney reads it and most of the others. The questions are split up by subject, the graders are not jsut given a students whole book to grade, but certain questions in their field.

the graders also receive a master essay answer to use when grading the answer. So hopefully the grading is uniform.

I'm sure mistakes happen. Thats just part of the process. If it does then you can always appeal. One of the attorneys at the office i am clerking at failed the bar but passed on appeal. She even got more points than she needed to appeal. The appeal process sucks but its a safety net in case mistakes happen.

I wonder what percentage of test takers pass on appeal. I guess that would be a better indication of whether there is a problem with subjective grading

Having done bar exam appeals, I will tell you this from experience: A very small percentage of people pass the bar on appeal. And if you are too many points off the mark, say 12 or more, then you chances of winning the appeal and passing on appeal are close to zero. Unless there was a horrible mistake with regards to your exam. This happens from time to time, but that is exceptionally rare. I have seen it happen one time out of numerous, numerous appeals.

I agree with Jess331. I've never heard anything about young inexperienced attorneys grading the essays.