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The moral fitness test isn't designed to ensure that all lawyers are ethical. It only eliminates from consideration people whose past actions demonstrate that they have questionable ethics.

But many law students are young and have no paper trail/track record, so this isn't a very strong filter.




As an attorney who handles[] confidential client data running malware like this proctoring software is a breach of professional ethics, though not one yet acknowledged.

[] And not just will handle, because of limited cross state privileged many people who take the bar are already licensed and practising under another state.


This is an excellent point.


It's not just a character and fitness check for past conduct. Almost all states require that students pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) for admission to the bar. In some ways it's like the bar exam, but it tests knowledge of the rules of professional conduct (~lawyer ethics).

I'm taking it this month, presumably in person.


It’s also very, very easy (CA has the highest pass threshold, which is around 60%). Considering this is a multiple-choice test, that is a very low threshold.

More importantly, the test does not in any way measure whether an applicant will act ethically. It only tests whether you know the rules.




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