AB 2109
California bar examination.
Vote required
Majority
Fiscal committee
No
Appropriation
No
Current location
Judiciary
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Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill mandates that the California bar examination be replaced with the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) by January 1, 2029. The State Bar of California is required to make this change, ensuring consistency with other bar exams across the country. This shift aims to improve efficiency and potentially lower administrative costs for the State Bar and law students.
Key provisions
- Requires the California bar examination to be replaced by the UBE.
- Sets a deadline of January 1, 2029, for the transition.
- Authorizes the Committee of Bar Examiners to utilize a successor or replacement exam of the UBE.
- Directs the Committee of Bar Examiners to report on the feasibility of a uniform bar examination.
Who is affected
- Law school graduates
- The State Bar of California
- Future examinees for the California bar exam
- The Committee of Bar Examiners
Notable changes
- Replaces the existing California bar examination with a standardized national exam.
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AB2109:v98#DOCUMENT
Bill Start
| Amended IN Assembly March 17, 2026 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2109
| Introduced by Assembly Member Dixon |
| February 18, 2026 |
An act to add Section 6046.9 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to attorneys.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2109, as amended, Dixon. California bar examination.
The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation governed by a board of trustees. Existing law authorizes the board of trustees to establish an examining committee, also known as the Committee of Bar Examiners, and requires an applicant for a license to practice law to pass the general bar examination, known as the California bar examination, given by the examining committee. Existing law prohibits the examining committee from altering the bar examination in a manner that requires the substantial modification of the training or preparation required for passage of the examination, except after giving 2 years’ notice of that change. Existing law requires the Committee of Bar Examiners, on or before November 30, 2026, to provide a report to the board of trustees, the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, and to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary on whether adopting a uniform bar examination would be more efficient to administer and lower the cost of administration for the State Bar and examinees.
This bill would require the examining committee, on January 1, 2029, to replace the California bar examination with the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Uniform Bar Examination created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. or any successor or replacement of that exam.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 6046.9 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:
6046.9.
On January 1, 2029, the examining committee shall replace the California bar examination with the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Uniform Bar Examination created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. or any successor or replacement of that exam.