On February 20, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court opted not to hear a lawsuit raised by a Massachusetts patent attorney. It is alleged in the suit that the California bar exam contains inherent age discrimination. The refusal of the Supreme Court to hear the case leaves open questions about the nature of such examinations and the potential for implicit bias.
This patent attorney, who remains unnamed in reports, argues that the California bar exam discriminates against older candidates. The exact nature of the described age bias within the structure or scoring of the exam is unspecified.
The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up the matter leaves the current structure of the examination in place and unchallenged at the highest level of the judiciary. Monitoring continues within the legal profession to spot and confront any potential bias within bar exams which give lawyers the right to practice law.