Performance test (bar exam)

The performance test or "PT" is a section of bar examinations in the United States that is intended to mimic a real-life legal task that future lawyers may face. Of the three parts of most states' bar exams -- MBE, essay, and performance test—the performance test is supposed to be the most reflective of how well a candidate will perform outside of an academic setting.

A performance test may include tasks such as writing a legal memorandum, drafting an affidavit, or drafting a settlement offer letter to opposing counsel.

One problem with performance tests is that if they actually tested the current law of a state as it relates to a specific subject, bar applicants who attended law school in that state and took a course focused on that state's law on that subject might have an unfair advantage over applicants who did not. In other words, the performance test would be testing applicants' understanding of current state law, as opposed to their lawyering skills. To mitigate that advantage, performance tests normally use the law of a fictional state, and its law as provided in the test materials usually has subtle differences from the law in the real world in order to reduce the advantage of having already studied that subject matter in law school. This forces applicants to demonstrate their ability to interpret and apply the law as they find it, rather than the law they already know.

California Bar Examination performance tests

Until 1983, the California Bar Examination was only two days long and had no performance test. During that era, it was criticized as too abstract and failing to test too few skills relevant to the actual practice of law, and was also criticized for disproportionate impact on persons of color.

In July 1980, the State Bar of California conducted an experiment with 485 bar applicants who volunteered to participate in performance tests in addition to taking the regular bar exam.