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Predicting Lawyer Effectiveness: Broadening the Basis for Law School Admission Decisions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Marjorie M. Shultz  and
Sheldon Zedeck
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Abstract

Law school admission decisions are heavily influenced by a student's undergraduate grade point average (UGPA) and Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score. These measures, although predictive of first-year law school grades, make no effort to predict professional competence and, for the most part, they do not. These measures also create adverse impact on applicants from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. This article describes the rationale for and process by which we explored new tests to predict lawyer effectiveness rather than law school grades and reports results of a multiyear empirical study involving over 3,000 graduates from Berkeley Law School and Hastings College of the Law. Tests measuring personality constructs, interests, values, and judgment predicted lawyering competency but had little or no adverse impact on underrepresented minority applicants. Combined with the LSAT and UGPA, these broader tests could assess law applicants on the basis both of projected professional effectiveness and academic indicators.

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Articles
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , Summer 2011 , pp. 620 - 661
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2011 

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Cases Cited

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