The Written Federal Attorney Examination

Abstract

NO N SEPTEMBER 26, I942, more than I3,000 lawyers took the written examination for government legal positions conducted by the then Board of Legal Examiners, now the Legal Examining Section of the United States Civil Service Commission. This was probably the largest number ever to participate in a single law examination. The program for placing the government's attorneys under civil service, of which this examination was a part, has been discussed in other articles.' The purpose of this article is to explain the nature of the written examination and the types of questions used. Another, similar examination will probably be offered in the near future, and so prospective candidates particularly may be interested in the nature and results of the past examination. The written test was in itself only the first step in the examining process. Out of the total group those attaining the highest scores in each state-about 3,000 in all-were called for oral examination before state committees made up typically of a judge, a practicing lawyer, and a law professor. These committees further pruned down the group to less than 2,000, who were then placed on the list of those eligible for appointment. All legal positions in the federal government paying $3200 per year or less (not including increases recently granted), with few exceptions, must now be filled from this list. The examination was something of an experiment. The questions differed considerably both in form and in content from the usual law school or bar examination questions. There were eighty legal questions, and four hours' time was allowed for answering these questions. In addition, the examination included eighty verbal questions, to be answered in one hour, and ninety questions on