Michigan Bar Exam Appeals – An Update in 2022

Michigan Bar Exam Appeals – An Update in 2022

We have not written extensively on the topic of Michigan bar exam appeals in a while and wanted to give a quick update on the current state of Michigan bar exam appeals. This post is co-written by Ashley Heidemann and Meagan Jabbori, partners at the Heidemann Jabbori Law Firm. Note: this post does not constitute legal advice. As background on us, we have been writing appeals for the past seven years and frequently write the majority of passing appeals in the state. (This past administration, we wrote 13 appeals of the 15 that passed in the state, for example.)

Update 1/1/23: Michigan no longer allows examinees to appeal their bar exam score! We will no longer be writing appeals for Michigan Bar Exam takers.

Michigan Bar Exam Appeals – An Update in 2022

Unfortunately, a Michigan bar exam appeal will no longer be an option when Michigan switches to the Uniform Bar Exam in February of 2023. So, there are just two administrations left to appeal—February 2022 and July 2022. We closely track statistics on appeals and there are two specific trends we want to point out that potential appealers should be aware of.

First, more appeals have been passed recently.  

Looking at July results:

• In July of 2021, 15 appeals passed in the state.
• In July of 2020, 19 appeals passed in the state.

Compare this with prior years when less appeals passed:

• In July 2019, only 12 passed.
• In July 2018, only 6 appeals passed (and we wrote all of them.)

Note that the amount of appeals that have passed in February has remained somewhat consistent, with 9 passing in February 2019 (we wrote 8 of those nine), 7 passed in February 2020 (we wrote 5), and 8 passed in February 2021 (we wrote 6 of those).  

Second, more points are being granted.

If we examine the July 2021 appeal pass rates alone, there is certainly a jump in the number of points being granted on appeal. (Note that we do not have access to the total number of points that everyone received on appeal, we only have access to our own client’s scores! However, 13 of the 15 appealers that passed were our clients, so this is a pretty good base of information to work with!)

• For example, prior to July 2021, it was very rare to recover 4 or 5 points on appeal. It is definitely possible—and we had clients that did it—but rare. In July 2021, we had five clients receive four or more points on appeal.
• Prior to July 2021, the maximum number of points we won on appeal was seven, and this was an instance where we were able to allege a gross grading error (the client received a 0 and received 6 points on that essay alone). This administration, we were fortunate to receive 8 points back on one appeal (and did not allege any gross grading errors!)

Certainly not every appeal passes. Unfortunately, sometimes even people who need just one point do not pass on appeal (and it breaks our hearts!). But, there appears to be a better chance of passing on appeal now than two years ago.

Learn more about Michigan bar exam appeals on the Heidemann Jabbori Law Firm website.