[onetwo_threefour]

Just to add, to what troutman said about different states. In addition to California, New York is also considered to have an extremely difficult bar exam.

The way I understand it (and explain it to people) is that, with so many private law schools in the US it is relatively easier to gain admission to school and get a degree there, so they weed people out based on the difficulty of the bar exam. In Canada, it is so much harder to get into law school because we have more limited educational opportunities, that there isn't a need to limit how many graduates actually start practicing law, so the bar ads are a cakewalk. That is why it is difficult to go to a US school and start practicing in Canada. Our law sociieties don't 'trust' the level of instruction in the US. I've got a buddy who took a correspondence law school course in the U.S. and can go challenge the bar in any US state he pleases, but basically would have to do an entire three year LLB up here still to practice here. Even with great marks in his degree he is not guaranteed admission at any Canadian schools. During the same period of time I went to school here, got my degree, did my articles and have been practicing since 2002. And yet, if I had to assess our relative strengths, I would take him in court over me in most cases. I think I am better at research and drafting, but this guy could litigate circles around me but can't legally practice here. (Luckily, I'm not really a litigator, so I play to my strengths)

It's funny how the system works sometimes.