I agree with ShangChi, but for different reasons. In the better days, when good character mattered, you could become a lawyer by studying case law, apprenticeship, and good sense. Yes, we say we have a democracy here, but our heavy regulatory environment proves otherwise - Go Teaparty! I have attended online law school since 2007, it is what I can afford and have time for. I am a Financial Adviser and Tax Accountant by trade and 51 years old now, and I don't appreciate the delay I am getting because of bar exams. I have done my research, and to use some of the regulatory minded lingo some of you have used, California "regulates" its registered non-traditional law schools. That layer should be good enough. Furthermore, we all get tested well enough in law school that adding another layer of "weeding out" of lawyers with a Bar Exam, that is generally a mind game to test your time limit skills, does not and has not produced a population of skilled and ethical lawyers.
The Bar Exam has proved to be a good source of revenue for the states, do the math, especially with repeat test takers, and then add all the bar prep courses, the ridiculously high tuition at law schools, and their is great revenue to be made in the Legal Industry (if your not a student). Unfortunately, everyone just puts up with the system, and no one in state government has had the guts to stand up and change it! As I agree with the Free Market System, it should also apply to law students as well, and let the free market system of employment and business determine who becomes a successful lawyer, and not an unrealistic bar exam!