"Howarth's vision is to establish a new approach that protects potential legal clients and promotes inclusion and diversity in the profession."Trial Magazine "Shaping the Bar's careful history and comprehensive data about the failures of legal education and licensure is critical reading for legal educators, state supreme courts and all who care about building an ethical, competent, diverse legal profession that can meet the growing access to justice crisis in the United States. At a moment where more change is underway in the profession than in a century, Professor Howarth's work can be the starting point for every important conversation about education and licensure reform for lawyers."Chief Justice Bridget McCormack, University of Michigan "Dean Howarth has written the definitive book on the history and objectives of lawyer licensing. She masterfully weaves the troubling history of the bar exam into a thoughtful depiction of our current predicament in short, a flawed system of assessment that impedes access and diversity in the elusive quest for professional competence. Shaping the Bar is richly informative and timely."Daniel B. Rodriguez, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law "Shaping the Bar provides a superb history of American legal education, of requirements for bar admissions, and of bar examinations. Tremendously impressive, thorough, and excellent in every respect, this book will be an important, original contribution to the literature about legal education and bar exams."Erwin Chemerinsky, Berkeley Law School "Joan Howarth's Shaping the Bar is a must-read for state supreme courts and the bar associations they oversee. She makes a compelling case that the rule of law is fortified by a diverse community of lawyers, and offers brilliant insights to ensure that a license to practice truly reflects lawyers' ability to achieve the best outcomes for the clients they serve."Wallace B. Jefferson, Chief Justice (ret.) Supreme Court of Texas