IMHO, what determines if you're a lawyer or not should be completely test-based and not have anything to do with where you learned. There is a lot of gatekeeping going on with ABA to keep people from even taking the test.
There's more to being a lawyer than what can be measured on a test, just like any profession.
Not trying to support the ABA or not support the ABA, but I have experience with this type of issue in other areas and reducing qualifications purely to tests or other outcomes has its own set of issues.
In Switzerland even to get your driving licence you need the exams AND prove that you had at least that many (unsure about number) driving lessons with a driving school. I would think being a lawyer means more responsibility...
I'm not so sure. People often trivialize the kinetic energy involved with driving. Yes, a bad lawyer can potentially cause an innocent to be punished if enough other checks and balances fail.
But being behind the wheel of a car is something else. Even a small passenger car is over a ton of metal moving at oftentimes high speeds. Most people don't seem to appreciate the sheer destructive capability driving gives someone.
This is not about the Bar exam (the test), this is about accreditation of law degrees. The issue is about here is about who determines whether a legal education is sufficient to trust that a lawyer who passes the test is prepared for practice. This issue is the opposite of being completely test-based. The ABA also creates the most common bar exam (the MBE or multistate bar exam) but some states like California use a different exam. The legal profession does not, but many have long argued should, have a practice requirement for independent licensure to practice.
It is akin to ABET (previously Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology) in engineering. having an ABET accredited engineering degree has long been a component (alongside testing and mentored practice) for being a licensed engineer who can stamp drawings (e.g., structural plans for buildings). There are two tests (FE and PE) but they are not created by ABET they are created by an organization called NCEES - The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.
ABET and NCEES are different organizations, part of the confusion here is that ABA is both the accreditor and the tester in many states. The difference in path between accreditor -> testing -> licensure is:
ABA accredited degree -> ABA (MBE) or other (non-ABA) Bar exam -> Lawyer
ABET accredited degree -> FE exam (made by NCEES) -> mentored work experience -> PE exam (made by NCEES) -> Professional Engineer
The Texas bar exam already has a second day of testing, entirely on Texas oil and gas law. Everyone must pass it to practice law in Texas, even if you no intention to do anything related to oil and gas.
If I had cancer, I definitely don't want an oncologist who learned from YouTube. And if I was on trial for murder, I wouldn't want a defense attorney who taught himself with ChatGPT.
I think every profession needs to evaluate what is necessary for a license to practice. I would agree to more reforms with the MD licensing requirements.
I also think we should be licensing law-enforcement and requiring them to have their own liability insurance.
Not trying to support the ABA or not support the ABA, but I have experience with this type of issue in other areas and reducing qualifications purely to tests or other outcomes has its own set of issues.