Law schools and the legal job market are having a mutual meltdown. The number of applicants has collapsed, while schools can’t seem to control their soaring costs and the industry they feed is drooping like a day-old party balloon. New graduates are desperate for jobs just as clients are desperately cutting spending. As a recent law school graduate staring into the employment abyss, here’s my modest proposal: Junk the state bar exam, an outdated, expensive licensing scheme that prevents mobility. We should get rid of state-by-state tests and bar admissions and replace them with a universal exam that licenses new lawyers to practice anywhere in the country. It even exists already—it’s called the Uniform Bar Exam. As it stands, a new graduate has to choose a single state where she’ll apply for admission to the bar, even if she doesn’t yet have a job there. If she moves somewhere else later, she has to shell out $1,000 in fees to take a new test and master the intricacies of another state’s law to pass it.

(Or she’ll confront a tangled array of state “reciprocity agreements” that let you sub into another state’s bar under certain conditions, but that are mostly available to seasoned lawyers with five or more years of experience.) It’s easy to see how this creates labor inefficiency, locking lawyers in place. The state-based system has been the same since the Gilded Age, and its justifications are parochial: State bar examiners and courts fear losing control over who gets in, and local law firms believe it keeps out competition. But with a systemic crisis roiling the profession, those concerns carry less and less weight. Even the American Bar Association has demanded reform, noting that every other major profession long ago abandoned local standards. The Uniform Bar Exam, or UBE, tries to fix this mess by taking advantage of the existing system rather than reinventing the wheel: A centralized group in Wisconsin called the National Conference of Bar Examiners writes more than half the questions most states use on their bar exams.

These questions are about “general principles of law,” like the four most common definitions of the insanity defense against a murder charge. When a state adopts the UBE, it agrees to let grads take a test made up entirely of NCBE questions—and then it allows them to move their score to any other state that accepts the UBE. Since 2010, 14 states have started using the new test, with two or three more following every year. (New England appears to be the next big region for growth.) States still get to make their own determinations about each applicant’s character and fitness, and choose how good a score they’ll require for acceptance. What they lose is the chance to grill students on local law. No more questions, like the one on Virginia’s recent exam, about how to use a local rule called “detinue” to recover Colonel Riles E. Plumlee’s ceremonial sword. That’s not much of a loss: States that have adopted the UBE discover that the trade-off works fine and local information can be taught via more flexible seminars and quizzes that preserve graduates’ mobility.

No states adopting the UBE have expressed any desire to return to the old system. The upside is graduates are no longer tied to a single locale, in which they may not have a job and to which they probably aren’t pledged for life. That, in turn, means new lawyers can combat the profession’s problems by selling their skills on the national market, rather than an artificially segmented one. How Much Does It Cost To Get Blinds For A Whole HouseBonus: If you flunk in one UBE state, you can still move your score to a state with a lower score requirement—as Hillary Clinton might have liked to do when she didn’t pass the Washington, D.C., bar exam years ago. Corset Prom Dresses WholesaleAt the same time, local law firms benefit from a wider pool of résumés and business opportunities across state borders, which gives people shopping for lawyers more choices, too. Weight Loss Coach Dallas

The switch to the UBE is low-hanging fruit—a rare reform with potential to help almost everybody. The next test is July 29 and 30. Why not give it a shot?Curious how ballerinas maintain their famously svelte figures? We asked three to share their grueling daily dance routines, as well as what they eat to keep their energy up (without bulking up) throughout each long day. These athletes work hard and eat super healthy (no surprise there). See what a day in the life of a pro ballerina is like...Keenan McLaren, 28, company dancer with Nashville BalletI always start the day with a large glass of water and my vitamins (including fish oil, turmeric, and vitamin D). Breakfast is a bowl of Greek yogurt sweetened with honey and topped with organic berries and homemade granola. I also love starting the day with a warm beverage—usually an almond milk matcha tea latte or a cappuccino.I arrive at the studio about an hour before company class begins to roll out my back and legs, stretch, do some light Pilates, and Theraband my feet.

Just spending some quiet time in the morning helps prepare me optimally for a good day of rehearsal.Our hour-and-a-half company class warms our bodies up for the day, but it also gives me a chance to technically keep improving outside of choreography.After class, I always eat a kiwi (for potassium and vitamin C), and if I have a long morning ahead of me, I'll also nosh on some trail mix or a Kind bar. Company class is followed by three hours of rehearsal to prepare for the upcoming show.Typically, it's a prepared-ahead quinoa, veggie, and tofu stir-fry or a mozzarella and tomato salad dressed with this killer Super Greens and pistachio pesto recipe. I've been a vegetarian for about five years and eat super clean—no processed sugars or flours.Three more hours of rehearsal—this is why I keep lunch so light.My dancing day is done, and I am always in need of a snack. During the week, I am often either teaching yoga or going to school at night, so I'll pack raw nuts to munch on or—if I'm organized enough—a delicious raw vegan power snack of some sort.

On a night that I am free, I love to swim laps and hit the steam room afterward. Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise that is easy on the joints and very meditative for me.Dinner during the week is usually simple: a salad loaded with veggies and two fried eggs over easy, accompanied by either hearty whole-grain bread and cheese or Nut Thins and hummus. Then I'll unwind by watching TV, rolling out on my foam roller, and stretching so I don't tighten up while I sleep.I know people always tell you not to eat late, but if I don't eat before bed I will wake up at 2 A.M. hungry! It's all about making the right choice. So every night before I go to bed I mix up kefir (which is like liquid yogurt and really good for your belly) with cinnamon and stevia. It's delicious and helps me fall right to sleep.Lauren Fadeley, 29, principal dancer with Pennsylvania BalletI wake up and have water and coffee, but I actually don't eat breakfast! Because I'm being active so early, I can't have anything in my stomach.

(On performance days, I will have some nuts or a Larabar.)I'll head in and do a slow warm-up before class. I always do sit-ups and pushups, plus stretches to warm up my hips and my calves.We don't get our schedule until two days beforehand and it changes daily, so it's hard to have a regimented routine. It's exciting in a way because your day is never the same!I usually have a bag full of veggies—carrots and peppers and cucumbers—on hand to snack on before the next block of class or rehearsal, which lasts a few hours.I follow a modified paleo diet—when we're in season, I find it's the best thing for my body, strength, and stamina. The gluten- and dairy-free aspects are the most beneficial for me, although I do have cheese on occasion.During the week, I usually don't get in as much cross-training as I'd like. My favorite Vinyasa yoga class is in the middle of the day; if my schedule permits, I try to go. And on weekends, I'll play catch-up with FlyWheel classes for cardio and a special strength-training program called MaxOut.Once I'm home, it's time for dinner.

My husband is a cook (and fellow dancer at the company), so he usually does his thing during the week. We always have some kind of protein and a vegetable—last night, we had a big salad with salmon on it and plantain chips. I love doing modified versions of non-paleo foods, like spaghetti squash. I've even made paleo calzones!I ice my ankles every night, no matter what, and sometimes I'll walk around in YogaToes. I also just try to relax.Lesley Rausch, 32, principal dancer with Pacific Northwest BalletIn the morning, I'll have a glass of water with the juice of half a lemon to take with supplements, plus a cup of green tea. (Sometimes I'll have an almond-milk latte in my new espresso machine.) And I make a smoothie with greens, strawberries, blueberries, a half banana, a scoop of protein powder, 1 teaspoon of macha powder, 1 cup of almond milk, 1 teaspoon of chia seeds, and 2 tablespoons of hemp hearts. I drink half in morning and half after class.pany class…and I get to finish my smoothie!