Calif bar exam 'fiasco' this week needs court intervention, law deans say

By Karen Sloan

Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Supreme Court of California needs to intervene to help bar exam takers following the chaotic rollout of the state's new test this week, several California law school deans said on Thursday.

Widespread problems plagued the administration of the attorney licensing exam on Tuesday and Wednesday, including examinees' inability to log into the test, non-working functionality and complications with proctors' oversight of examinees.

“Our worst fears for our students have come to pass,” Michael Hunter Schwartz, dean of the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, told Reuters. Schwartz said that the State Bar of California largely ignored concerns raised by local law deans in the run up to the test, which he called a "failed" exam.

It’s still unclear how many examinees were impacted by tech problems, said Leah Wilson, executive director of the State Bar of California. About 5,600 people registered for the exam. More than 964 had withdrawn as of Monday before the exam began, after the bar offered unprecedented refunds amid anticipated problems.

Deans of California’s 17 law schools accredited by the American Bar Association are meeting on Friday to discuss the situation, said Southwestern Law Dean Darby Dickerson. A small group of the school's alumni took the test remotely at the school this week, she said, and each one encountered problems at some point during the test.

Dickerson said on Thursday that the California Supreme Court should provide an "equitable solution" for examinees who encountered problems, the extent of which she had "not seen before." She said that she was not yet certain of the best course of action and did not provide examples of potential remedies.

Santa Clara law dean Michael Kaufman said California law deans are hopeful the high court "will use its wisdom and grace and intervene in an appropriate and judicious manner in this fiasco."

A spokesperson for the California Supreme Court — which oversees the state bar’s attorney admission function — said on Thursday that it is expecting the state bar and test vendor Meazure Learning to provide an explanation for what happened with the online and in-person administration of the test.

Meazure did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The February bar exam has been a “traumatic experience” for test takers, said Mitch Winick, dean of the California-accredited Monterey College of Law. Winick said he expects a legislative inquiry into the state bar's handling of the attorney licensing process.

Meanwhile, at least one law firm told Reuters on Thursday that it has been retained by February bar examinees for a potential lawsuit.

“We fully intend to hold the architects of this disaster accountable," said Katherine Aizpuru, a partner with Washington D.C.-based plaintiffs firm Tycko & Zavareei. She declined to say how many bar takers her firm is representing.

The state bar is allowing those who fail the test to retake it in July at no cost and has given examinees affected by this week's problems an option to retake the test on March 3 and 4.

Aizpuru said it's not clear whether the tech issues will be resolved by then. Wilson said Thursday that the bar is also considering "appropriate scoring adjustments."

The February test was the debut of California’s hybrid, two-day remote and in-person exam without any components of the national bar exam, which the state has used for decades. That change was intended to save the state bar up to $3.8 million annually.

“The bar exam is difficult under the usual circumstances,” said Santa Clara's Kaufman. “To compound that with a series of outrageous and unconscionable technological and administrative mistakes is really unfortunate for our students.”

Read more:

California bar exam meltdown on Tuesday prompts offer of March retakes

California’s new bar exam hits early snags, examinees report