Login | April 25, 2024
Multistate bar exam to go in-person after the July test
RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers
Published: July 16, 2021
For you law students and bar examiners: the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced on June 2 that the July multi-state bar exam will be the last remotely administered such test. At least, I guess, until the next pandemic or until the latest CDC guidelines fail. Or some other collapse of civilization.
Or until plans change. The announcement stated that NCBE is not planning on making the materials for the February 2022 bar exam available for remote testing. It will, instead, make all materials print only.
That makes the upcoming July 27-28, 2021 exam the last planned online multistate exam. The first online exam was in mid-2020, as jurisdictions and NCBE scrambled to set up and administer remote testing.
Despite a number of fairly well-publicized glitches and mistakes with cameras, microphones, security breaches and facial recognition software (covered in this column and elsewhere), bar mavens generally claim that the online exams have been successful overall.
But then—if the online exams really have been that successful, why not keep them up? The release states: “According to Beth Hill, NCBE director of test development, operations and security, ‘Remote exams have been a valuable stopgap for jurisdictions during this time, allowing examinees to take the test without having to gather in a larger group. However, remote exams create challenges for exam security and uniformity, and for this reason, we have consistently advocated for in-person testing as the best option whenever possible.’”
The states themselves are divided on the exam platform for the July test. Twenty-nine jurisdictions are planning to give remote exams, while 24 are going in-person. Ohio will be remote (the entire map is here: https://www.ncbex.org/ncbe-covid-19-updates/july-2021-bar-exam-jurisdiction-information/).
NCBE also stated in a press release that the organization would work with local jurisdictions if there were any health concerns, although it did not make any particular promises to roll out a remote version if those problems came up.
I have a feeling that this situation will wind up being a little more fluid than anyone wants it to be. For more info, go here: https://www.ncbex.org/.