After disastrous bar exam rollout, California Supreme Court to boost test oversight
March 19 (Reuters) - The California Supreme Court will step up its oversight of the state's lawyer admissions following the chaotic February bar exam, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero said during her annual State of the Judiciary address.
The February exam — the debut of a hybrid in person and remote exam without any of the components of the national bar exam California has used for decades — was marred by widespread technical and logistical problems. Some test takers were unable to log in to the exam at all, while others faced delays, computer crashes, lax exam security, distracting proctors, and a copy-and-paste function that didn't work.
The State Bar of California, which administered the faulty test, has commissioned an independent investigation of the exam's many problems, and some February test takers, which totaled about 4,300, are demanding remedies ranging from an automatic score increase to a diploma privilege that would enable them to practice without passing the attorneys licensing exam. A trio of test takers in February filed a proposed class action lawsuit, alleging that exam vendor Meazure Learning failed to provide a functioning test platform despite ample warning of technical troubles. Meazure did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
'It is literally life-changing for many students,' Guerrero said of the bar exam during her Tuesday address. 'The additional stress, frustration and anxiety faced by some examinees is inexcusable.'
State Bar Board of Trustees Chair Brandon Stallings said in a prepared statement that the agency 'welcomes' guidance from the court and others on 'ways to continue strengthening the State Bar.'
Guerrero said the high court will consider bolstering the role of the state bar's Committee of Bar Examiners, which she said has been 'diminished' in recent years. That committee generally makes recommendations on lawyer admission matters to the state bar's board of trustees. The court will explore restoring bar exam budget and administration oversight to that committee, Guerrero said.
The new bar exam was spurred by the State Bar's ongoing financial problems. The hybrid exam was expected to save as much as $3.8 million annually by eliminating the need to rent out convention centers and other large meetings spaces for in-person testing. But the 2025 exams are now expected to cost significantly more, as the California Supreme Court has ordered the July bar exam to be given in person and the state bar is allowing February bar examinees who failed or withdrew ahead of the test to take the July exam for free.
The Supreme Court's interest in clarifying the role of the Committee of Bar Examiners 'will help us move forward effectively, efficiently, and transparently,' Stallings said.
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