31-01-2025
California's new bar exam hits early snags, examinees report
Jan 31 (Reuters) - California will roll out its new bar exam on Feb. 25, but test takers say they have already encountered technical and logistical problems ranging from crashed computers and distracting online proctors on mock exams to an inability to schedule their tests.
The stakes are high for the state's more than 5,300 February bar takers — who must pass the two-day exam in order to become licensed lawyers — and for the State Bar of California, which last year became the first to ditch the national bar exam and develop its own test to cut costs.
The February test will also be the first bar exam to allow remote participation since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed testing online in 2020 and 2021, which led to technology problems.
With about three weeks to go, some examinees have been unable to schedule their in-person tests and are finding that there are fewer locations than they anticipated. Many say communication with the State Bar and Meazure Learning — the vendor contracted to deliver the exam — has been sparse and at times contradictory.
'I know people say the bar exam is supposed to be tough, but this is getting to a point of absurdity,' said Santa Clara law graduate Gino Mazzoni. He said he gave up on taking the test remotely due to frustration with online proctors talking and creating distractions, and then lost a day of studying Thursday as he struggled to book a testing site.
Spokespeople for the State Bar and Meazure Learning acknowledged that technical problems prevented some planned test registrations on Thursday but said that the issue had been fixed by Friday.
The State Bar in August fast-tracked a new exam written by Kaplan Exam Services and gave examinees the option of testing in person or remotely under the supervision of online proctors — a change projected to save as much as $3.8 million annually by eliminating the need to rent out large event spaces.
Bar officials said Friday that 67% of February bar takers are remote while 33% will test in person. But only four large in-person testing sites are planned — one each in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento areas — meaning farther travel for many.
Frustrated examinees have flocked to Reddit and other message boards to trade information, troubleshoot and complain about the exam's rollout.
Harshita Ganesh, a 2024 Georgetown law grad who practices at a small firm in Massachusetts, said the exam has been a much rockier experience than the Uniform Bar Exam she took and passed last year. (California does not reciprocate bar admission, meaning attorneys licensed by other states within the past four years must take and pass its full bar exam.)
Ganesh still doesn't know where she will be taking the exam after encountering problems Thursday with Meazure Learning's online booking system.
'This entire process has been horrible,' Ganesh said.
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