Following up on yesterday's post, 17 Deans Ask California High Court To Provisionally License Grads Who Fail February Exam And Scrap New Kaplan-Written Questions And Revert Back To In-Person Exams In July:

California Courts News Release, California Supreme Court Issues Statement on February Bar Exam:

The court is deeply concerned by the troubling reports of technical failures, delays, and other irregularities in last week’s administration of the February 2025 California Bar Examination. The court regrets this situation and apologizes for the disappointment, stress, and frustration experienced by some applicants. At present, the complete scope and causes of the problems are still being determined. Last week, the court asked the State Bar, in conjunction with the vendor responsible for administering the exam, to provide an expedited, detailed report regarding the problems encountered by applicants. This information is crucial in informing how the court will provide appropriate remedies for affected applicants who deserved and expected better. In the interim, the court directs the State Bar to plan on administering the July 2025 California Bar Examination in the traditional in-person format."

The Recorder Op-Ed: The Latest Bar Exam Fiasco Is an Opportunity to Restore Judicial Control, by David A. Carrillo & Stephen M. Duvernay (California Constitution Center, UC-Berkeley): 

After the California state bar’s examination meltdown last week much commentary has rightly focused on the obvious: this was foreseeable, and those responsible should be held to account. Yet we see a hidden theme about the judicial branch’s weakened governance over the legal profession that both explains how all this came to pass and perhaps offers a way forward. The California Supreme Court’s limited oversight of the bar is a separation-of-powers violation, and the court should remedy that by taking direct control of the bar. …

The California Supreme Court’s mastery over the bar mostly exists on paper. The court should make it a reality, eject the bar’s leadership, and take command.

• State Bar of California, Agenda for March 5, 2025 Meeting of Board of Directors
• State Bar of California, February 2025 California Bar Exam: Performance Standards Detailed in Vendor Contract

• ABA Journal, As Fallout Rains Down, California Considers Return to In-Person Bar Exam
• Above the Law, California Bar Exam Fiasco Considers Adding Even More Chaos!
• Bloomberg Law, Bar Exam Must Drop Proctor, Report Says
• Law360, Calif. Bar Staff Asks Board To Ditch Meazure's July Exam
• Los Angeles Times, After Bar Exam Fiasco, California Supreme Court Directs State Bar to Plan on In-Person July Exams
• The Recorder, 'Deeply Concerned' California Supreme Court Orders July Bar Exam to Be Held in Person 

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• California Bar Exam Suffers Catastrophic Meltdown: ‘I’ve Never Had This Much Despair And Hopelessness’ (Feb. 27, 2025)
• The California Bar Exam Fiasco: Is Provisional Licensure The Appropriate Remedy? (Mar. 1, 2025)
• New York Times: California Bar Exam Fiasco Enrages Test Takers And Clouds Their Futures; Chemerinsky Calls For Provisional Licensure (May 3, 2025)
• 17 Deans Ask California High Court To Provisionally License Grads Who Fail February Exam And Scrap New Kaplan-Written Questions And Revert Back To In-Person Exams In July (Mar. 4, 2025)

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