Reuters, More California Bar Examinees Wrongly Told They Failed, State Bar Says:
Nine more people who were initially told they failed California’s troubled February bar exam actually passed, the State Bar of California said in an email to test takers on Thursday, which Reuters reviewed.
Those errors were in addition to the four test takers whose status changed from fail to pass last week after scoring and grading problems were identified.
Bloomberg Law, California Bar Asks Court to Expand Supervised Practice Program:
California’s program allowing bar applicants to practice under an attorney’s supervision should be expanded to offer relief for February bar takers, the State Bar said Friday in a petition to the California Supreme Court.
The provisional license program was first implemented in 2020 for applicants who graduated law school at the start of Covid-19. The Bar asked the court to extend the program, currently set to expire at the end of 2025, until at least the end of 2027.
Applicants would still need to pass the bar exam to be granted full licenses. The only change to the program would be a new fee for participants, the Bar said. Just over 70 people remain in the cohort, but expanding it for anyone who didn’t pass or withdrew from the February bar would make 3,340 people eligible, the petition said. …
After applicants sat for the exam, the Bar admitted its non-lawyer contractor wrote 29 multiple choice questions for the exam using ChatGPT.
- The Recorder, Request to Provisionally License Thousands Impacted by Botched Bar Exam Goes to Calif. Supreme Court
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 (Mar. 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)
- California Supreme Court Reverts Back To In-Person Bar Exam In July (Mar. 5, 2025)
- Law Profs: California State Bar Must Be Held Accountable For Its Catastrophic Failures (Mar. 6, 2025)
- California Bar Orders Investigation Of February Exam Disaster As Beleaguered Test-Takers Fume (Mar. 9, 2025)
- California Bar Blocked Law School Deans And Professors From Vetting Troubled Bar Exam (Mar. 15, 2025)
- California Bar Recommends Provisional Licensure For All Who Failed And Withdrew From The February Bar Exam (Mar. 16, 2025)
- State Bar Of California Announces Remediation Actions For The February Bar Exam And Plans For The July Bar Exam (Mar. 18, 2025)
- California Bar Still Can't Decide How To Make Applicants Whole After Botched February Bar Exam (Apr. 8, 2025)
- California Bar Allowed Non-Lawyers To Use AI To Draft February Exam Questions, Will Ask Supreme Court To Lower Cut Score (Apr. 23, 2025)
- California Supreme Court Demands Answers From State Bar On Its Use Of AI In Preparing Bar Exam Questions (Apr. 26, 2025)
- Pressure Grows On California Bar To Switch To NCBE For July Exam Following February Exam Debacle (Apr. 28, 2025)
- California Bar Delays Release Of Results Of Catastrophic February Exam, Further Punishing Applicants (Apr. 30, 2025)
- California Supreme Court Lowers Passing Score on February Bar Exam, Orders Return to Multistate Exam in July (May 5, 2025)
- Pass Rate On February 2025 California Bar Exam Hits All-Time High, Due To Lowered Passing Score And Bonus For Taking Experimental Test (May 6, 2025)
- California Bar Backs Provisional Licensure For Those Who Withdrew From Or Failed Botched February Exam (May 13, 2025)
- California Bar Cops To Multiple Scoring Errors On Disastrous February Bar Exam; Third Party Will Do A Comprehensive Review (May 17, 2025)
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