The Recorder Op-Ed:  State Bar ‘Must Be Held Accountable’: A Call for Corrective Action in Wake of Bungled February Exam, by Alyssa Aguilar (Santa Clara) & Jess Miers (Akron):

As law professors who teach, among other courses, bar skills, we work closely with students preparing for the bar exam. Many of our students do not fit the privileged mold traditionally associated with law school graduates. They are working full-time while studying, scraping together the exorbitant costs of bar prep, balancing child care as single parents, or navigating the process alone as first-generation professionals without financial or familial support. For them, the bar exam is not just a test. It is their one shot at becoming attorneys, a career that could change the trajectory of their lives and their communities. Their futures depend on this exam.

That is why we are appalled by the California State Bar’s mishandling of the February 2025 exam and its callous response to the crisis. The lack of preparation, oversight, and basic competence in administering this exam has jeopardized the careers of countless test-takers. The so-called “remedies” the bar has offered are just as insulting and inequitable, ignoring the reality that many of our students cannot afford to simply retake the exam in July. Once again, they will be forced to make additional financial and personal sacrifices, ones the State Bar clearly does not appreciate or understand.

But this is bigger than just one botched exam. The California State Bar has long served as a mechanism to keep certain groups—working-class students, first-generation professionals, and those from marginalized communities—out of the legal profession. Now, in a time when national forces are actively working to push women and people on the margins out of professional spaces, the California Bar is actively enabling that agenda.

We wrote this letter not just in support of our own students, but for every student who has fallen victim to the State Bar’s incompetence. The California State Bar must be held accountable, not just for its catastrophic failure in administering this exam, but for its ongoing role in ensuring the practice of law remains accessible only to the privileged few. …

[A]s members of the California State Bar who collectively contribute approximately $1,000 per year in dues, we are deeply concerned about how our fees are being allocated. Dues have increased over the years, yet the quality of services provided has not only failed to improve, but has actively declined. It is an honor to be a member of the California Bar, but after witnessing this year’s failures, our confidence in its leadership has been shaken. The Bar’s response to this crisis will inform our decisions regarding our continued financial support.

We urge you to take immediate corrective action. The future of the profession depends on it.

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)

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