Will paper bar exams become a thing of the past?
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While there’s significant disagreement on how the bar exam should change, many believe it will, and there’s a wide range of ideas about what should happen.
So far, suggestions for change include breaking the test into smaller segments and administering part of it in law school; replacing essay questions with performance tests; and doing away with the licensing exam entirely.
The question of how the bar exam could improve was discussed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but safety concerns around in-person testing for what would normally have been a July administration drew more attention to the issue.
Jurisdictions with COVID-19-related diploma privilege are going back to bar exam admissions
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As of Dec. 3, the five jurisdictions with emergency diploma privilege precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic had announced plans for a remote bar exam in February 2021.
Louisiana scheduled a remote open-book bar in February, according to a Nov. 25 state supreme court order. The other four jurisdictions Washington, D.C.; Utah; Oregon; and Washington have announced remote Uniform Bar Exams, which are offered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
None of the jurisdictions has yet released plans for July 2021 admissions, but law school deans in those regions are telling third-year students to plan for a bar exam, which could be in-person or online. Also, state supreme courts in some jurisdictions have appointed task forces to study the issue.