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New Jersey is not the last jurisdiction to release bar exam results, but it is the only jurisdiction we know of that has kept its applicants entirely in the dark since they took the exam. Even California, who is holding off on results while it Inspector Clouseau’s its way through one-third of its applicants flagged for cheating, felt compelled to share a timetable for an expected release. The NJ BOLE has taken a different approach:
They won’t answer the phones. They won’t announce anything. We are one of the last jurisdictions (California at least has spoken to applicants) to release. Something needs to change.
That’s just one of upwards of 30 tips we’ve gotten over the last couple days raising concerns about the New Jersey process, which seems to racked with opacity:
There has been a complete lack of communication and they do not answer the phones nor email. Last reply I personally received was in July after continuous emails with the same question until the case manager replied.
Not that many of these applicants feel safe to complain into the void. “We can’t even complain to them out of sheer fear that we won’t be able to get licensed,” said one tipster reasonably worried after the NCBE president told the public that bar examiners were considering leveraging their character & fitness powers against anyone who complains about the bar exam.
And it’s not merely a matter of candidates getting nervous — there are real consequences to the continued delay. Not only are there employers who demand bar passage out there losing patience with applicants, but bar prep companies often require proof of a failure to make room for an applicant to study for February and we’re running out of time to effectively study for that process.
This is all even worse for those New York applicants who were at one point encouraged to take the New Jersey exam. Because, remember, when New York was struggling to guarantee seats for out-of-state examinees:
Many of us wanted to take New York but relied on New York’s advice to register elsewhere and then were not allowed to transfer back to New York once New York went online.
Now those folks are sitting around waiting while those able to take the New York bar exam have already gotten their results.
Bar Exam Tracker is hearing from sources that a release is likely next week:
But it’s a testament to how badly run this is that applicants are relying on an independent source to find out information that the examiners should be entirely transparent about.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.