There’s a strong sense of déjà vu on the bar exam beat this week. Indiana pushed until the Friday before the bar exam to admit that it couldn’t go ahead with the Tuesday exam when it couldn’t run a working test of its exam software. Now Florida, attempting to use the same ILG platform, is sitting less than a week from its exam and… hasn’t run a functional test yet.
I’m starting to see a trend.
Earlier this week, we reported that Florida had called off its planned test run of the software after applicants pointed out a number of issues. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners promised that they’d let folks know when the test would happen as soon as it was ready to go. As of Thursday… there are still crickets sounding with the organization’s website topped with an emergency announcement:
The Live Trial Exam of the ILG bar examination software has not yet been rescheduled. The Board will update all applicants on the date and time of the Live Trial Exam as soon as possible by email and by posting the date and time on this website.
Yesterday, the FBBE emailed applicants and told them not to keep downloading the software at all:
If they have not yet downloaded the latest version, the ability to do so has been disabled at this time pursuant to FBBE. For those who still need to upload their Trial Exam, you will be unable to do so until the download link is reactivated and you have downloaded and installed the latest version of the software.
Are they tracking when the exam is supposed to happen for real?
The decision to kill the download comes as we’ve been receiving more reports from applicants that the software is causing all manner of glitches with their computers, up to and including concerns that it’s causing security breaches compromising their bank and email accounts. ILG says that’s not the case, but whether or not that’s really happening, the absence of any confidence in the platform’s security speaks to how miserable the online exam rollout has been: ILG has had two exams already canceled on them, ExamSoft struggled through “a cyberattack,” and Extergrity wisely watched all this and said, “Peace, we’re out.”
Another glitch identified by applicants involved a workaround that allowed users to access all their computer files while the exam was in progress. Some of these glitches were reported on social media and boards and tipsters indicate that ILG representatives have talked to applicants about these glitch reports. Unfortunately, we’re also hearing that ILG is telling people to take down these reports for “caus[ing] unnecessary anxieties about the product.” Charitably that could be an inelegant way of saying these reports have been addressed and hoping to prevent people from freaking out about stale issues. But given the history of the exam software industry — like ExamSoft’s effort to scrub the web of articles raising hacking concerns — it’s difficult to give ILG the benefit of the doubt.
The exam is set for Wednesday. There has been no test and applicants aren’t currently able to download the latest version of the software. We’ve got people wondering if they’re going to take the biggest exam of their lives in less than a week and they have no idea what’s going to happen. It’s not cool to keep people waiting around wondering when their test is going to be!
It’s time to make a decision. If a successful test isn’t in the cards by now, then the exam needs to be canceled next week. And if there’s not going to be a successful test by Monday, it’s time to pull the plug entirely. Whether that means a diploma privilege regime or an open book email test like Indiana doesn’t matter as much as a commitment that gives applicants a definite end date for this floating test situation.
Earlier: Online Bar Exam Software Still Not Working On Friday, Test On Tuesday
Florida Cancels Test Of Online Bar Exam Because, You Know, ‘Issues’
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.