Right… you can’t do this now.
Things just keep getting worse for bar examiners around the country.
After struggling to figure out a suitable time to reschedule the canceled summer administration of the exam, they’ve hit a new obstacle. Specifically, where are you going to cram all these people to ensure that everyone’s a nice six feet distance from each other? It’s sure not the Javits Center!
And that’s why NY is teasing a monumental twist — maybe the bar exam is going to run a lot longer than two days.
The examination has been rescheduled to WEDNESDAY-THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9-10, 2020. The application period for the rescheduled examination is presently scheduled to open on May 5, 2020 at 12:00 AM and to close on May 30, 2020 at 11:59 PM.
HOWEVER, DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE BOARD DOES NOT EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO USE THE LARGE VENUES IT TYPICALLY USES TO ADMINISTER THE EXAM, THE BOARD WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TEST ALL THE CANDIDATES WHO WOULD TYPICALLY APPLY TO TAKE A JULY BAR EXAM. THE BOARD WILL BE REQUIRED TO PRIORITIZE GROUPS OF CANDIDATES AND EXPECTS TO ANNOUNCE A STAGGERED SCHEDULE FOR AND NECESSARY LIMITATIONS ON APPLICATIONS.
Staggered schedule. Are we going to be having administrations every week for a month or something? How is that going to dovetail with other states? They are also reporting that the New York law schools are offering up space for test-takers. That’s nice and all, but even with the extra real estate that’s still going to require a lot of dates to get through everyone and eventually those schools are going to have to go back in session.
Or are we just going to tell large swaths of the application pool that they’re just going to have to wait until February… or even next July? That’s a terrific burden to drop on students who are going to have to go find work in the meantime and then find some way to study while holding down a legal gig.
It sure seems like a diploma privilege plus regime would solve all these problems. But, as Kermit would say, that’s none of my business.
On the other hand, we may all be overreacting here. While it’s commendable that the Board of Law Examiners is thinking ahead about how it’s going to pull off this logistical nightmare, realistically game-planning this all out seems like overkill. Because let’s be clear: if we’re still social distancing like this in September, I’m not positive we’ll still be a nation of laws.
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.