Legal Ethics
Test Taker Who Exceeded Bar Exam Time Limit Denied Law License
Posted Mar 20, 2009 9:44 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A test taker who kept writing after the time limit for the Michigan bar exam is still trying to obtain a law license four years later.
The law grad was denied admission to the Michigan bar because she wrote past the time limit during the July 2005 test, according to a New York appeals court. She renewed her application last year and it is pending.
In a memorandum opinion and order (PDF) released yesterday, the New York appellate court denied the applicant a law license in that state as well. The court did not identify the person, but indicated she had passed the New York bar in 2005.
The applicant may renew her New York license application if she is allowed to obtain a Michigan law license, the court said.
The Legal Profession Blog noted the opinion. “There is an important lesson here for bar exam takers: Carefully follow the rules of the road,” the blog says.
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Comments
JME
Mar 20, 2009 9:52 AM CST
Had a guy in one of my classes, final exam (are there any others?) who marked his answers in his test booklet, and after he finished began to transfer his answers to his scantron sheet. Ran out of time, kept going. Proctor was NOT a happy camper. He got to visit the Dean.
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Debra Veoli
Mar 22, 2009 9:35 AM CST
If the woman doesn’t follow directions, she should NOT be a lawyer, either in Michigan or even in NY.
In NY, where people don’t follow street signs, mabye she could become a lawyer. They need SMART women in NY City.
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steve
Mar 22, 2009 10:20 AM CST
There was always someone in law school who would keep writing after the exam was over…it really annoyed me as tests were all graded on a curve, but no one did anything about it. I took the Mich July 05 bar exam, and passed. Perhaps this person learned she could get away with blowing the time limit in law school and attempted the same at the bar exam.
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tom
Mar 22, 2009 3:37 PM CST
Why shouldn’t she be a lawyer. I am sure she would easily be able to fit in with the best and brightest on wall street and come up with legal ways to screw the financial system.
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K.
Mar 22, 2009 4:51 PM CST
It does seem harsh—being denied the opportunity to practice law in ANY state, ever—but I can’t say I’m opposed to this decision. In fact, it makes me kind of happy to see someone somewhere has the fortitude to actually enforce a rule.
98% of us follow the rules, but our profession gets a bad name from the 2% or so—like this test taker—who break rules and flaunt it.
I, too, went to a law school (top-15) where some people ALWAYS kept writing until the proctor practically took their pens away. (Large classes and exams being proctored by students—the rule-breakers know they can get away with it, so they do.) It was frustrating in law school, to follow the rules and perhaps get a lower grade because someone else disobeyed the same rule. So this makes me happy.
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bar exam is a joke
Mar 23, 2009 6:31 AM CST
When a lawyer is giving his arguments before the court and he goes over his time limit, his case isn’t thrown out. Most lawyers try and finish their sentance after they should be done.
This is just a double standard by the country club lawyers who think they own the old boys profession. Either disbar the lawyers who say one word after their time limit in oral arguments is up or let her practice.
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Dennis Bratcher
Mar 23, 2009 9:55 AM CST
The proctors should have just tore the exams in half and said “so, sue me!”
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Recent grad
Mar 24, 2009 1:48 PM CST
As someone who just took the Bar last month and had a fellow examinee tell people that he saw someone writing after time was called but did not report it to the proctors (I couldn’t report it as I didn’t see it- I have no way of knowing for sure he was telling the truth), this makes me happy.
The examinee told me that it was no big deal b/c it wasn’t like the girl was going to get a few extra points for finishing a sentence.
To me it was a big deal b/c it’s all about the profession we are trying to enter. It’s cheating! It’s not fair to the rest of us who wrote furiously trying to beat the clock and then did stop on time.
The punishment seems harsh but I think it’s right that she has to first gain admission to MI Bar. After all, that’s the Bar she cheated on.
#6 - in court, don’t you have to request to briefly conclude if time is up?
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fed up
Mar 27, 2009 11:08 AM CST
Bunch of cry babies. Lawyers lie and cheat all the time, they just don’t see it that way. Life is unfair, like when your trust fund is a few million less than your classmate.
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