More Stress for Calif. Bar Takers: An Earthquake

Bar Exam

More Stress for Calif. Bar Takers: An Earthquake

Posted Jul 30, 2008, 12:31 pm CST
By Martha Neil

This question wasn't on the California bar exam. But it was on the mind of many Los Angeles area test-takers yesterday, after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered about 30 miles south of the city rattled the area, just as they were finishing up the morning portion of the exam.

If an earthquake strikes while you are taking the bar, do you get additional time?

The preliminary answer to that question appears to be no. But bar exam officials are looking the situation, reports the National Law Journal.

"Any interruption weighs heavily upon the takers," says Robert Hawley, the State Bar of California deputy executive director. Although he says he received no reports of health or safety issues, officials are investigating and will make a report to the bar examiners committee about the quake's possible impact on test scores.

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Posted by Sandy - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 14 hours, 17 minutes ago

I was taking the test in Ontario, which was the closest test center to the epicenter of the quake. Many people are now complaining that the results will be unfair because our proctor in Ontario gave us a few extra minutes after we came out from under the tables to resume the test-taking. So I want to be perfectly clear about how much time we actually lost or gained. The exam session began at 8:50 in the morning. It was supposed to end at 11:50. The quake occurred, according to official reports, at 11:45. That means that it hit with FIVE MINUTES REMAINING UNTIL THE END of the scheduled session. We actually ended at exactly 11:53. That means we got THREE EXTRA MINUTES. Give me a break! If anyone left big issues until five minutes before the end of the exam, that is a very poor strategy. So come on - nobody was seriously disadvantaged by losing the tail end of the session. The truth is that it was a little unnerving, but if anyone freaked out enough to not be able to finish the exam, they are really not suited to work under pressure. I am not from California, I am almost 7 months pregnant, and that is my first real earthquake. I had no problem getting right back into the swing of it for the afternoon session, and neither did anyone else who is suitable for a high-pressure job. The whiners need to just get over it. They probably wouldn’t have passed anyway, and now they’re just looking for an excuse. I hope the Bar does NOT fall victim to the manipulation of these whiners looking for a freebee!
Posted by Ad Hoc - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 11 hours, 47 minutes ago

As a writer at Anaheim Convention Center (where examinees equally, if not more so, experienced the Earthquake during Tuesday’s Essay 1-3 session [we were in an underground hall with just a 15 foot ceiling, flood lights were swinging and tables moved, half the people screamed and got under the tables and WE WERE NOT EVACUATED even though a fire alarm sounded once with 4-6 minutes to go in the exam period]), I was angered to hear that a Proctor caused the exam to become unfair and not uniform due to granting 5 extra minutes to the Ontario examinees (no fault of their own). I had a friend taking the exam in San Diego, and she said they also felt it and were jolted and unfocused the rest of the day. My other friend taking it in San Francisco at Cow Palace didn’t believe me at first when I told her we suffered through one of the biggest quakes in a decade - she even thinks it was unfair Ontario examinees were granted additional time!

Anyhow, I approached the “State Bar of CA” table at the entrance to our secure examination area on Wednesday morning to ask about the complaint process for all examinees not having the same uniform time to complete their essays (5 minutes could mean the difference from receiving a passing grade and being able to write a thorough contract remedies discussion after writing on 3-4 other major issues).

Here’s how the brief discussion went (by the way, another student was there trying to find out how he could complain too):

Me: “......but aren’t the examiners supposed to keep the time equal to other exam locations to keep it fair and uniform?“
BAR Rep: “Not necessarily. I know from other proctors that the main proctor officially stopped the exam, and so had the right to restart it and give people time to finish.“
Me: “I talked to my friend and she said it wasn’t officially stopped, just that the person announced quickly after the quake that they were getting 5 extra minutes.“
BAR Rep: “I don’t care what your friend said, I know for a fact that time was officially stopped.“
Me: “Well, anyway, how can I file a formal complaint about this?“
BAR Rep: “You can write a letter or call JOHN RODRIGUEZ who is at the Los Angeles office.“
Me: “So is this going to be treated as a formal complaint then? Is this a process or just a contact?“
BAR Rep: “No, it’s what you can do…I am sure you will receive a letter in response.“

Needless to say, she was getting defensive and acting as if those who felt it was unfair are basically in the wrong and have no recourse. I am not sure whether it was officially stopped or not…even so, the proctor ADDEDD 5 additional minutes to their time, not just “let them finish” whatever time was remaining. The earthquake lasted at most 20-30 seconds, not 5 minutes! I believe though, and will verify this with my friend again and others who took it at Ontario, that time was NOT officially stopped.

The only suggestion I have for others, and what I am doing myself, is to call and ask to speak with the Los Angeles office Director JOHN RODRIGUEZ and to write him a letter. His contact information is below:

John Rodriguez
State Bar of CA
1149 S. Hill St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
213-765-1000

F.Y.I., the main office for the State Bar is:
San Francisco (Main Office)
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
415-538-2000

Best wishes for positive exam results for those affected by the
earthquake!
Posted by Kristy - 3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 10 hours, 37 minutes ago

Ad hoc, you are a big fat whiner. I can’t believe you weren’t too embarassed to post this. Seriously, grow up.
Posted by anonymous - 3 months, 3 weeks, 14 hours, 25 minutes ago

Ad hoc - calm down dude. You will not fail the exam simply because you did not get 3 extra minutes. To be honest, questions 1-3 were probably some of the easiest and most straightforward questions they’ve put on the exam - just compare them to the past questions or even to Thursday’s set. You should have been able to finish even if you did lose a few minutes. In the end, I’m sure the Bar committee will do what is fair, and if they have to adjust the passing score slightly to accommodate some peoples’ inability to roll with the punches, they will. But for God’s sake - quit whining! If you fail and have to take it again in February, let this be a lesson and like Sandy said, get yourself a better strategy and don’t leave your most important issues for the last five minutes!
Posted by Gary - 3 months, 3 weeks, 13 hours, 58 minutes ago

AdHoc - you should stop flaming this same post all over the internet.
Posted by anon - 3 months, 3 weeks, 13 hours, 50 minutes ago

waaaa, waaaa, no fair, no fair! I thought people stopped that nonsense in elementary school. Ad hoc - get a life and grow up.
Posted by Emma - 3 months, 3 weeks, 13 hours, 48 minutes ago

There should be personality screening for admission to the California bar.
Posted by jcholly - 3 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 8 hours, 2 minutes ago

I was in one of 3 or more rooms at the Ontario Convention Center. We did were not given any extra time.

I have no idea what happened or was said in the other rooms but, we stopped in three hours.

I have to say that it was distracting and some people were more upset than others. It really shook and we had numerous 3x3 foot ceiling tiles fall. In fact, one actually hit people two rows up from me.

I had heard the horror stories from years past and hopped right back up and started typing again. I don’t know how much time I lost but it was distracting and unsettling only because I was pretty sure they were going to force us to evacuate and kept waiting for the announcement to leave. Regardless, that didn’t happen and we finished in three hours. A bunch of us took our computers with us at lunch because we thought there was a good chance the building would be closed and we’d need our computers wherever we finished taking it. It was that big and we just didn’t know anything.

I did not complain and didn’t hear of anyone else doing that either. It is what it is.

What I can say is that our proctor said nothing except ‘keep typing’ and we were given no extra time in my room.

Best of luck to all and suggest that the second hand evidence be verified before it’s posted.
Posted by J.D. - 3 months, 2 weeks, 4 days, 13 hours, 51 minutes ago

To all you anti-ad hoc people: I hope you enjoyed your 2 day bar exam.

Come out to Cali and take a 3 day exam.

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