After emergencies mar bar exam, New York State Bar Association aims to add new procedures
The New York State Bar Association is aiming to install new procedures after two recent emergencies have happened during the bar exam administration in the past year. (Photo by sengchoy/Getty Images)
The New York State Bar Association is aiming to install new procedures after two recent emergencies have happened during the bar exam administration in the past year.
On Saturday, the state bar’s governing body adopted a report from its Young Lawyers Section on emergency management, security and exam redress.
In the July 2025 administration at a Long Island, New York, test site, a candidate from Fordham Law School had a heart attack, but the test was not paused while paramedics treated her. No additional time was granted to test-takers, and no other information was given to examinees, “causing distress and alarm,” according to a June 29 press release from the bar association.
And in February, a blizzard forced the exam site in Washington Heights, New York City, to close, while other locations moved forward with the test, “raising concerns about the integrity of the exam, as examinees could access exam questions from the internet and other examinees,” according to the press release.
New York City had been under a travel advisory, and more than 5,600 U.S. flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.com. Adding to confusion at the time, the New York State Board of Law Examiners’ outgoing phone message at that time said candidates who can’t make to the New York bar exam test site, will “automatically be withdrawn from the exam after attendance is taken.”
The new recommendations include:
• Adopting standards for staff requirement immediate summoning of emergency medical services
• Giving proctors authority to pause a testing sesssion when a medical emergency disrupts a test site
• Developing test-security protocols for paused sessions, such as securing paper and electronic materials
• Creating a risk management plan to address natural disasters, inclement weather and medical emergencies
“We are calling to establish revised protocols and new procedures for bar exams that are interrupted or delayed,” said Taa Grays, the president of the New York State Bar Association, in the press release. “Preparing for emergency events protects our future lawyers and the integrity of the bar exam.”
The state’s bar exam standard protocols have not been updated since 1991, according to the press release.
New York uses the test developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, but it is administered by the state board of law examiners.
A supervisors’ manual from the NCBE covers how to administer the test, with suggestions about balancing exam security policies when faced with an emergency, according to a spokeswoman from the NCBE at that time, and includes having a special announcement ready for proctors to read in case of an emergency, such as telling candidates to stop working on the test and/or moving locations. But how specific situations are handled is ultimately determined by the states, the spokeswoman added.
Hat tip to Law360.
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