California bar hunts for who leaked bar questions, applicants sue test administrator
The State Bar of California will engage forensic experts to identify those who posted content from its new exam online, a move that forced it to push back the planned makeup exam of the troubled test. (Image from Shutterstock)
The State Bar of California will engage forensic experts to identify those who posted content from its new exam online, a move that forced it to push back the planned makeup exam of the troubled test riddled with a host of issues with proctors, connectivity and submission problems, according to a Feb. 27 email.
Meanwhile, a group of examinees filed a class action complaint Feb. 27 in the Northern District of California against ProctorU Inc. alleging that the vendor “failed spectacularly” to administer the test through its Meazure Learning unit.
Unlike the widely used Uniform Bar Examination and its components administered and developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the new test written by Kaplan Exam Services and deployed by Meazure Learning was taken remotely and at test centers.
The test launched Feb. 25 with immediate, widespread and pervasive issues.
“These conditions are unacceptable, and we make no excuses for them,” according to the state bar’s email.
Because understanding of the rampant problems is still evolving, some accommodated applicants will continue to test through Saturday, according to the email.
After learning that exam questions were posted online, the state bar changed the dates of the planned makeup exam from March 3 and 4 to March 18 and 19, allowing time to change the content and reconfigure the exam driver, according to the email.
Those involved in sharing the exam questions are “subject to strict sanctions, including revocation of a previously granted positive moral character determination or denial of a pending moral character application,” according to the state bar email. “In short, individuals who are found to have engaged in this type of prohibited and unethical behavior will find it difficult if not impossible to secure licensure with the State Bar of California.”
The state bar’s decision this fall to move away from the NCBE-created exam to the hybrid, two-day exam was motivated by an anticipated $3.8 million deficit.
In September, 15 deans from ABA-accredited laws schools signed a letter to the California Supreme Court stating that they had “grave concerns” that the new exam could be developed “in a responsible manner.”
Deans of the California law schools planned to meet the afternoon of Feb. 28 to discuss recommendations for remedies, says Darby Dickerson, the dean of the Southwestern Law School.
“It will certainly be more than a refund. I would hope the bar would consider potentially a provisional license” as was offered as an emergency measure during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dickerson says.
“The fact is that all of this was done because the bar is facing insolvency,” Dickerson adds. “This isn’t the test-takers’ fault. That just makes this tragedy even more tragic.”
Registration dates for the July bar exam have not been determined but will be announced after “exam administration plans are confirmed in the coming weeks,” according to the state bar’s website.
“Please don’t be alarmed; we will finalize the application launch date once July exam administration plans are confirmed in the coming weeks,” according to the Feb. 27 email.
Meanwhile, the complaint against the company that administered the new exam alleges that as a result of “the total technical breakdown that Meazure caused,” test-takers were “traumatized” and “had their career ambitions delayed.”
Tycko & Zavareei represents the bar applicants. Attempts by the ABA Journal to reach the testing company were not answered immediately.
These most recent moves follow “a tumultuous few weeks,” according to a state bar Feb. 21 press release that offered free retakes for those who fail the February exam.
That came a week after the state bar’s refund offer for those who withdrew from the February exam, along with an apology that information from the state bar and Meazure Learning was not aligned.
California tests the second-highest number of bar examinees, according to the NCBE, behind only New York. In 2024, 3,944 examinees took the California bar exam in February.
Initially, 5,100 initially signed up for the test’s maiden voyage, according to a state bar spokesperson, 13% more than anticipated.
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