Washington law deans demand diploma privilege after aborted NextGen UBE administration
Updated: The deans of all three ABA-accredited law schools in Washington have each written to the state supreme court, asking that nearly 700 candidates unable to take the new NextGen Uniform Bar Examination this week because of technical issues be granted diploma privilege.
On Tuesday, the hopeful attorneys struggled to access the new reinvented bar exam prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners at the Yakima Convention & Event Center, about two hours southeast of Seattle. After a day of confusion and frustration, the Washington State Bar Association on Tuesday night canceled the two-day, skills-focused exam stating that it did not “have sufficient confidence” that the tech issues could be resolved.
The state bar association offered the disappointed test-takers three options: taking a make-up exam tentatively scheduled for Sept. 1 and 2; transferring to the February 2027 administration in Tacoma, Washington; or withdrawing and receiving a refund of applicable fees.
In their letters, Tony Varona, the dean of the Seattle University School of Law; Tamara Lawson, the dean of the University of Washington School of Law; and Linda D. Jellum, the interim dean of the Gonzaga University School of Law, each noted the cancellation’s toll on the aspiring attorneys.
“Those alternatives cannot remedy what occurred in Yakima,” Jellum wrote to the Washington Supreme Court justices Wednesday. “More importantly, they cannot fully restore the fairness and integrity of the licensing process.”
“These Washington examinees need an immediate pathway to licensure that protects them from any additional costs and harms—financial, professional and emotional—that this failed exam has caused,” Lawson wrote to the ABA Journal. “Emergency diploma privilege is the best equitable solution in this case.”
This was the first administration of the revamped bar exam that moved away from the traditional pencil-and-paper format to being entirely conducted on laptops.
Washington offered diploma privilege during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those attorneys “have not generated a disproportionate share of disciplinary or related professionalism and competency complaints or concerns,” Varona wrote to the state supreme court’s chief justice Tuesday.
Questions about the use of online bar exams have been raised over the years. In February 2025, the Association of Academic Support Educators issued a statement advising against the use of fully online bar exams. Later that month, California experienced technical and other troubles during the launch of its hybrid proprietary bar exam, resulting in myriad long-term issues including financial losses and lawsuits.
Despite years of preparation by the NCBE to start administering the new skills-based exam, Lawson told the Journal, “it was not ready for prime time. Washington test-takers experienced the worst of the failed promises, an unprecedented on-site cancellation of the exam.”
Decisions regarding diploma privilege are made by individual jurisdictions and don’t involve the NCBE, wrote Faye McCray, the chief communications officer at the NCBE, to the Journal.
“We recognize the tremendous disappointment and disruption this has caused the applicants affected by the cancellation of the July Washington administration, and we remain committed to supporting both those examinees and the Washington State Bar Association as they determine the appropriate path forward,” McCray adds.
The Washington Supreme Court sent an apologetic email to applicants Thursday, adding that it is “hearing from examinees, law school deans, members of the WSBA board of governors, among many others, all of whom urge us to take swift action to rectify this situation. We are actively engaged in fully understanding what happened and working with WSBA and the NCBE toward a timely solution.”
Hat tip to Bloomberg Law, which also had coverage.
Updated July 30 at 2:26 p.m to add the statement from the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Updated July 30 at 2:42 p.m. to add the statement from the Washington Supreme Court.
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