February 2021 Bar Exam: What to Know so Far

Amid COVID-19, the February 2021 Bar Exam will be administered online. With the U.S. reporting a growing number of coronavirus cases, Bar Examiners had no other choice than staying the course. Once deemed impossible, the online Bar Exam is here to stay, at least for now.

Photo, John Schnobrich, Unsplash

After cancelling in-person tests in July, Florida, California and New York are among the states moving the Bar Exam online again amid spike in COVID-19 cases.

“This decision is based on current COVID-19 infection rates, which are rising in almost every U.S. Jurisdiction,” the Florida Supreme Court said in a statement. “Based on that current trend, any plans to have an in-person administration in February 2021 would have been at risk of cancellation depending on the pandemic conditions in early 2021.” At least there is no ambiguity this time.

New York Will Hold Remote Bar Exam In February; Limits First Wave of Registration

The first New York online Bar Exam wasn’t exactly what students had thought it would be. Indeed, a survey of those who took New York’s first-ever online bar exam suggests that technical problems were more widespread than officials have indicated. Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents said they had a negative experience.

That being said, the New York Court of Appeals has announced that it will administer the February 2021 bar exam remotely. “Although the Court originally anticipated that a remote exam would be administered on a one-time basis, the threat posed by the pandemic has not abated sufficiently to permit the Board to safely conduct in-person testing of large numbers of bar applicants in New York, and it is therefore necessary to again consider a remote option,” said the Court of Appeals in a statement.

So what to expect for the NY February 2021 Bar Exam?

First of all, New York has once again limited registrations. The first application filing period, which included first-time Juris Doctor candidates who graduated from an ABA-approved law school in 2020 and repeater Juris Doctor candidates who graduated from an ABA-approved law school between 2016 and 2020, took place from November 1 to 15, 2020, and is now closed. The second application period, which included first-time foreign-educated candidates who graduated with either an LL.M. degree from an ABA-approved law school in 2020 or with a first degree in law from a common law jurisdiction in 2020, is also now closed.

A third application filing period has been opened to a limited number of foreign-educated applicants on a “first-come, first-served basis” starting at 12:00 PM on December 1, 2020. The Board will announce when all available seats have been taken during the Third Application Filing Period, which shall, in any event, close no later than 11:59 PM on December 8, 2020. Interested applicants are highly encouraged to apply immediately by logging into their account through the Applicant Services Portal.

While J.D. candidates who have been unsuccessful on the October 2020 remote exam are eligible to apply for the February 2021 exam, this is not the case for second-time foreign-educated candidates who have been excluded from registrations. LL.M Students have created an online Petition to allow them to sit for the February 2021 Bar Exam.

More Information here.

Many states will give online bar exam in February.

Florida had an online exam in August, which was delayed until October over technology concerns. Over 3,100 applicants took the bar exam remotely on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, court officials said. The first-time pass rate was 71.7%, which is down from the 73.9% pass rate among first-time examinees on the July, 2019 test.

The Bar Exam will now be administered online again to avoid exposing test-takers to the coronavirus, the state’s Supreme Court announced as cases spiked in the state. The seven-day moving average of new cases in Florida on Tuesday reached its highest level since mid-August, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland have also announced this week that they will give online bar exams in February.

A full online Bar Exam

The National Conference of Bar Examiners, which develops the exam, announced that it will provide a full set of questions for both an online and in-person exam on Feb. 23 and 24. Unlike the online exam given in October, which was shorter than the traditional licensing test, the February online exam will be full length and considered a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) for participating jurisdictions, including New York.

The national conference also said it will score and scale the Multistate Bar Exam, which is the 200-question, multiple-choice portion of the test. It did not offer those services for October’s online exam, which was taken by more than 30,000 in 20 different jurisdictions.

Still many critics

Critics came fast. In New York, a Assemblywoman pointed out the negative experience from those who took the bar exam. Many in the New York legislature are advocating for a diploma privilege for recent law graduates.

The main critic, however, is on the number of candidates. “Clearly, there wasn’t the meltdown anticipated, but far fewer people took the test than originally anticipated,” said New York Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon. In July 2019, 10,071 took the bar exam in New York, compared with 5,167 for this month’s online exam, a decline of nearly 49%.

At least for now, candidates know what to expect with the February 2021 Bar Exam. The July in-person had been postponed to September, then moved to October and then moved online. All these delays took an economic and mental toll on examinees. This time they are prepared.