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Law360 (July 15, 2020, 7:08 PM EDT ) New Jersey's fall in-person bar exam is canceled and will instead be held remotely, as cases of the coronavirus climb nationwide and make it unsafe to bring together the roughly 2,000 applicants across multiple locations, the state Supreme Court's chief justice said on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic led the New Jersey Supreme Court in April to postpone the in-person test from this month to Sept. 9-10, but the New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners will now administer the examination remotely on Oct. 5-6, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said in an order.
Of the nearly 2,000 applicants for the in-person test — which was supposed to be held at multiple locations — roughly 900 candidates are from outside the state and about 150 hail from states whose residents must self-quarantine for two weeks in accordance with the governor's travel advisory, the justice noted.
"Although New Jersey has made significant inroads to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 is gaining strength in many areas of the country and continues to be a serious threat to health and safety," Justice Rabner said.
"Under the circumstances, and guided by the science, the Supreme Court has concluded it is simply unsafe to gather 2,000 applicants, even across multiple coordinated locations, for an in-person bar examination," the justice added.
The switch from an in-person to a remote bar exam reflects the state judiciary's ongoing cautious approach to the evolving public health crisis. While some in-person state court proceedings have resumed, most court events have been held via video or telephone over the past few months.
Justice Rabner alluded to such remote operations in Wednesday's order.
"Like other court functions that have transitioned successfully to remote operations, a remote bar examination will maintain professional standards and public confidence at a time when health officials counsel against large, in-person events," he said.
The Board of Bar Examiners will provide information about the remote test on its website and via communications to aspiring lawyers who previously applied for the in-person exam, according to the order.
Those applicants will be automatically registered for the remote exam, but they may withdraw their applications and receive a refund of the application fee, the order states. Applicants who opt to not take the remote test will be permitted to defer taking the bar exam until it's held again in-person, the order states.
Candidates who want to wait for an in-person test will still be eligible to practice law temporarily under the supervision of attorneys in good standing — as the Supreme Court outlined in an April 6 order — as long as the applicants meet all other requirements and ultimately take the first in-person bar exam offered in New Jersey, according to Wednesday's order.
"We repeat, for emphasis, that temporary authorization for 2020 graduates to practice under supervision does not confer on them either a plenary license or any vested or implied right to be licensed ... and further may be revoked by order of the Court," Justice Rabner said.
--Editing by Nicole Bleier.
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