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Law360 (October 2, 2020, 9:09 PM EDT ) Law school graduates registered for the Golden State's two-day bar exam should be ready to take the online test as scheduled beginning Monday, the California Supreme Court said in a letter to law school deans, and rejected requests for an open-book version of the exam.
Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye in a two-page letter dated Thursday and posted to the court's website on Friday said none of the other states administering the test online due to the coronavirus pandemic have switched to an open-book format.
She also noted that administering the exam without limiting what materials the test-takers can consult during the exam would violate the National Committee of Bar Examiners policy. The NCBE has not changed its policy to allow for an open-book format, according to the letter.
Justice Cantil-Sakauye also reassured law school deans about the integrity of the proctoring software that will be used to administer the exam on Oct. 5 and 6, which has faced criticism over technical glitches. But she said the software will not determine any test-takers' identities, eligibility or passing grade, and that human proctors will review videos of the exam to determine those factors.
To alleviate any privacy concerns involving the use of the software, the court agreed with the California State Bar's decision to request that ExamSoft, which is administering the exams, destroy all of the personally identifiable information collected by the software, according to the letter.
California's summer bar exam was initially slated for July, but in April the high court postponed it to September, citing "enormous challenges" stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. It was eventually pushed to Oct. 5-6 and shifted online.
But advocates for doing away with the exam and granting diploma privilege to law school graduates have argued that the remote test is easier said than done.
United for Diploma Privilege urged the court in September to waive the bar exam requirement for practicing law and grant diploma privilege to state bar applicants who have graduated from law school, are currently registered for the upcoming exam and "otherwise meet all qualifications for admission."
But California's high court rejected the petition, saying law school graduates will have to take the exam if they want to practice law.
On Wednesday, law school graduates asked the high court in an emergency petition to cancel the remote bar exam and instead issue provisional licenses. The graduates cited technical problems with the proctoring software and noted the number of rising COVID-19 cases in California, as well as the wildfires raging in multiple parts of the state and associated power outages.
The graduates also urged the court to allow for an open-book format if the test must take place and to drop the video and artificial intelligence monitoring.
But in her letter Thursday, Justice Cantil-Sakauye said the test must go on and can't be open-book.
--Additional reporting by Emma Cueto, Hailey Konnath and Mike LaSusa. Editing by Alanna Weissman.
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