How will the Coronavirus Impact the Bar Exam?
Many students are wondering what impact Coronavirus (COVID-19) will have on the bar exam. Will the bar exam be moved online? Delayed? Canceled?
Note: We are keeping track of all of the states that are planning on delaying the July bar exam and offering a fall bar exam instead in this post so please refer to this post for the most updated data!
Update 3/28/20: The State Bar of California is meeting on 3/30/20 to determine what action to take in regard to the July 2020 bar exam and the June 2020 FYLSE. We will update this page when a decision is made.
Update 3/27/20: The New York State Board of Law Examiners has officially postponed the July 2020 bar exam and intends to administer an exam at a to be determined time in the fall.
Update 3/26/20: The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) released a statement that it plans to make a decision on whether it will send out the July bar exam (MBE, MEE, and MPT) on or about May 5, 2020. Additionally, there will be a fall bar exam with a new set of materials. Read our post on this new information here.
The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar said it has no plans to alter the July 2020 bar exam at this time.
Update 3/25/20: The Texas Board of Law Examiners said that at this time they expect the July 2020 bar exam to be administered as normal and there are no extensions to the filing deadlines.
Update 3/23/20: The New York State Board of Law Examiners and the Michigan State Board of Law Examiners are monitoring the situation closely but are unsure of any effects on the July 2020 bar exam at this time. Please continue to check the state’s websites and this blog for updates.
Update 3/18/20: Many students have asked us how COVID-19 will impact the release of February results. The NCBE (the organization that writes the MBE) has stated that they do not anticipate any delay in the release of February MBE results to jurisdictions. Further, since essay grading is done by attorneys generally on their own time, we also do not anticipate that essay grading should be significantly affected or seriously delayed. Read more updates on how COVID-19 will impact February 2020 bar exam results here. Other updates are posted below.
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