Archive for Uncategorized

Ontario Bar Exam Cancelled After Questions Leaked

Some bad news from our neighbors to the north: the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has just cancelled upcoming bar exams after examination content was allegedly “improperly accessed” by some candidates. More than 1,000 candidates were set to write the online examinations, which were scheduled from March 8 to 11 and March 22 to 25. […]

Bar Exam Taker Removed From Room Due to Suspected COVID-19

The live, in-person bar exam unsurprisingly had some unfortunate consequences for test takers. One such incident occurred when Alaina Arroyo arrived to take Day 2 of the Nebraska Bar Exam. According to Arroyo, she arrived on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, around 7:15 a.m. to take the test. Part of the jurisdiction’s COVID-19 safety plan for […]

Virginia to Allow Law Students to Take the Bar Exam After Only 5 Semesters

The Virginia House of Delegates has now passed a bill allowing students at approved law schools to take the bar exam after completing only five (5) semesters of full-time legal study. Only one House lawmaker voted against the bill, which has yet to get a Senate vote. The bill would give students “a head start […]

TO ALL THOSE TAKING THE BAR EXAM TODAY:

GOOD LUCK FROM MARINO BAR REVIEW!!!

South Dakota Rejects Alternatives to A Bar Exam

Future attorneys from the state of South Dakota will not get to use their diplomas to bypass taking the state bar exam that helps determine whether a person becomes licensed to practice law. The House State Affairs Committee made the decision Wednesday, voting 8-4 to reject an attempt to restore “diploma privilege” to South Dakota. The […]

“New” Bar Exam Still On Track For 2026

A 5-year overhaul of the bar exam is gaining momentum, with officials now close to detailing the legal knowledge and skills that the new attorney licensing test will assess. The National Conference of Bar Examiners said it plans to develop prototype questions by the end of this year and begin pilot testing what it has […]

Bar Exam COVID Rules Seem To Depend on What Zip Code You Are In

Law school graduates taking the February 2022 Bar Exam will encounter very different Covid-19 precautions depending on where they are taking the test. States that adopted differing patchworks to battle the Covid-19 pandemic are extending the variation to law graduates taking the biggest test of their lives. “For many, an already stressful experience will be […]

NY State bar seeks change to “discriminatory” bar admission question

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is recommending a revision to the bar admission application, targeting the legality of a question about juvenile delinquency and criminal records. According to the report compiled by the NYSBA House of Delegates, question number 26 of the application fails to comply with the New York State Human Rights […]

Amid Omicron Surge, States Consider Alternatives to February Bar Exam

As we noted last week, Nevada became the first state to officially move the bar exam to an online format for the February Bar Exam, citing the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Now other states are trying to determine the best course of action for their exams as well. One of the increasingly […]

Nevada Becomes 1st State to Move Bar Exam Back Online For February

Nevada is now the first state to officially move its February Bar Exam back online as COVID-19 cases spike across the country. Instead of a two (2) day, in person bar exam on February 22 and 23, bar examinees will now take a stripped down, remote 2 day test that does not include the 200-question […]

Is The February Bar Exam Still Being Held In Person?

While we know that almost every state intends to hold the February 2022 Bar Exam in-person, most of these jurisdictions still do not have plans in place for how exactly the exam is to be administered. In June, the National Conference of Bar Examiners indicated that it would only make materials available for an in-person […]

Graduating from Law School as a Teenager?

Haley Taylor Schlitz is a rarity. She started college at 13, entered law school at 16 and will be only 19 when she gets her J.D., placing her among the small group of very young law students who actually graduate as teenagers. She is not alone. Famed journalist Ronan Farrow entered Yale Law School at […]

New York Bar Exam Is Tough, Even for Japanese Royalty

Japanese media has closely tracked the legal career of Kei Komuro since he became engaged to Princess Mako, the niece of Emperor Naruhito, in 2017, and moved to New York to attend Fordham University Law School. Komuro took the New York Bar Exam in July and the couple was just married on October 26th. Unfortunately, however, […]

California Adjusts Scores of Some July 2021 Bar Exam Takers

Following in the footsteps of a few other state bars, the State Bar of California has made the decision to adjust the scores of 2,429 test takers who encountered technical problems during the remote July 2021 Bar Exam. Additionally, the State is giving nearly 1,300 unsuccessful bar candidates another try at no extra cost. California […]

Arizona Law Grad Who Failed Bar Exam Asks to be Admitted Due To Technical Problems He Encountered

A former law student in Arizona who failed the remote online bar exam is asking the State Supreme Court to license him anyway, claiming software flaws kept him from passing the test. The petition was filed by Jordan Evan Greenman, who claims his computer screen went blank and his mouse and keyboard became disabled during […]

The Ups and Downs of the Just-Released NY Bar Exam Results

New York has just released the results of its July 2021 bar exam, leaving California as one of the last major jurisdictions to still be holding off on releasing results. California is not expected to report results until at least November 12th. For those keeping score, New York’s results were a bit of a mixed bag. […]

New York July 2021 Bar Exam Results are Now Posted

Check out the New York July 2021 bar exam results here To all of those who passed, congratulations! If you were not successful, contact us for a free score report evaluation and be sure to check out the Marino Retaker Program and Marino Tutoring options. Marino Bar Review is known for its success in helping retaker students pass the bar […]

New York Bar Exam Results Being Released!

The New York Bar Exam Results are Being Released! To all of those who passed, congratulations! If you were not successful, contact us for a free score report evaluation and be sure to check out the Marino Retaker Program and Marino Tutoring options. Marino Bar Review is known for its success in helping retaker students pass the bar exam […]

ExamSoft Responds To Claims It Ruined The Last Bar Exam

Senior executives for ExamSoft, whose software resulted in widespread technical problems on the July 2021 Bar Exam, have now told California Bar leaders that they have fixed the glitches that affected thousands of test-takers during the last bar exam. Company officials also said they “significantly increased their staff” to address complaints that some applicants waited hours to […]

California Releases Findings From its Investigation of Bar Exam Software Problems

Continuing to update you, several states are actively investigating the software issues that plagued bar exam takers during this past July’s bar exam. Results from a California investigation have determined that out of more than 7,000 exam takers for the July 2021 California Bar Exam, about 31% experienced software issues. However, the State Bar of […]

Bar Exam Results Delayed in Some States

While the bar exam results of some states have already been released, other states are likely to be delayed amid an ongoing probe into technical issues that some test-takers experienced. Both California and Illinois, for example, have now issued statements in which they have acknowledged that the results will not be released when expected. The […]

Results from the July Bar Exam are Being Released!

It is still early, but states are now beginning to release the results from the July 2021 bar exam. Pass rates fell in all but 2 of the 19 jurisdictions that have reported results thus far. Maine has notched the largest drop— its pass rate fell 27 percentage points to 59% compared to last year. […]

St. Mary’s Becomes 1st ABA-Accredited Law School Fully Online

St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas,  recently received approval from the American Bar Association to offer the nation’s first online-only ABA-accredited law degree program. Stephen Burnett, a law school adviser at the education consulting firm All Campus LLC, explained the importance of the approval – “with this online program, St. Mary’s […]

Will there be an investigation into the technical glitches in the last bar exam?

You may have heard about the reports of technical issues that many bar exam takers faced this past July. Now California State Bar Officials have announced they will open an investigation into complaints about the problems that occurred during the remote bar exam, with other state bars likely to follow. Applicants around the country reported […]