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(1/?) I passed the bar exam, and sharing this celebration with friends/family has been touching. However, I have also spent this time reflecting on how difficult sitting for the exam was shortly after my friend's death. I do not want others to have to go through that experience.
(2/?) In light of 100,000 deaths reported in the United States thus far from COVID-19, some law students will have to go through something similar – when we have alternatives available. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/05/24/us/us-coronavirus-deaths-100000.html
(3/?) Some state bars are passing off to other jurisdictions, forcing students into a costly frenzy and potentially overwhelming facilities available. Some states are adopting online exams, and one went for limited diploma privilege.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/04/massachusetts-is-first-state-to-offer-its-own-online-bar-examif-necessaryamid-covid-19.html
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2020/04/massachusetts-is-first-state-to-offer-its-own-online-bar-examif-necessaryamid-covid-19.html
(4/?) We're potentially asking some students to quarantine before the exam, after traveling across the country to sit for a state that they might not have even intended to sit for.. while other states went online or granted diploma priv. by luck of the draw to minimize risks.
(5/?) You can maintain that a bar exam is essential for students while minimizing risks (..though I would argue that there are more meaningful metrics than the bar). You can grant diploma privilege for temp. protection until testing conditions are safe or move the exam online.
(6/?) The answer for the July bar, however, was not punting students. The answer was not to force them to incur additional financial hardship in cross-country travel in a constrained economy while remaining ignorant of health risks for them, their friends, and their families.
(7/7) I'm glad I passed the bar. I'm not offering unsolicited advice since everyone is in a different place, but if anyone wants thoughts on UBE essays, info on what I tried to prioritize, or practice I found helpful outside of my program, DMs are open.
