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Currently trying to contact @examsoft for technical support with the #NYBarExam software - endlessly on hold in a queue with 17 other people in it, or so the automated agent tells me. What happens if even 1% of October examinees across jurisdictions have technical issues? 1/x
Depending on the figure you use to approximate the number of test takers in October, 1% of examinees is between 300 and 400 people. There’s no ability whatsoever to receive tech support, which was not even the case for offline law school finals. 2/x
I can understand Examsoft and its clients digging their heels in to a reluctant examinee base if the software functioned as intended, tech support was readily available, and we were able to take the exam remotely as if we were taking it in-person. This is not the case. 3/x
What we are dealing with his a digital exam vendor that refuses to admit its product is not where it needs to be to administer the October bar exam, and BOLEs across the United States refusing to explore alternative paths to licensure. 4/x
Meanwhile, people are running out of money, health insurance, time, and just about anything else you can think of. It doesn’t make any sense that BOLEs, which are the gatekeepers to the legal profession, are refusing to do what all good lawyers do when something doesn’t work. 5/x
Which is: find a different, better, more efficient solution. It’s utterly ridiculous that for some reason, it is unconscionable for states to switch to practice-based admission, but fine for us to be subjected to complete liability waivers and biometric data waivers. 6/x
I didn’t sign up for that, no other graduating class seeking to enter the legal profession has been subjected to that, and most importantly, the people at state BOLEs certainly never have had to deal with being treated this inhumanely. It’s time to put an end to this charade. 7/x
Again, we all want and hope the online bar exam goes smoothly, but there have been no indications that it will. Alleged DDoS attacks, countless postponements and cancellations, one vendor dropping out entirely, and now, confirmed buggy software from the sole remaining vendor. 8/x
Law school graduates seeking admission to their respective state bars are not the group of people to try to pull this kind of stuff on - BOLEs across the country were notified of the problems of online bar exam in MARCH and were unable to come up with a viable alternative. 9/x
And yet, the graduates are the ones who bear the costs of these delays, cancellations, uncertainties - all without a shred of the same respect we are expected to show those in positions of power re: decision making. No accountability whatsoever. 10/x
Furthermore, law graduates seeking New York admission have followed the rule book of lawyering when it comes to desired outcomes. We petitioned the Court of Appeals to no avail, and as all students of law know, when the judiciary fails, go to the legislature. 11/x
We have done all that has been asked of us, studied longer than any class of first-time bar-takers ever has, rolled with the completely unavoidable punches given to us by NCBE and the states, and surrendered our livelihoods to study so we can work ASAP. 12/x
We have even come up with a sensible and fair solution to this problem so that law graduates seeking admission are not given a “free pass.” Pile on the CLE and all other requirements. But please do not force us to put our futures on the line for the sake of tradition. 13/x
And, in the time that it’s taken me to write out this entire thread, which is 25 minutes and 30 seconds, I went from caller 18 to caller 7 in the @examsoft tech support queue on a random Wednesday - no exams being administered on this day to the best of my knowledge. 14/x
It’s time to call off this charade and give us an alternate path to licensure that doesn’t compromise the state bars and the graduates of 2020. Forcing prospective lawyers to sign unconscionable waivers and ignoring blatant software issues isn’t acceptable. 15/x
Nearly a half hour to move up 11 spots in a tech support queue on a non-exam day is a huge problem for a vendor that expects to administer the most important exam of 30-40k people’s lives in about a month. Unacceptable.
And just to add a more personal touch to this, I went back and forth about whether it was even a good idea to tweet this with my name on it in fear of retaliation when I eventually apply for admission. I made the right decision. Speak up.
Currently caller #2 in the tech support queue. Have seen some bar exam takers say they get disconnected from the line when they get through @examsoft’s queue. We will see if it happens to me.
Update: I got through to someone, and she’s telling me Examsoft has no records or any indication that there’s any problem with the software they rolled out yesterday. I’m on hold again. I asked her bluntly: how would you feel if your passwords and data were stolen because you
were being forced into this train wreck of an “exam” so that you can hopefully obtain the ability to do what you went to school for 3 years for and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do? Hello? When did common sense and rationality die?
Diploma privilege folks, bar exam takers, lawyers, grandmas, grandpas, mail men, etc - share this thread far and wide. Send it everywhere. These are our futures @examsoft is carelessly playing around with. We are well within our rights to demand a fair bar exam.
UPDATE: I was just told by @examsoft that the data breaches, notifications that passwords were compromised, etc. that people have experienced in the last day after downloading the 2020 bar exam software is a COINCIDENCE. They said it was a coincidence.
According to Examsoft, the data breaches etc are UNRELATED - I’m done with the lies and deceit - this is unconscionable, fraudulent, immoral.
Now I’m being told that @examsoft released a statement on this and that it was posted on the ADMINISTRATOR side, but was not released to students. I’m obtaining a copy of this “statement” shortly. @NYGovCuomo @bradhoylman @BarExamTracker @JoAnneSimonBK52 @dp4ny @DiplomaPriv4All
Here’s the “statement”: No announcement of any kind of investigation or anything from @ExamSoft. Just a conclusory statement. Where did I hear about conclusory statements and their invalidity before... @DiplomaPriv4All @dp4ny @bradhoylman @JoAnneSimonBK52 @BarExamTracker
Examsoft logic: we say the software works so it works. We say it was coincidence so it was coincidence.
Two can play at that game.
I say I’m licensed to practice law in New York as of today and also have a billion dollars. I’ll wait for my check in the mail.
Two can play at that game.
I say I’m licensed to practice law in New York as of today and also have a billion dollars. I’ll wait for my check in the mail.
