California’s long-awaited new bar exam turned into a fiasco on Tuesday as test-takers faced widespread technical failures, forcing the state bar to offer an unprecedented March retake for those affected.
The State Bar of California acknowledged “significant” disruptions during the launch of its hybrid remote and in-person licensing exam, with many examinees unable to even start the test.
“This exam did not go smoothly for an unacceptable number of test takers,” said State Bar Executive Director Leah Wilson. Officials are still evaluating the full scope of the failures.
The two-day exam continued Wednesday for those who successfully completed the first day, but for others, the day was a nightmare of software crashes and login failures.
David Drelinger, a 2023 graduate of Lincoln Law School in Sacramento, described his experience as devastating. He attempted to begin the test over 30 times, only for the system to crash each time a proctor logged in. After trying multiple laptops and internet connections, he was left in limbo.
“I’ve put hundreds of thousands of dollars into this career,” Drelinger said. “This is supposed to be the final step, but now it feels impossible.”
The troubled rollout follows the state bar’s decision to develop a proprietary exam, moving away from the national test. The bar fast-tracked the new format, entrusting administration to Meazure Learning under a contract with Kaplan Exam Services. The shift was intended to cut costs, eliminating large event spaces and saving up to $3.8 million annually—but has instead led to logistical nightmares.
Warnings from examinees about technical flaws and confusing communication had circulated for weeks. In response, the bar had previously offered full refunds to those who withdrew by mid-February and later promised a free retake in July for those who failed. By Monday, nearly 1,000 of the 5,600 registered test-takers had withdrawn.
The fallout from Tuesday’s chaos was immediate. The bar announced that impacted candidates could retake the exam on March 3 and 4. In an email sent late Tuesday, officials also admitted issues with the software’s copy-and-paste function and multiple reports of test-takers being disconnected mid-exam.
Seth Feldman, an out-of-state lawyer who sat for the test in San Francisco, said his testing site descended into disarray, with 1,500 candidates dealing with computer crashes, internet outages, and disorganized proctoring.
“People started and ended their exams at random times. The software wasn’t working. The exam just wasn’t ready,” Feldman said.
As California’s bar exam overhaul stumbles out of the gate, aspiring lawyers are left questioning whether their months of preparation—and in many cases, their entire careers—have been derailed by a preventable disaster.
