The Bar Exam During COVID-19

Carr, et al. v. Alaska Bar Association (S-17852, November 6, 2020)

Public health concerns related to the COIVD-19 pandemic prompted postponement of the Summer 2020 Alaska bar examination by six weeks. Seven applicants asked the Alaska Supreme Court to permit them to be licensed to practice law in Alaska without taking and passing the exam.[1] The applicants argued that taking the exam would unnecessarily expose them to health risks and that their graduation from an accredited law school sufficiently ensured their competency to practice law.

The Court was not persuaded and denied the request on August 28, 2020, just 11 days before the bar examination. However, the Court did expand the rules regarding the ability of law school graduates who have not passed the bar exam to practice law in limited circumstances under the supervision of a member of the Alaska Bar Association. The Court later explained its decision on November 6, 2020, four days before results were released.

In denying the request, the Court noted that the Alaska Bar Association carefully followed public health guidelines by limiting the number of applicants at each test site, spacing applicants more than six feet apart, requiring masks, prohibiting talking, and limiting the number of applicants entering or leaving a site at any one time. The Court recognized that the pandemic placed bar applicants in a difficult position. However, the bar association also offered a full refund to those wishing to withdraw from the exam, and “the administration of justice does not stop in a public health emergency.”

The Court then defended the bar exam, claiming that it “is an assurance to the public that graduation from an accredited law school alone does not demonstrate.” The Court noted that about 45 percent of applicants failed to pass the previous two exams[2] and all applicants are graduates of accredited law schools. In sum, graduating from an accredited law school does not demonstrate minimum competency to practice law.

By Matt Longacre

[1] Six of the seven applicants took and passed the September 2020 Alaska bar exam.

[2] In contrast, 80 percent of applicants passed the September 2020 Alaska bar exam.