Dean Paul Caron Joins California Law Deans In Letter Requesting California Supreme Court to Make October Online Bar Exam Open-Book
Dean Paul L. Caron and deans from other California ABA-accredited law schools have sent a letter to the California Supreme Court urging the court to change the online October bar exam to an open-book format with no remote proctoring. The September 14 letter was signed by 15 law deans and noted that both Indiana and Nevada took the same approach for their July bar exams.
From Law360:
The deans, led by Pepperdine University School of Law Dean Paul L. Caron, are the latest group to weigh in on the Golden State's plans for the Oct. 5-6 exam. The exam, which was initially slated for July, will be proctored online for the first time.
"The bar exam always is a source of stress for those taking it, but the situation this year is dramatically different," the deans wrote in the letter, which Caron posted on his blog.
There's the pandemic, which has affected many graduates and their families, as well as the "national reckoning with racism and anti-Blackness," the deans wrote. And now, wildfires have displaced some graduates and left many others grappling with the adverse effects of the smoke, they said.
"Administering the exam without remote proctoring and in an open-book manner would decrease the stress for many taking the bar," the deans said. "In addition, there is a non-trivial risk of significant technical issues or snafus in the planned administration that would be substantially alleviated by this alternative approach."
The complete article may be found here
The letter to the California Supreme Court may be found here
Additional coverage of the request has been published in: