TALLAHASSEE – After several missteps in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners declared victory in the administration of an online bar exam last month.
“The board thanks all of the examinees for their hard work and dedication to seeing this process through,” board Chairman David Reeves said in a prepared statement. “We would also like to thank ExamSoft for its effort in preparing for the exam and assisting the board and examinees on exam day.”
A total of 3,137 law school graduates took the exam remotely for the first time in the state’s history on Oct. 13 and Oct. 14, the board reported. Grades are expected to be posted by Nov. 20 on the state Supreme Court’s website.
The exam, which was initially going to be administered in person despite the COVID-19 outbreaks, was delayed several times this year. Another online rollout had been scheduled for August, but it was called off due in part to problems with software and online privacy concerns.
Florida Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), who advised the board and the state Supreme Court about her constituents’ problems with previous exam preparations, said few students expressed criticisms about the latest exam to her office.
“There were no reported problems that came to my office, so of course my lens will only be so wide, but overwhelmingly things seemed to go well,” Eskamani told the Florida Record. “The overarching emotion by law students was relief because they finally got to the point where they could take it.”
The software used during the October bar exam was more reliable that the previous one, she said. She added that she heard about a handful of students who had some troubles, but those issues did not prevent them from taking the test.
“The process went decently and very smoothly despite all the stuff that it took to get there,” Eskamani said.
The October online exam could eventually be seen as a template for administering future exams, provided that it provides wide access for law school graduates, she said. But the board needs to continue to work on its interactions with law school students in the future, according to Eskamani.
“There definitely needs to be concern about just the lack of communications that got us to this point between the Board of Bar Examiners and the students,” she said.