Law Schools

Students Finally Told Their Exam Was Stolen -- They Are Pissed

This unfortunate situation just gets worse.

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Frustrated female studentOfficials at Lewis & Clark Law School and at LSAC, the organization that administers the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam), have known since at least Monday that the answer sheets from Saturday’s administration of the MPRE were stolen. But they didn’t decide to tell the students who took the actual exam for days — not until our story on the incident forced their hand.

Indeed, late last night we were even hearing from students that were hopin’ and prayin’ it just wasn’t true:

Is the Lewis & Clark Law MPRE story really true? I’m a current student who took the MPRE that day at Lewis & Clark and we have heard NOTHING about said allegations. Do you know if all the test booklets were taken or simply a few?

But alas, bright and early this morning — particularly for the West Coast where the theft took place — students got confirmation that it was all too true. Check out the time stamp — what an email to wake up to:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: <MPREalert@lsac.org>
Date: Aug 18, 2016 4:15 AM
Subject: Important Information Regarding August 13, 2016, Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)

Dear Examinee:

I am writing regarding a situation relating to the August 13, 2016 Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) administered at Test Center #9473, Lewis & Clark Law School. As of this date, the answer sheets and test-related documents from that test center have not arrived at the Law School Admission Council. The answer sheets have been reported stolen, and an investigation is in progress. To protect the integrity of the scores, we will not score these answer sheets even if they are found. You will be receiving a full refund of your August MPRE registration fee. In addition, you have the option of taking a make-up test at no additional charge, to be administered as soon as possible. We will notify you about these details as soon as they have been confirmed. All test administration policies stated in the MPRE Test Day Policies will apply to the make-up administration. If you choose not to take the make-up test, we are offering you a free retest for the November 5, 2016 MPRE. If you choose to take the retest in November, you must register at https://mpre.lsac.org/Release/Logon/Access.aspx. The registration deadline is September 15, with late registration until September 22. You will have to pay for the November test in order for the registration to go through. Once you have registered, please return a copy of this email, along with a request for a refund of the November 2016 test fee. We will process all refund requests as quickly as possible. Your request for a November refund must be received at LSAC no later than Friday, October 7, 2016. Refunds received after that date will not be processed. You may send your refund request by email to MPREinfo@LSAC.org or send your documents to: LSAC 662 Penn Street P.O. Box 2000 Newtown, PA 18940-0995. The above options apply only to those who took the MPRE at #9473, Lewis & Clark Law School on August 13, 2016. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes you. Sincerely, Test Administration Group Law School Admission Council LSAC customer service representatives are available by email at MPREinfo@LSAC.org, or phone: 215.504.3886.

I told you these students would be SOL and have to retake the exam. At least they’ll be getting their money back, but folks are not happy, not that I blame them at all.

I sat for this exam and am a Lewis and Clark Law student entering my last year. What is so infuriating about this is there were all sorts of protocols and restrictions placed on students taking the exam – i.e we couldn’t have water or earplugs – that seemed absolutely ridiculous. Also the proctor didn’t read the exam instructions beforehand so collected our tickets too early and had to pass them back out again, delaying the test even further. Now we find out that we went through all of that only to have the assistant dean negligently leave the test booklets in her car?! Apparently the security standards for the administrators are way more lax than they are for parched students.

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And the students’ social security numbers have been compromised as a result of the theft:

The answer sheets have our social security numbers on them which makes the situation even worse.

The unfairness is really frustrating for all involved parties:
Screenshot_20160818-0927151

My heart really goes out to this poor student — the situation just sucks.

Needless to say, I am furious. When I signed up for the exam, my closest test center was full so I had to drive from Seattle to Portland for this test. It took a total of 15 hours due to traffic and car crashes for me to get there and back. Taking this particular exam was extremely stressful and tricky for me to even get to, so I’m angry and will probably have to wait until the Nov 5 test to retake at a center nearer to me. I also have yet to hear whether my late fee will also be reimbursed.

Thanks for giving us the real scoop!

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And the security procedures are sure to be examined closely as a result:

If this is true, this is ridiculous especially because of the security that you have to go through to take the test. The Oregon state bar should be administering it, not the school. It’s not fair that we have to retake the exam, for something not in our control. My job depends on me passing the MPRE, and this is ridiculous. Not that they were stolen, more so that no one from LSAC was there for the administration of the exam to take the exams. Theft happens, I shouldn’t be penalized for other people’s mistake

And the tight-lipped stance of the officials hasn’t be received very well.

Thank you for that article! Interesting that we learn about our MPRE exams being stolen from Above the Law, and not from L&C or LSAC. They seem to be worried about the “integrity of test scores,” yet they can’t keep an eye on our answer sheets. Ironic to say the least.

An unfortunate situation all the way around.

Earlier: The Case Of The Stolen Exams Leaves Students In A Lurch

Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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