Georgia Mistakenly Tells People They Failed The Bar Exam

This is an unfortunate -- no, crappy -- situation to put bar exam takers in.

the dunceThis is a pretty big f*cking “oops”:

The Board of Bar Examiners has determined that errors in the scoring of the July 2015 and February 2016 Bar examinations resulted in 90 applicants being mistakenly notified that they had failed the examination when, in fact, they had passed.  The Board is making a concerted effort to notify each and every one of them personally.

I can only imagine the emotional, professional, and mental toll that being notified you’ve failed the bar exam must take, only to be told you weren’t the one that screwed the pooch. Nope, it was the examiners who truly messed up.

As one tipster noted to Above the Law, while it may be easy to laugh off this kind of error, the impacts on the lives of those mistakenly told they failed the bar exam are all too real:

The Georgia bar exam failed 90 students on the July 2015 and February 2016 bar exams who actually passed. I have a good friend who got married and has a child after the bar. He was told he failed when he actually passed. He lost his job because of that, and all he is being offered is a refund for the second bar exam. Y’all have to make this known as best you can. It’s ridiculous!

That’s the kind of dystopian BS that hopeful lawyers have nightmares about. Let’s hope that particular candidate is able to professionally bounce back after this debacle.

According to the Georgia Bar, the scoring errors on the two exams actually stemmed from two separate errors. For the July 2015 scoring mistake, it was revealed after an aberration in test results came to the attention of the Board of Bar Examiners when an applicant applied for bar admission in another state. The resulting audit of scoring led to the discovery of errors. For the February 2016 exam, new scoring metrics are blamed:

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For the February 2016 examination, a different methodology was used for the score calculation, which yielded a different result. The Board of Bar Examiners decided to return to the prior methodology. This procedure resulted in passing scores for some who had been notified that they did not pass.

A thoroughly upsetting turn of events all the way around. At least the students who were forced to retake the bar exam for no good goddamn reason will get a refund, although the Board is well aware that doesn’t fully compensate those who suffered from the ordeal:

The Board is prepared to reimburse you for fees associated with any subsequent exams taken as specified in the letter you have received from the Office of Bar Admissions, although we know your investment of time and effort greatly outweighs the additional cost of the examination.

The Chair of the Board of Bar Examiners, John Sammon, also made a statement, trying to reassure current and future bar applicants that such an error will not happen again:

As members of the Board of Bar Examiners, we take full responsibility for the integrity of the Bar Examination and are working to restore trust in the scoring process. As attorneys ourselves, we recognize the seriousness of this mistake and deeply regret the distress we know this has caused. We have conducted a thorough investigation. We have determined the causes of these errors. Most importantly, we are taking steps to ensure this does not happen again.

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At this point there is little to be done except make apologies (which they’ve done), and reimburse what expenses can be reimbursed (which they’re doing). But it is still an unfortunate — no, crappy — situation to put bar exam takers in.

(Flip to the next page to read the complete statements from Georgia’s Office of Bar Admissions.)


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).