I have $300,000 in loans, and I have no idea how I’ll start paying them off. I can’t work, so I can’t get health insurance. The whole time I was sick I was like, “What if I have to go to the hospital again?” People plan their lives around this exam. Now, on top of the stress of the pandemic, we’re unable to make money. Every single day I’m panicking.
— Jena Speiser, a 2020 graduate of NYU School of Law, in comments given to the New York Times related to what she’s suffering through in her attempts to take the bar exam during a pandemic. Speiser planned to apply to take the Massachusetts exam after being encouraged by the New York State Bar Asssociation to take the test in another state due to the unlikelihood of an in-person New York exam in July. She then fell ill with the coronavirus and was bedridden for weeks and later hospitalized, which caused her to miss the deadline to apply for New York’s online October exam. Speiser won’t be able to take the New York bar exam until February 2021, and has started babysitting in an attempt to earn money to repay her loans.
Why Better Financial Acumen is the Key to Law Firm Success in 2025
From training to technology, uncover the essential steps to futureproof your law firm in a competitive market.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.