Pregnant Woman Takes Bar Exam While In Labor, Finishes Test From Hospital After Giving Birth
Would you have been able to finish the bar exam under these conditions?
The 2020 bar exam experience was perhaps the most stressful testing event on record for law school graduates. Thanks to the pandemic, the July in-person exam was canceled in most states and moved to an online environment for the first time ever. The remote format proved difficult, and the test was delayed until October due to technical issues — problems that continued to plague test takers during the exam itself.
Those who took the exam earlier this week were unable to leave their seats or break eye contact with their computer screens, lest their virtual proctors flag them for cheating. One test taker presumably failed because she got her period and had to leave the room, while another had to sit in his own urine while he completed the exam. Another test taker had an even more labor-intensive experience as she took the bar.
Meet Brianna Hill, a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Hill just had the mother of all test-taking experiences because she went into labor during the Illinois exam and was unable to leave her seat. “I started taking the MPT but since we were remote I couldn’t leave view of the camera. As soon as I stood up when I finished, I knew my water had broken,” she said in an exclusive interview with Above the Law. “So I took my break, got myself cleaned up, called my husband, midwife, and mom, cried because I was a little panicked, then sat down to take the MEE.”
Hill was in active labor when she finished the first day of the test. She tells us that she started having contractions shortly after starting the MEE. “Going into labor really put the bar exam into perspective and made my nerves go away really quickly,” she said. Hill was able to finish all of her essays before going to the hospital around 5:30 p.m. Less than five hours later, at 10:10 p.m., her bar exam baby was born.
Brianna Hill poses with her bar exam baby in the hospital (courtesy photo)
What’s a woman with an hours-old infant to do with a day’s worth of testing still ahead and her career aspirations on the line? Finish the bar exam from the hospital after giving birth, of course.
“The whole time my husband and I were talking about how I wanted to finish the test and my midwife and nurses were on board. There just wasn’t another option in my mind,” Hill said. So on Tuesday morning, the hospital prepared an empty room for her to test in and staff put a sign on the door so no one would disturb her as she completed the bar exam. “I took the rest of the test in there and was even able to nurse the baby in between sessions! Obviously, I really hope I passed but I’m mostly just proud that I pushed through and finished.” Absolutely amazing.
Hill shared this wry comment about her experience: “I thought I would only be 28 weeks pregnant when I took the bar, so when it got pushed to October and I was going to be 38 weeks, I joked about taking the test from my hospital bed. Lesson learned!”
Congratulations to Brianna Hill on the birth of her son. We wish this super mom — and soon-to-be super lawyer (cross your fingers) — all the best. Just like her bar exam baby, we hope the law is always a labor of love for her.
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.
