February 2023 Cal Bar Exam FAQ document

Hello everyone,

 

The initial FAQ doc for the February 2023 Cal Bar Exam is located here.  Looks like no meaningful changes to the July 2022 doc, which only had one version of the doc (in the past the doc had multiple updates).  Check back periodically on the site with the FAQ document for latest updates if any.

 

Based on the docs on the website and the exam announcement, looks like an in-person exam.  Unless a serious, serious COVID outbreak occurs, I’d plan on an in person for February 2023.

 

Also, results for the February 2023 exam will publish on May 5, 6 pm.

 

February-2023-Bar-Exam-FAQs 10322

Cal Bar Registration OPEN for the February 2023 exam

Hello everyone!

 

Cal Bar registration opened on October 1 for the February 2023 exam.  Relevant dates:

 

Timely filing is due by November 1.

$50 late fee runs from November 2 – November 30.

$250 late fee runs from December 1 – January 3.

The last day you can register to take the February 2023 Cal Bar Exam is January 3, 2023.

 

January 4… welcome to July 2023.

 

Accommodations petitions:  submit your petition as early as you can.  Deadline for petitions is the exam filing deadline, or January 3.  Filing close to January 3 could mean you won’t have time to appeal if you are denied.  Appeals are due by February 1, but that assumes you’ve received your initial decision by then.  File EARLY.

 

Mock Exam is available January 24 – February 17.  You MUST complete/upload the Mock Exam by February 17, or else you they won’t let you in the room.  January 31 is a great time to finish this requirement.

 

 

 

 

students take the test

Good luck on the July Bar Exam!

Hello everyone!

Whether you’re taking the Cal Bar or the UBE, I wanted to wish everyone good issue spotting, solid outlining, and analytical (and not conclusory!) analysis.  You can do it!

 

Arrive early.  Masks optional, but if you bring one, no writing on it.  Stay on time during the test.  Bring your admission ticket without writing on it.  NEVER USE YOUR CELL PHONE IN THE EXAM ROOM!  Good luck to everyone!

 

Steven

Test answer sheet with pencil. Examination test. Education conce

Friday before the Bar Exam! Mock exam deadline is TODAY! Masks optional

Hello y’all!

Friday before the Bar Exam, and today is all about the mock exam.  Today is the last day to get your mock exam done.  The first ability is availability!  They won’t let you in the room without it.  Triple-check that you’re in good shape.  Today’s the day!  The link to the mock exam is:  https://bar.examsoft.com/mock-exam/.  Remember the password is mock123.

 

Mask update:  The Cal Bar’s July 22 update indicates that you can bring a mask if you want.  It’s optional.  Final answer.  If you bring one, make sure it doesn’t have a valve.  I would recommend an N95 or KN95 (if you’re going to wear one, make sure you wear a good one).  And make sure there’s no writing on it.

 

One important update from the Cal Bar:

ExamSoft recently shared that new Windows laptops containing Intel 12th generation chipsets are not supported and may not be used to take the July 2022 bar exam.

Doublecheck your laptop!

Here’s the information from ExamSoft:

New Windows devices containing the Intel 12th generation chipset are triggering Examplify’s automatic virtual machine check. These are NOT currently supported. Therefore, they cannot be used for the upcoming July 2022 bar exam.

 

Please confirm that your device does not contain this chipset by following these instructions:

 

Confirm your Processor/CPU model

  • Navigate to Control Panel > System and Security > System to open it.

OR

  • Right-click on the Windows start menu icon on the bottom left-hand side of your screen. Click on ‘System’ in the menu that pops up.

Your computer’s Processor/CPU model is located to the right of ‘Processor’ under ‘Device Specifications’. Find a number that is displayed after the ‘Intel® Core™ i7-’. If you see a number 12, this device is not supported for the upcoming bar exam. For example, Intel® Core™ i7-12650HX Processor is the 12th generation processor because the number 12 is listed after i7. Here’s a full list of processors that are NOT supported: 12th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors Product Specifications.

If your current device uses an Intel 12th generation processor, you must use a different device.

 

Your new device must meet all other minimum system requirements listed here: https://examsoft.com/resources/examplify-minimum-system-requirements/#bar. On the new device, follow all the steps from the email with the subject line: ‘IMPORTANT: Installation & Registration Instructions’. If you need assistance, contact ExamSoft support at 866-816-3065.

IMPORTANT: Take and upload a mandatory mock exam.

 

This is a mandatory step prior to exam day!Here’s how. The mock exam password is ‘mock123’.

 

Almost there, y’all!  Hang in there!  You can do this!

man working at a laptop

October Baby Bar Registration – remote exam once again

Good morning, Baby Bar takers!

October 2022 Baby Bar registration is open – make sure you file on time by August 1.

Note this little tidbit:

The October 2022 First-Year Law Students’ Exam will again be held remotely. Further details regarding the administration of this exam to come. 

But, but, but, remote exam testing is untenable.  But, but, but, the MBE can’t be delivered online.  Scaling can’t be properly done.  Structural integrity can’t be guaranteed, etc., etc.

Well, it’s the Baby Bar… whatever.  Apparently, according to the Cal Bar.

Just be intellectually honest about what you’re doing.  Evidently you’re saving money from renting convention halls (though I thought application fees took care of that)?  Or are you using the Baby Bar to experiment with remote testing with an eye towards moving to remote testing in the future for the Cal Bar too?  Remember if you’re doing that, you need the NCBE’s buy-in for the MBE, and well, they don’t seem too thrilled with paperless MBE questions.  We’ll see what the Next Generation’s final recommendations are as time goes on.

Anyway, for now, Baby Bar takers, masks aren’t your concern for the October Baby Bar.  However, no scratch paper for you for your essays, seemingly.  If you want help Avoiding Scrolling Hell, reach out to me and I can work with you this fall.

 

Happy asian guy taking off disposable medical mask at classroom

Masks likely not mandatory for July 2022 Cal Bar Exam

Hello everyone.  Happy July.  Just about two weeks to go until exam day!

This summer, the mask situation has evolved over time for the California Bar.  The April 14 FAQ indicated masks are optional.  COVID numbers have gotten worse over time, but hospitalizations and deaths numbers did not dramatically worsen.

Alameda County created reinstituted a mask mandate.  I’m shocked that the Cal Bar didn’t publicly react.  Mask mandate in one Cal Bar Exam site (the Oakland site is in Alameda County) would necessitate masks for every Cal Bar Exam site, unless the Cal Bar wants a class action lawsuit from a very litigious group (the entire Cal Bar applicant pool).  Publicly, they said nothing.  Remarkably, Alameda County gave 24 hours notice and rescinded its mask mandate a few weeks ago.  Crisis averted.

The other potential issue about a mask mandate is from LA County.  Public health officials indicated that the county would likely reach the high COVID tier, and that would result in a mask mandate.  That would trigger masks for Cal Bar Exam sites in LA, and again, that would necessitate masks for all bar takers.

But the date was a moving target.  First, it was mid-June, then late June, then early July, and around this time came the kicker:  the mask mandate wouldn’t immediately trigger.  Once LA County reached the high tier, it would have to stay there for 14 consecutive days for the mask mandate to trigger.

On July 8, the LA Times published an article titled, “With ultra-contagious BA.5 rising, how close is L.A. to an indoor COVID mask mandate?”  Buried in the lengthy article was this important assessment:

“Based on current trends, however, Ferrer estimated the L.A. County rate could surpass the high threshold as soon as next week.”

The only way that a mask mandate would occur for the Cal Bar would be ALL of the following:

  1. LA County reaches the high tier Monday, 7/11.
  2. LA County stays there 14 consecutive days.
  3. On 7/25, the day before the Cal Bar Exam, LA County announces at 9 am that two consecutive weeks are met, and WHAM-O!, mask mandate.
  4. The Cal Bar reacts at 10 am and announces masks are mandatory for the exam, and brings masks to all of its exam sites in case students don’t bring one.

Quite a needle for the Cal Bar to thread.  I don’t see it happening.

Officially, wait until Tuesday morning.  Check out latimes.com.  If you don’t read that LA County reaches the high tier on Monday, then you can take your mask off on exam day.

A student asked a great question:  fine, no masks on exam day, but should I be wearing a mask before then?  My recommendation is YES, if you go outside your house, for any reason, for any length of time, wear a mask.

You don’t want to get COVID just before the Cal Bar Exam!  Remember:  the first ability is availability!

Good luck to all as you finalize your preparations for the July 2022 Cal Bar Exam.

 

 

Taking a Test

June 29 update about masks, admittance ticket, and mock exam

Hello everyone!
Remember that item I posted about the July 2022 FAQ document being replaced with info about Clear Health Pass/Mask Mandate that was copied and pasted from a bar exam page shortly before the February 2022 exam?  As in, dates included late January and early February?

Well, that was short.  Less than a few hours later, it’s gone.  So the April 14 FAQ is now back where it belonged, and no updates have issued.

So as of June 29, no need to upload vaccination status anywhere.

As of June 29, masks aren’t required for the July 2022 Cal Bar Exam.  I strongly recommend you wear one for 3- to 3-1/2 hours a day just in case LA County announces a mask mandate that would begin July 15-22.

If the weekly Cal Bar Friday update indicates, final answer, no masks required (on July 1, 8, 15), then stop wearing a mask.

If the weekly Cal Bar Friday update on July 22 (the Friday before the exam) says masks are optional, then you can take off your mask.

Admittance tickets and mock exams are theoretically available as of Tuesday.  Evidently these are distributed in batches over the next week.  Call the Cal Bar if you don’t have your admittance ticket by July 5.

Remember, you MUST complete the mock exam by July 22, otherwise you won’t be admitted to the exam.  And who wants that?

 

 

 

 

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Impact of the Dobbs abortion decision on the July bar exam

Hello friends.

Please note the following message from the NCBE regarding the July 2022 UBE exam, and regarding the MBE on the July 2022 Cal Bar Exam:

 

NCBE Statement on SCOTUS Decisions

Examinees taking the NCBE-developed July 2022 MBE, MPT, and MEE will not be required to be familiar with this term’s US Supreme Court decisions.

 

If you’re taking the Cal Bar, please know that the Cal Bar approved the questions for this exam in late April, even prior to the leak of the draft decision in Dobbs.  You could see an abortion issue in a Cal Bar Con Law essay.  Unlikely, but possible.  If you see this come up, mention that it was a fundamental right before June 24, and subject to rational basis review afterwards.  Maybe you get a bonus point as a result.

 

 

Alameda County rescinds mask mandate. LA may institute one in mid-July

Hello everyone.

 

Well, that was fast!  Alameda County is rescinding its mask mandate, effective Saturday, June 25.

 

Per the LA Times:

 

Three weeks after becoming the first California county to reinstitute a mask mandate in most indoor public settings amid climbing coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Alameda County has rescinded the order — citing improving conditions.

The move, effective at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, coincides as the San Francisco Bay Area’s second most populous county progresses from the high to medium COVID-19 community transmission level as defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

So that means no chance of wearing a mask on exam day, right?  Not so fast.  LA County estimated that it would reinstitute a mask mandate in late June.  Then that estimate moved to early July due to lagging reporting during the Memorial Day weekend.  Now, the estimate is mid-July.  Per the LA Times:

Health officials in Los Angeles County have said they would reimpose a public indoor mask mandate should the region fall in the high COVID-19 community level for two consecutive weeks. That category, the worst on the CDC’s three-tier scale, indicates not only significant community transmission but also that hospital systems may grow strained by coronavirus-positive patients.

Based on current hospitalization trends, L.A. County would likely not reach that category until mid-July.

However, that projection is “based on that assumption of a continued rate of increase that doesn’t change, and that’s really impossible to predict,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that we may level off and, in the best of all worlds, we will begin to see a decline in hospital admissions sooner rather than later,” he told reporters Thursday. “But it is hard to predict.”

Hmmm… “must be in the high COVID-19 community level for two consecutive weeks.”  “Not reach that category until mid-July”.

So what does the Cal Bar do?  Are we going to escape scot-free?  Or will there be an announcement of a mask mandate in LA County and prompt the Cal Bar to mandate masks days before the bar exam?  Who knows?

For the second consecutive week, the Cal Bar issued a Friday email and noted that masks are optional for the exam.

I still recommend that students wear masks for 3- to 3-1/2 hours a day.  If you see an email from the Cal Bar on Friday, July 22, and you see that masks are still optional, then laugh as you take it off (or if you are inclined to keep it on, you can).  But if LA County comes back with a mask mandate on July 20, or 22, or 24, and the Cal Bar is forced to email you that masks are mandatory, what will you do?  Would you prefer to have practiced wearing a mask for hours at a time for a month?  Or have no recent experience with it, and touch your mask 70 times over a three-hour period, and be super distracted?

I don’t know what the final answer is here.  Do you?  Would you prefer to have a plan B, just in case?

Tread carefully, friends.  Good luck to you as continue your preparation for the exam.