Hello everyone,

This morning, the FAQ document for the July 2022 exam was removed and in its place shows the following.  It is the Clear Health Pass App and mask mandatory information… copied/pasted from the February 2022 exam.  Yup, including the dates (as in, January/February 2022 – see below).

This APPEARS to indicate that you will need to download the Clear Health Pass app and that masks are mandatory for July 2022.  But let’s wait until the dates are updated to see how official this is.

Link:  https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/California-Bar-Examination/July-2022-Bar-Exam-FAQs

July 2022 Bar Exam FAQs

Hello everyone!  Happy June!

Graduation season has already begun.  I’ve heard from students who got COVID during this time.  And graduation season will continue for elementary school, middle school, high school, and undergrad levels, and even some law schools will have graduations.  And mask wearing will be spotty at best.

We’ve had Memorial Day – mask wearing isn’t at an all-time high.

Father’s Day?  I don’t know how many mass celebrations will be happening then.

But then, of course… July 4 – bad news for COVID positivity rates.

So the big question for Cal Bar Exam applicants:  will applicants be required to wear masks on July 26-27?  Sure seems like it.

Why?

UCLA and Cal Poly SLO have already reinstituted mask mandates.

Alameda County (home to the Oakland Cal Bar Exam testing site) reinstituted an indoor mask mandate on Thursday, June 2.  Per the San Francisco Chronicle:

On Thursday, Alameda County broke ranks by once again implementing an indoor mask mandate “to limit the impact of increasing COVID-19 cases on hospitalizations.” The mandate, which takes effect June 3, applies to most indoor settings, save K-12 schools and the city of Berkeley, which sets its own health protocols. The state lifted its school mask mandate earlier this year.

Indoor mask mandate.  Not indoor mask mandate for events with more than 500 people.  Indoor mask mandate.

There’s more.  Note what the Los Angeles Times said on June 2:

With coronavirus-positive hospitalizations in Los Angeles County continuing to rise, officials said the nation’s most populous county could be poised to see a new universal indoor mask mandate later this month if the upward trends continue.

“Our weekly case rate and the rate of increase in hospital admissions are of concern,” L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Thursday. “If we continue on the current trajectory … we’re likely to move into the CDC high [COVID-19] community level within a few weeks towards the end of June, indicating increased stress on the healthcare system.”

L.A. County health officials have already said once the county enters the high COVID-19 community level, that will trigger a local requirement to wear masks in indoor public settings.

Also note that several counties with Cal Bar Exam sites are already in the high community level:

Nearly 1 in 6 Californians live in a county with a high COVID-19 community level. The affected counties are Santa Clara, Sonoma, Solano, Marin and Napa in the San Francisco Bay Area; Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado in the Sacramento Valley area; and Monterey, Mendocino, San Benito and Del Norte counties elsewhere in Northern California.

As you are aware, Santa Clara and Sacramento counties have Cal Bar Exam sites.  San Diego and Orange County are already in the middle community level.

The Cal Bar has not updated its FAQ document (originally issued April 14).

The current momentum of this crisis strongly suggests that at least one county with a Bar Exam site will require masks on exam day.  Things could change, of course.  But you don’t know that.  And I don’t either.

So what to do?  Simple.  Assume that masks are required on exam day.  Wear a mask, EVERY SINGLE DAY, SEVEN DAYS PER WEEK, for 3- to 3-1/2 hours every day.  EVERY DAY, until the Cal Bar guarantees that you won’t have to wear a mask on exam day.

So, if the Cal Bar says on July 15 that you don’t have to wear a mask on exam day, you can laugh while taking off your mask.  But if you hear on July 15, July 20, even July 25 that you have to wear a mask on exam day.  How will you prepare for that?  You can’t.  Unless you start wearing masks.  NOW.

You’ve been warned.

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

The February 2022 Cal Bar (and to some extent, the UBE) applicant pool are wondering about the impact of the Omicron variant on the administration of the February 2022 Bar Exam.  Here’s what we know:

The Cal Bar has issued four updates to its FAQ document since October 1 (12/1, 12/14, 12/17, and 1/3).  The updates have mainly focused on what kinds of testing applicants need to take to take the exam in person (e.g., as of 1/6:  vaccination by 2/8, negative PCR test between 2/20 – 2/22, or negative antigen test between 2/21 and 2/22).

To date, as of 1/6, the Cal Bar has not changed a syllable of its FAQ #1, which indicates that we are returning to normal (e.g., party like it’s 2017, in person exam, paper materials for essays and PTs, scratch paper).

However, the big question is whether the Cal Bar will indeed remain an in-person exam for February 2022.  If the Cal Bar decided to go remote a la October 2020/Feb. 2021/July 2021, when would it need to make this decision?  Who approves this decision?  And how does a student prepare with all this uncertainty in the meantime?

Here’s what we know for now.  Disclaimer:  at Cal I was a history major, not epidemiology, immunology and not public health.  And no, don’t rely on this blog post to your detriment.  Your exam, not mine, personal responsibility, folks.

The lay opinion from a history major suggests that everything around us looks terrible in terms of trends from the Omicron variant.  Examples:

• Omicron numbers are doubling in LA county every 2 days per the LA Times
• LA County is suspending criminal trials for two weeks per the LA Times
• 8 UC campuses have delayed in-person classes and have gone remote for 2-3 weeks (for now).
• My law school (UC Hastings) announced on December 23 that we were going back in person on January 10. Seven days later, on December 30, Hastings announced that we were going to have most courses on Zoom for 3 weeks, with in-person classes currently slated to resume on January 31.
• 8 Cal State schools have delayed in-person education and will begin school on Zoom, per the LA Times. Long Beach State, for example, will begin school on January 20 and operate via Zoom for 3 weeks.  That means in-person operations will begin no earlier than February 10.
• Requirements for return to in-person operations have intensified, not reduced. For example, students and staff at many schools are required to have booster shots, not merely one or two shots as appropriate, to set foot on campus.
• More than 70% of coronavirus cases in LA county were among adults younger than 50 for Dec. 22-28, per the LA Times.
• Rates among youngest adults (18-29) are 8x higher than they were one month ago. Adults in the 30-40 year old range are 6x as high as per the LA Times.  Guess what the ages are of the typical Cal Bar applicant?
• The Grammy’s (an indoor event with a lot of people seated near each other for a few hours) were cancelled.
• Sporting events have been postponed

That said, is Omicron less serious than the prior surges of COVID-19?  Seemingly.  Yes, Omicron is far more transmissible than prior forms of COVID-19.  But cases generally seem less severe.  Fewer deaths.  Hospital beds aren’t filling up as quickly.  According to the LA Times, Omicron appears to be “more infectious to the airways, but less infectious to lung tissue, where infections contribute to respiratory problems and death.”

And as reported on January 1 in the LA Times, COVID-19 patient hospitalizations jumped 48% from a week prior, but those 5,433 patients are a fraction of the 20,640 who were hospitalized in early January 2021, and the all-time peak was 21,938 on January 6.  Hospitalizations have risen most dramatically in the last month in So Cal and in the Bay Area (double the rate), while Sacramento’s count increased 30%.

According to Bob Wachter from UCSF, supposedly Omicron should peak around mid-January and then recede relatively quickly.

Note the recommendations from state and local officials.  Per the LA Times on January 1, state and local officials “have indicated no need for new orders closing certain businesses or mandating people to stay at home, but they have looked at bolstering requirements in certain settings for vaccinations or negative coronavirus tests.”

And the California Department of Public Health, really the final arbiter in our state on decisions about in-person v. remote events, announced a new order on December 31 that requires “those at indoor events with 500 or more attendees to show either proof of full vaccination or a recent negative test to enter. The order will go into effect Jan. 15. Currently, only indoor events with 1,000 or more attendees are subject to the requirement.”

In other words, businesses aren’t shutting down.  People aren’t being forced to stay at home (except for undergrad and grad students at certain California schools).

So… what are the logistics moving forward?

My guess is that if the trends continue that the Cal Bar Exam COULD be moved to a remote exam and not conducted in person.  That’s my guess, and that’s not informed by any inside information.  I think if the move to a remote exam occurs, it would need to occur between January 15 – 31 so that students can find places outside their home (if needed) to take the exam.  Living in a loud area, too many people living with you to realistically take the exam in a quiet area, internet not reliable at home, etc.  Law schools would need to prepare to allow former students to take the exam there as needed.  Etc.

The Cal Bar would need to consult with the California Dept. of Public Health (especially if the CA DPH forces the exam to go remote), the Cal Bar must make a recommendation to go remote, and ultimately, the Cal Supreme Court must issue an order to hold the exam remotely.  I hope that these entities are already consulting with each other and that a decision is made soon about what to do.  Students deserve to know as soon as possible if the exam is in-person come what may, or if the exam will be remote.  A January 15-31 window is responsible.  A Valentine’s Day surprise would be difficult to implement logistically I would think.

As a Bar applicant, what should you do?  Prepare for both options NOW.  The registration deadline has passed.  So that means if you’re taking this exam, you have an exam site.  If the exam site is in person, great.  If the exam goes remote, what are you going to do?  Where are you going to go?  Start developing that plan NOW.  Take the exam at home?  Going to a law school?  Taking the exam at a hotel?  Local law library?  Public library?  Figure it out.  NOW.  Don’t wait.

What about practicing exams?  For MBEs, take some questions online for practice.  For essays, you can get exams online and practice them online from the Bar’s site or my stie.  Same with the PTs.

Don’t wait until the last minute.  Have plans for in-person vs. remote about where you’ll take the test.  Practice on hardcopy and online so that regardless of how you’ll take the exam, it won’t be a shocking event to you.  Stocks going down 20 points, not 2000 points.

Hang in there!  Happy 2022 everyone!

The Cal Bar published FAQ’s today, 10/7.  The matter is settled:  paper materials for essays, PTs, and MBE for February 2022:

1. Does returning to an in-person exam mean the administration of the exam will return to “normal” – paper exam materials (question booklets and scratch paper), multiple questions administered per session, access to water, and ability to use the restroom during exam sessions?
   •
   Yes. The administration of the exam will be the same as it was prior to the remote exam administrations. Essays 1–3 will be administered together without breaks during the morning session of Day 1; then, after a lunch break, applicants will return for Essays 4, 5, and the Performance Test, which will be administered together without breaks during the afternoon session of Day 1. The morning session of Day 2 will be comprised of the first 100 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) questions, after which there will be a lunch break. The last 100 MBE questions will be given during the afternoon session of Day 2. Please see the full schedule here.
   •
   Applicants will receive the questions in a paper booklet and will be given scratch paper to use if they need.
   •
   Applicants will be allowed access to water during the exam.
   •
   Applicants may leave to use the restroom, but the clock will run continuously.

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/Feb-2022-Bar-Exam-FAQs.pdf

Hello everyone!

An update about in-person v. online Bar Exam testing for the February 2022 Cal Bar Exam.  Perhaps not a given that we will return to in-person testing for February 2022?

The Cal Bar announced yesterday that the October 2021 Baby Bar Exam will be an online exam.  No explicit announcement about the Cal Bar format for February 2022.  Based on the timing of this announcement for the Baby Bar (i.e., July 1, or a week after the Baby Bar was held), it’s safe to assume that we should know more information about the February 2022 Cal Bar Exam format on Monday, August 2, if not before.

More info about the October 2021 Baby Bar exam format here:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/First-Year-Law-Students-Examination/October-2021-First-Year-Exam

Friends:

The NCBE is only going to provide in-person materials for the February 2022 exam.  That means hardcopy materials.  This is a strong leverage play.  “OK, state bar licensing entities, you can do what you want, so long as you do what I say.”  You want Uniform Bar Exam materials?  Enjoy our hardcopy exams, people:  you really didn’t want to think about having another remote exam, did you.

What does this mean for California?  You want those MBE materials for 50% of your test, don’t you?  Welcome back to in-person testing, people.  California has about 60 days to decide right after the July 2021 Cal Bar Exam that, hey, it really was our idea, it really was!  But we’re doing in-person testing for February 2022… and now you know.

NCBE’s press release from June 1 appears below.

NCBE Anticipates Return to In-Person Testing for February 2022 Bar Exam

Hello everyone!

The July 2021 Cal Bar Exam announcement is provided here:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/California-Bar-Examination/July-2021-California-Bar-Exam

Note that the first version of the FAQ Document for the July exam is here!   I’ve attached it.  Note it will change over time, so make sure to check the document online periodically.  Pro-tip:  Look at the LAST page of the document first because that’s where the tips are!

July-2021-Bar-Exam-FAQs 32521

Finally, the July 2021 Bar Exam Schedule (under traditional time) is available as well.  It’s attached.

July-2021-Bar-Exam-Schedule