Florida Postpones Bar Exam Three Days Before Online Test Due To Technology Failure, Announces Supervised Practice Program

Following up on Saturday's post, Florida's Aug. 19 Online Bar Exam In Jeopardy As Software Crashes; Deans, Legislators Demand Plan B:  Florida Board of Bar Examiners, Florida Board of Bar Examiners Announces Postponesent of August 2020 Bar Examination and Creation of Supervised Practice Program:

The Florida Board of Bar Examiners, with the approval of the Supreme Court of Florida, announces that the bar examination that was scheduled for Wednesday, August 19, will not go forward. Despite the board’s best efforts to offer a licensure opportunity in August, it was determined that administering a secure and reliable remote bar examination in August was not technically feasible. In addition, the live trial of the examination software scheduled for Monday, August 17 is also canceled.

The board remains committed to offering an examination to applicants in 2020 and will reschedule the examination for a date to be determined in October. The October examination will have the same content as the examination that had been scheduled for August. The board will announce the date and other information for the October examination in the coming weeks. When this information is announced, August 2020 applicants will have the opportunity to take the October examination or to postpone to the February 2021 examination.

In addition, the board, with the Court’s approval, announces that it is creating a supervised practice program, along the lines of the already existing Certified Legal Intern program, that will allow for practice with supervision by a member of The Florida Bar.

The board will partner with the Bar and expects the program to begin no later than mid-September, which was the soonest date that grades would have been released had the examination occurred in July as initially scheduled. Details regarding eligibility and rules for participation will be announced once they are finalized.

The board thanks the members of the judiciary and The Florida Bar, Bar staff, and bar admissions administrators who generously offered their time to proctor or grade the August 2020 examination.

• ABA Journal, Florida Reschedules Online Bar Exam Because of Technology Problems
• Bloomberg Law, Florida Scraps Online Bar Exam, Citing Technology Concerns
• Daily Business Review op-ed:  Fla. Board of Bar Examiners' Inability to Structure a Sensible Bar Exam Is Indefensible, by Benjamin Widlanski (Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, Coral Gables)
• Law360, Fla. Postpones Bar Exam After Software Bugs Spread Chaos
• Miami Herald, Online Florida Bar Exam Canceled Days Before Scheduled Test Date. What Happens Next?
• Karen Sloan (Law.com), Florida Postpones Online Bar Exam Two Days Before the Test
• Tampa Bay Times, Technical Glitches Postpone Florida Bar Exams