Lawmakers join push to delay this month’s Arizona Bar Exam
Pressure is building to postpone the Arizona Bar Exam scheduled for late July because of the state’s spike in COVID-19 cases.
House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, and Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter on Monday to Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Brutinel, expressing concern for the 650 law-school graduates who have signed up to take the high-stakes exam at the Phoenix Convention Center.
“We are alarmed that the July bar exam has been scheduled to proceed, despite the fact that our state is in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic which has rapidly worsened in the recent weeks,” the letter said.
Bringing together hundreds of people over two days is a “dangerous proposition,” that poses a health threat to the test-takers and the larger community, they wrote.
The state’s highest court has said the July exam remains a “choice,” and rescheduling to a later date is not logistically feasible.
Applicants who have concerns and don’t want to take the July exam can transfer their application to February or take an online exam in October. The October online exam results are only good to practice law in Arizona, not other states. By contrast, the in-person July exam is a uniform Bar exam with results transferable to more than 30 other states.
Bar exams are traditionally held twice a year, in July and February. But the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some states to take different approaches, with some postponing the exam until September, and others offering online alternatives.
The letter from Arizona lawmakers asks the state Supreme Court to postpone the July exam or allow students to skip the exam and use what is known as “diploma privilege,” where law-school diplomas would count as admission to practice law in Arizona this year, rather than having to pass the Bar exam.
The Supreme Court last week rejected a formal petition led by law-school graduates and announced it was moving ahead with the in-person exam scheduled for July 28 and 29.
A statement issued by the court said social distancing and safety protocols would be in place and that “July’s in-person Bar exam will be as safe an environment as it can be.”
The court on Monday released more details about the exam. Test-takers will be required to wear face masks or face shields and will have their temperatures taken. They also must sign an affirmation that they have been free of COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.
Instead of taking the test in one room, test-takers will be assigned to one of three exhibition halls at the Phoenix Convention Center. Each hall will hold 200 people, and each test-taker will have his or her own table.
In a written response to the lawmakers sent on Tuesday, Jerry Landau, the court’s government affairs director, said the justices understand that it is a stressful time and have developed options for law-school graduates such as the October online exam.
He said the court has opted not to grant diploma privilege because it has a responsibility to protect the public and ensure those who are awarded a license are qualified to practice law.
“Unfortunately, the passage for the AZ July exam tends to be around 66%. We cannot admit students unable to pass anymore than admitting CPA’s or doctors who don’t pass their exams,” he wrote.
The lawmakers had asked for a meeting with Brutinel, and Landau wrote that the chief justice would be glad to meet with them.
Alexis Boumstein, one of three law-school graduates who petitioned the court to amend its rules for the Bar exam requirement, said the rising COVID-19 case count presents several concerns.
Some law-school graduates worry about catching the virus during the exam. Others fear that weeks of intensive study could be ruined if they get sick before the test. Waiting until October or February will create financial hardships for some recent graduates, she said, who have to start paying back student loans in the fall.
“Most people are still going to opt to take the July Bar (exam) because people can’t financially afford to wait until October,” she said.
The concerns come as Arizona has seen massive increases in COVID-19 infections in the last month. The number of patients hospitalized for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 infections is at record levels, and the average age of people with the virus has grown younger since the state reopened in May.
Rep. Diego Rodriguez, D-Laveen, one of five lawmakers who sent the letter to the chief justice, said he doesn’t believe there is a way to reasonably mitigate risk given the emerging evidence that the new coronavirus is airborne.
“It seems to me like we’re placing form over function and tradition over safety, and I just don’t see a sufficient justification for it,” said Rodriguez, an Arizona attorney who took the Bar exam in 1995 at Tucson Convention Center.
Each state decides how to administer its exam. The coronavirus pandemic has caused at least a dozen states, such as New York and New Jersey, to postpone the July exam to September.
About 20 states are keeping the July exam. And like Arizona, many states have issued orders that let law school graduates temporarily practice law under supervision until they can take the Bar exam.
Wisconsin, until recently, was the only state that didn’t require a Bar exam to practice law. But this year, Utah, Washington and Oregon have granted emergency diploma privileges because of the pandemic. Similar efforts are being pushed in Colorado, California, Texas and Minnesota.