“Catastrophic” Tech Issues Postpone Washington Bar Exam

Hundreds of prospective lawyers in Washington State are in licensure limbo after technical issues canceled their plans to take the bar exam this week.

On Tuesday morning, all of the state’s 700 registered test takers arrived at the Yakima Convention Center to take the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination. Washington is among the first states in the nation to adopt the new, all-digital law-licensure exam, which is more focused on testing practical skills than legal doctrine. The redesigned exam—which 47 states will implement by 2028—debuted at 16 testing locations across the country Tuesday and was scheduled to conclude Wednesday.

While testing sites in Missouri and Maryland experienced some network-bandwidth issues Tuesday, those were resolved and testing resumed. However, the sole testing site in Washington wasn’t able to overcome its “localized, on-site technology issues,” the National Conference of Bar Examiners wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed Wednesday.

“NCBE worked closely with the Washington State Bar Association throughout the response as jurisdiction staff, local technical teams, and convention center technical support investigated and responded to the issue,” an NCBE spokesperson said. “Following further evaluation, the Washington State Bar Association determined it would not continue the July 2026 administration after concluding it did not have sufficient confidence that the technology issues could be fully resolved.”

The WSBA wrote in a statement that it is now in the process of scheduling a makeup exam for late summer or early fall of this year. Affected applicants will also have the option to take the scheduled February 2027 exam or receive a full refund.

But those options aren’t good enough, said Anthony E. Varona, dean of Seattle University School of Law, who had 137 recent graduates attempt to sit for the exam.

“Today’s catastrophic failed administration was devastating to our graduates, not only because it was chaotic and frustrating but also because it represented a waste of thousands of dollars of preparation, travel, lodging, and lost wages,” Varona wrote in a letter to Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra L. Stephens after the exam was canceled.

“The postponement until September or next February not only will result in a great deal of additional expense, no fault of their own, but also—and perhaps even most importantly—a massive waste of additional time and resources in once again getting ready for what is likely to be the most challenging and important exam of their professional lives.”

Instead, Varona is calling on the state Supreme Court to grant the test takers diploma privilege, which would allow them to practice law without passing the bar or completing one of the state’s new alternative law-licensure pathway programs.

“While there are no good solutions in this very difficult situation, diploma privilege presents—by far—the most equitable remedy,” the letter said, noting the benefits of granting diploma privilege during the COVID-19 pandemic due to testing difficulties. “Diploma privilege enabled those candidates for bar admission to gain immediate licensure and, without delay, start to address our state’s amply documented legal desert and access to justice challenges. The remedy also avoided the inequitable postponement of licensure of all of those affected candidates who otherwise would have been burdened with the financial and professional disadvantages of a long-deferred beginning to their legal careers.”

Varona told Inside Higher Ed that the state Supreme Court had not responded to his proposal as of Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to delayed law licenses, he said, postponing the exam also raises academic integrity questions.

Dozens of applicants who had approved testing accommodations were not affected by the cancellation and were able to proceed with their exams as scheduled; the roughly 645 would-be test takers who didn’t have accommodations, however, will have to take it another time.

“Having the accommodated candidates successfully take the exam yesterday and today, and then recycling the same exam questions to the main cohort of test-takers five weeks later, presents disqualifying exam integrity problems even with the risk of inadvertent disclosure of topics and questions alone,” he wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed Wednesday.

As the NextGen bar exam comes to more states over the next two years, Varona said he’s hopeful that testing administrators will reflect on what happened in Washington.

“In retrospect, it was likely a mistake for the NCBE and WSBA to rely on a sole remotely located facility, not known for an abundance of technical resources and capabilities, and to expect it to accommodate 700 test-takers all needing to connect to high-speed WiFi at the same time,” he said. “It’s a significantly improved bar exam, and one better at testing real-world attorney competencies. We just need to make sure that WSBA and NCBE administer it at multiple facilities, capable of accommodating wireless broadband access by so many test-takers at the same time, and that same-day troubleshooting resources are available on-site.”