After months of studying, thousands of dollars in expenses, and enough stress to shave years off a person’s life, bar applicants should at least be able to count on one thing: actually being able to take the exam, on time.
Apparently not.
The first administration of the NCBE’s NextGen Uniform Bar Exam was marred by technological failures across multiple jurisdictions. [READ MORE HERE: About bar exam horrors in Washington and Missouri] While some states experienced full-blown disasters, Maryland got what now looks like a relatively mild preview of the chaos when technical problems delayed testing by roughly an hour.
The NCBE acknowledged the issue in a statement:
A limited number of testing locations in three jurisdictions experienced site-specific network bandwidth issues. In Maryland, one site was impacted. The issue was addressed in less than one hour, and applicants completed day one testing as scheduled.
Kudos for it only taking an hour to fix the problem. But just imagine how anxious the applicants sitting in the testing room were, wondering whether the software would ever cooperate.
As one Reddit user put it:
Just so the rest of you feel better, just know the NCBE software for the Maryland bar has failed like one quarter of test takers and the exam is starting probably 45 minutes late.
The state has psyched us all out lol. Things could be worse! Good luck yall
Things quite literally could be worse.
Maryland’s software hiccup was practically the hors d’oeuvre before the main course of technical failures that unfolded elsewhere. In Missouri, examinees endured seemingly endless delays before they could begin. In Washington, things deteriorated so badly that the exam was canceled outright.
That’s cold comfort for Maryland applicants, of course. Delaying the start of one of the most important exams of a lawyer’s career is stressful enough, even if the problem is ultimately resolved. After months of preparation, examinees shouldn’t have to spend the morning wondering whether the testing software is going to work. Technology is supposed to make the bar exam process smoother, not add another layer of anxiety to an already nerve-wracking experience.
To everyone still taking the bar exam this week, best of luck. To all of the Maryland examinees, it turns out you were among the lucky ones. You were fortunate enough to experience one of the least bad tech failures of the July 2026 administration of the bar exam. Hopefully that luck carries over into passing scores.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
The post Maryland Thought It Had A Bar Exam Disaster. Turns Out They Were The Lucky Ones. appeared first on Above the Law.
After months of studying, thousands of dollars in expenses, and enough stress to shave years off a person’s life, bar applicants should at least be able to count on one thing: actually being able to take the exam, on time.
Apparently not.
The first administration of the NCBE’s NextGen Uniform Bar Exam was marred by technological failures across multiple jurisdictions. [READ MORE HERE: About bar exam horrors in Washington and Missouri] While some states experienced full-blown disasters, Maryland got what now looks like a relatively mild preview of the chaos when technical problems delayed testing by roughly an hour.
The NCBE acknowledged the issue in a statement:
A limited number of testing locations in three jurisdictions experienced site-specific network bandwidth issues. In Maryland, one site was impacted. The issue was addressed in less than one hour, and applicants completed day one testing as scheduled.
Kudos for it only taking an hour to fix the problem. But just imagine how anxious the applicants sitting in the testing room were, wondering whether the software would ever cooperate.
As one Reddit user put it:
Just so the rest of you feel better, just know the NCBE software for the Maryland bar has failed like one quarter of test takers and the exam is starting probably 45 minutes late.
The state has psyched us all out lol. Things could be worse! Good luck yall
Things quite literally could be worse.
Maryland’s software hiccup was practically the hors d’oeuvre before the main course of technical failures that unfolded elsewhere. In Missouri, examinees endured seemingly endless delays before they could begin. In Washington, things deteriorated so badly that the exam was canceled outright.
That’s cold comfort for Maryland applicants, of course. Delaying the start of one of the most important exams of a lawyer’s career is stressful enough, even if the problem is ultimately resolved. After months of preparation, examinees shouldn’t have to spend the morning wondering whether the testing software is going to work. Technology is supposed to make the bar exam process smoother, not add another layer of anxiety to an already nerve-wracking experience.
To everyone still taking the bar exam this week, best of luck. To all of the Maryland examinees, it turns out you were among the lucky ones. You were fortunate enough to experience one of the least bad tech failures of the July 2026 administration of the bar exam. Hopefully that luck carries over into passing scores.
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
