{"id":158820,"date":"2026-07-29T12:42:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/29\/theres-an-obvious-fix-for-washingtons-bar-exam-debacle\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T20:42:21","slug":"theres-an-obvious-fix-for-washingtons-bar-exam-debacle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/29\/theres-an-obvious-fix-for-washingtons-bar-exam-debacle\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s An Obvious Fix For Washington\u2019s Bar Exam Debacle"},"content":{"rendered":"

[READ MORE HERE: About bar exam horrors in Missouri<\/a> and Maryland<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, Washington called off its entire July bar exam<\/a> after the NextGen debut collapsed in a Yakima convention center \u2014 six hours of dead WiFi, not a single question answered, an entire administration scrapped. The Washington State Bar Association handed the roughly 600 stranded examinees three options, every one of which quietly bills them for a failure they had nothing to do with: a September makeup in Tacoma, a transfer to February 2027, or a withdrawal-and-refund that is a nonstarter for anyone who, you know, would like to practice law this year.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, a fourth option. And if you have read Above the Law for any length of time, you did not need me to tell you that, because the instant you heard \u201cbar exam disaster,\u201d a tiny Joe Patrice materialized on your shoulder and whispered, \u201cWhat about diploma privilege?\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been whispering it \u2014 hell, he\u2019s been yelling \u2014 for years. He has, in fact, been yelling directly at Washington.<\/p>\n

Back in February 2021, when the state walked back<\/a> the emergency diploma privilege it had granted months earlier and herded its graduates toward a remote exam instead, Joe laid out the entire case in a paragraph that reads today like it was written for Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\n

[S]tates aren\u2019t in the business of offering the \u201cbest\u201d bar exam, they\u2019re in the business of licensing professionals. If the bar exam was the best way to do that, then so be it, but we\u2019ve seen diploma privilege work for years and we\u2019ve seen lawyers pass the bar exam and run massive client frauds. A robust reevaluation of licensure should dominate professional discussions for the next few years. But in the meantime, there\u2019s zero reason to ram a test down the throats of graduates who would\u2019ve been waived in a mere six months ago.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Swap \u201csix months ago\u201d for \u201cin 2020\u201d and the argument lands without a scratch. The graduates Washington is now asking to book a second set of bar exam travel arrangements are the same category of graduates the state once waved straight into the profession.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s broader case against treating the bar exam as holy rite of passage is a whole<\/a> genre<\/a> at this point, complete with a standing challenge for any court that defends the test on \u201cpublic protection\u201d grounds:<\/p>\n

\n

Is there evidence that a one-time examination constitutes meaningful oversight of a career? \u2026 here\u2019s my question to all these courts: \u201cWhat are the next 10 words of your answer?\u201d Because if anyone is willing to get past \u201cwe need it for public protection and maintaining professional integrity,\u201d it would help a lot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And every time a state actually tries an alternative path \u2014 Utah, most recently<\/a> \u2014 it turns out the sky isn\u2019t falling.<\/p>\n

Which is what makes Washington\u2019s predicament almost too easy. The state does not have to invent anything, convene a task force, or pilot a program. In June 2020, the same Washington Supreme Court that now holds these graduates\u2019 careers in its hands granted emergency diploma privilege<\/a> to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, admitting them to the bar without an exam. Grads who wanted a portable score could still sit for one later; everyone else got to start their careers. The republic survived. This is not ancient precedent a court would have to blow the dust off\u2026 it is six years old, from the same institution, and it worked.<\/p>\n

The people who run Washington\u2019s law schools are on board. Seattle University School of Law Dean Tony Varona wrote to the state Supreme Court<\/a> Tuesday evening urging exactly this, branding the September rescheduling \u201cunwise\u201d and the whole episode a disaster. \u201cNo altogether good options,\u201d he wrote, \u201cbut equity and fairness require diploma privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

University of Washington School of Law Dean Tamara Lawson sent her own letter. Per UW law professor David Ziff, who shared<\/a> excerpts<\/a>, Lawson asked the court to grant \u201cdiploma privilege . . . to avoid any additional harms to these graduates, specifically to prevent any delay in their careers or admission to the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she did not hedge about who is currently absorbing the cost of the NCBE\u2019s big debut:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

This solution is the only equitable remedy that would ensure that the financial, professional, and emotional burdens of this catastrophic failure are not shifted to the test takers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The only question left is whether Washington takes the humane, already-tested route out, or makes a class of graduates who did everything right pay in time, money, and hotel reservations for a disaster that was never theirs to fix.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Washington Just Called Off Its Entire Bar Exam<\/a>
Washington Grants Diploma Privilege To Graduates Of ABA Accredited Schools<\/a>
State Retreats From Diploma Privilege Policy Despite EVERYTHING WORSE NOW!<\/a>
Yes, It\u2019s Time To Eliminate The Bar Exam As We Know It<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post There\u2019s An Obvious Fix For Washington\u2019s Bar Exam Debacle<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

[READ MORE HERE: About bar exam horrors in Missouri<\/a> and Maryland<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday, Washington called off its entire July bar exam<\/a> after the NextGen debut collapsed in a Yakima convention center \u2014 six hours of dead WiFi, not a single question answered, an entire administration scrapped. The Washington State Bar Association handed the roughly 600 stranded examinees three options, every one of which quietly bills them for a failure they had nothing to do with: a September makeup in Tacoma, a transfer to February 2027, or a withdrawal-and-refund that is a nonstarter for anyone who, you know, would like to practice law this year.<\/p>\n

There is, of course, a fourth option. And if you have read Above the Law for any length of time, you did not need me to tell you that, because the instant you heard \u201cbar exam disaster,\u201d a tiny Joe Patrice materialized on your shoulder and whispered, \u201cWhat about diploma privilege?\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been whispering it \u2014 hell, he\u2019s been yelling \u2014 for years. He has, in fact, been yelling directly at Washington.<\/p>\n

Back in February 2021, when the state walked back<\/a> the emergency diploma privilege it had granted months earlier and herded its graduates toward a remote exam instead, Joe laid out the entire case in a paragraph that reads today like it was written for Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\n

[S]tates aren\u2019t in the business of offering the \u201cbest\u201d bar exam, they\u2019re in the business of licensing professionals. If the bar exam was the best way to do that, then so be it, but we\u2019ve seen diploma privilege work for years and we\u2019ve seen lawyers pass the bar exam and run massive client frauds. A robust reevaluation of licensure should dominate professional discussions for the next few years. But in the meantime, there\u2019s zero reason to ram a test down the throats of graduates who would\u2019ve been waived in a mere six months ago.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Swap \u201csix months ago\u201d for \u201cin 2020\u201d and the argument lands without a scratch. The graduates Washington is now asking to book a second set of bar exam travel arrangements are the same category of graduates the state once waved straight into the profession.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s broader case against treating the bar exam as holy rite of passage is a whole<\/a> genre<\/a> at this point, complete with a standing challenge for any court that defends the test on \u201cpublic protection\u201d grounds:<\/p>\n

\n

Is there evidence that a one-time examination constitutes meaningful oversight of a career? \u2026 here\u2019s my question to all these courts: \u201cWhat are the next 10 words of your answer?\u201d Because if anyone is willing to get past \u201cwe need it for public protection and maintaining professional integrity,\u201d it would help a lot.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

And every time a state actually tries an alternative path \u2014 Utah, most recently<\/a> \u2014 it turns out the sky isn\u2019t falling.<\/p>\n

Which is what makes Washington\u2019s predicament almost too easy. The state does not have to invent anything, convene a task force, or pilot a program. In June 2020, the same Washington Supreme Court that now holds these graduates\u2019 careers in its hands granted emergency diploma privilege<\/a> to graduates of ABA-accredited law schools, admitting them to the bar without an exam. Grads who wanted a portable score could still sit for one later; everyone else got to start their careers. The republic survived. This is not ancient precedent a court would have to blow the dust off\u2026 it is six years old, from the same institution, and it worked.<\/p>\n

The people who run Washington\u2019s law schools are on board. Seattle University School of Law Dean Tony Varona wrote to the state Supreme Court<\/a> Tuesday evening urging exactly this, branding the September rescheduling \u201cunwise\u201d and the whole episode a disaster. \u201cNo altogether good options,\u201d he wrote, \u201cbut equity and fairness require diploma privilege.\u201d<\/p>\n

University of Washington School of Law Dean Tamara Lawson sent her own letter. Per UW law professor David Ziff, who shared<\/a> excerpts<\/a>, Lawson asked the court to grant \u201cdiploma privilege . . . to avoid any additional harms to these graduates, specifically to prevent any delay in their careers or admission to the practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she did not hedge about who is currently absorbing the cost of the NCBE\u2019s big debut:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

This solution is the only equitable remedy that would ensure that the financial, professional, and emotional burdens of this catastrophic failure are not shifted to the test takers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The only question left is whether Washington takes the humane, already-tested route out, or makes a class of graduates who did everything right pay in time, money, and hotel reservations for a disaster that was never theirs to fix.<\/p>\n

Earlier:<\/strong> Washington Just Called Off Its Entire Bar Exam<\/a>
Washington Grants Diploma Privilege To Graduates Of ABA Accredited Schools<\/a>
State Retreats From Diploma Privilege Policy Despite EVERYTHING WORSE NOW!<\/a>
Yes, It\u2019s Time To Eliminate The Bar Exam As We Know It<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of\u00a0The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of\u00a0Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email\u00a0her<\/a>\u00a0with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky\u00a0@Kathryn1<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[READ MORE HERE: About bar exam horrors in Missouri and Maryland] Yesterday, Washington called off its entire July bar exam after the NextGen debut collapsed in a Yakima convention center \u2014 six hours of dead WiFi, not a single question answered, an entire administration scrapped. The Washington State Bar Association handed the roughly 600 stranded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":158794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-wthpGB.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}