{"id":159724,"date":"2026-08-06T15:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/06\/woman-who-went-into-cardiac-arrest-during-ny-bar-exam-sues-hofstra-but-not-the-bar-examiners\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T15:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T23:56:20","slug":"woman-who-went-into-cardiac-arrest-during-ny-bar-exam-sues-hofstra-but-not-the-bar-examiners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/08\/06\/woman-who-went-into-cardiac-arrest-during-ny-bar-exam-sues-hofstra-but-not-the-bar-examiners\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman Who Went Into Cardiac Arrest During NY Bar Exam Sues Hofstra \u2014 But Not The Bar Examiners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last July, a woman taking the New York bar exam went into cardiac arrest<\/a>. She gasped for air, cried out, fell out of her chair, and turned blue on the floor in front of proctors, staff, and hundreds of other examinees. The proctors told everyone to stay in their seats and keep writing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A year later, she\u2019s suing<\/a>. Mary Jane Jung, a 2025 Fordham Law graduate, filed last week in Nassau County Supreme Court<\/a>, alleging that the delay in getting her help left her with avoidable, permanent damage, describing ongoing memory loss and cognitive impairment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emergency was neither subtle nor ambiguous,\u201d the complaint explains<\/a>. \u201cEvery lost minute mattered.\u201d That\u2019s true, but underscores the problem with the lawsuit\u2019s caption. Jung\u2019s suit names Hofstra, which makes sense as the testing site where this happened. But the suit leaves out the bar examiners themselves who craft and enforce the draconian, nonsensical rules that make proctors fear disrupting the \u201csanctity\u201d of this stupid exam even when someone is in the middle of a life-or-death emergency.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not Hofstra that makes everyone in attendance forfeit their phones and then chides the people on the ground administering the test that it could compromise the exam to stop and ask if there\u2019s an EMT in the house or clear the room while emergency services tend to a patient. Candidates who tried to intervene were reportedly told to sit down and focus on the test. Those are broken priorities and those orders aren\u2019t coming from Hofstra.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this probably isn\u2019t an error on Jung\u2019s part. Judiciary Law \u00a7 56 makes the State Board of Law Examiners a creature of the Court of Appeals. Since they\u2019re administering a state function, that presumably requires any claims against the Board into the Court of Claims, with a whole lot of protections for discretionary policy judgments by governmental entities. <\/p>\n

Hofstra, for its part, denies any delays in medical assistance, and has said that its public safety officers began CPR and defibrillation and kept going until paramedics arrived. Eyewitnesses at the time reported lengthy delays, Hofstra says no. That\u2019s the kind of question discovery exists to answer.<\/p>\n

The Board of Law Examiners, meanwhile, gets to skip the whole exercise. There\u2019s not going to be referendum on whether the rules it insists upon contributed to a culture of dangerous indecision while a woman turned blue and proctors counseled people to worry about the time limit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the sort of problem that legislative action could address<\/a>. Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn introduced the Clock Should Stop Act<\/a> on August 13, 2025 \u2014 two weeks after the incident, with a legislative-intent section that recounts the collapse in clinical detail. It requires the Board to have emergency protocols, it tells proctors to use their cell phones to call 911, and it pauses the exam clock while someone might be dying. It also offers accommodations to people who watched someone nearly die 20 feet away and were then marched back in after lunch.<\/p>\n

The Senate version passed on May 19, 2026, by a vote of 58-1<\/a>. It was delivered to the Assembly that same day and referred to the Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

It has been sitting there ever since.<\/p>\n

The Assembly Judiciary Committee is chaired by Charles Lavine, who in August 2025 sent a letter to the Board<\/a> expressing deep concern that the response had been \u201cdisorganized, delayed, and lacking in clear protocol<\/a>\u201d and urging a thorough review to prevent a recurrence.<\/p>\n

The lone nay vote was State Senator Mark Walczyk, who evidently reviewed the bill instructing proctors to dial 911 and found something in there he couldn\u2019t support. In 2023, he was very proud of his bill to mandate permanent Daylight Saving Time in New York<\/a>, so it\u2019s not as though he\u2019s against stopping a clock as long as it\u2019s in service of one of the dumbest policy ideas ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s answer to Jonah Ryan<\/a> aside, the momentum is fully behind this bill, making it hard to understand why it\u2019s still not in force over a year later.<\/p>\n

Bar examiners would probably say that there are emergency protocols already. For example, the National Conference of Bar Examiners\u2019 supervisors\u2019 manual reportedly already includes a prepared emergency announcement for proctors to read aloud in case of emergency. The problem is these same authorities are quick to tell states and examinees that nothing actually counts as an emergency<\/em>. These are the people who scoffed at the suggestion of remote exams during a global pandemic<\/a>. And that filters down to the state authorities. In February, New York had an historic blizzard. Over 10,000 flights were canceled, New York City instituted a travel ban, and the Bar Examiners put out a voicemail informing stranded applicants<\/a> that not showing up counts as a withdrawal. One Washington Heights site closed while other city locations stayed open. The Board\u2019s institutional reflex, tested twice in seven months, proved identical both times: the exam always comes first.<\/p>\n

New York devotes two days every summer to determining whether applicants can identify a duty of care, spot the breach, and trace the causal chain to the damages. The people running it have had a year and still can\u2019t find the issue.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Bar Exam Taker Suffers Apparent Heart Attack<\/a>
Bar Applicants Call B.S. On Examiner\u2019s Account Of Test-Taker Suffering Cardiac Arrest<\/a>
5 Crucial Lessons From The Bar Exam\u2019s Near Deadly Failure<\/a>
Politician Calls On New York Bar To Reform \u2018Disorganized, Delayed\u2019 Emergency Response<\/a>
New York\u2019s \u2018Clock Should Stop Act\u2019 Could Ensure Safety Measures For Future Bar Exams<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Woman Who Went Into Cardiac Arrest During NY Bar Exam Sues Hofstra \u2014 But Not The Bar Examiners<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Last July, a woman taking the New York bar exam went into cardiac arrest<\/a>. She gasped for air, cried out, fell out of her chair, and turned blue on the floor in front of proctors, staff, and hundreds of other examinees. The proctors told everyone to stay in their seats and keep writing<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A year later, she\u2019s suing<\/a>. Mary Jane Jung, a 2025 Fordham Law graduate, filed last week in Nassau County Supreme Court<\/a>, alleging that the delay in getting her help left her with avoidable, permanent damage, describing ongoing memory loss and cognitive impairment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emergency was neither subtle nor ambiguous,\u201d the complaint explains<\/a>. \u201cEvery lost minute mattered.\u201d That\u2019s true, but underscores the problem with the lawsuit\u2019s caption. Jung\u2019s suit names Hofstra, which makes sense as the testing site where this happened. But the suit leaves out the bar examiners themselves who craft and enforce the draconian, nonsensical rules that make proctors fear disrupting the \u201csanctity\u201d of this stupid exam even when someone is in the middle of a life-or-death emergency.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not Hofstra that makes everyone in attendance forfeit their phones and then chides the people on the ground administering the test that it could compromise the exam to stop and ask if there\u2019s an EMT in the house or clear the room while emergency services tend to a patient. Candidates who tried to intervene were reportedly told to sit down and focus on the test. Those are broken priorities and those orders aren\u2019t coming from Hofstra.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, this probably isn\u2019t an error on Jung\u2019s part. Judiciary Law \u00a7 56 makes the State Board of Law Examiners a creature of the Court of Appeals. Since they\u2019re administering a state function, that presumably requires any claims against the Board into the Court of Claims, with a whole lot of protections for discretionary policy judgments by governmental entities. <\/p>\n

Hofstra, for its part, denies any delays in medical assistance, and has said that its public safety officers began CPR and defibrillation and kept going until paramedics arrived. Eyewitnesses at the time reported lengthy delays, Hofstra says no. That\u2019s the kind of question discovery exists to answer.<\/p>\n

The Board of Law Examiners, meanwhile, gets to skip the whole exercise. There\u2019s not going to be referendum on whether the rules it insists upon contributed to a culture of dangerous indecision while a woman turned blue and proctors counseled people to worry about the time limit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the sort of problem that legislative action could address<\/a>. Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn introduced the Clock Should Stop Act<\/a> on August 13, 2025 \u2014 two weeks after the incident, with a legislative-intent section that recounts the collapse in clinical detail. It requires the Board to have emergency protocols, it tells proctors to use their cell phones to call 911, and it pauses the exam clock while someone might be dying. It also offers accommodations to people who watched someone nearly die 20 feet away and were then marched back in after lunch.<\/p>\n

The Senate version passed on May 19, 2026, by a vote of 58-1<\/a>. It was delivered to the Assembly that same day and referred to the Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n

It has been sitting there ever since.<\/p>\n

The Assembly Judiciary Committee is chaired by Charles Lavine, who in August 2025 sent a letter to the Board<\/a> expressing deep concern that the response had been \u201cdisorganized, delayed, and lacking in clear protocol<\/a>\u201d and urging a thorough review to prevent a recurrence.<\/p>\n

The lone nay vote was State Senator Mark Walczyk, who evidently reviewed the bill instructing proctors to dial 911 and found something in there he couldn\u2019t support. In 2023, he was very proud of his bill to mandate permanent Daylight Saving Time in New York<\/a>, so it\u2019s not as though he\u2019s against stopping a clock as long as it\u2019s in service of one of the dumbest policy ideas ever<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York\u2019s answer to Jonah Ryan<\/a> aside, the momentum is fully behind this bill, making it hard to understand why it\u2019s still not in force over a year later.<\/p>\n

Bar examiners would probably say that there are emergency protocols already. For example, the National Conference of Bar Examiners\u2019 supervisors\u2019 manual reportedly already includes a prepared emergency announcement for proctors to read aloud in case of emergency. The problem is these same authorities are quick to tell states and examinees that nothing actually counts as an emergency<\/em>. These are the people who scoffed at the suggestion of remote exams during a global pandemic<\/a>. And that filters down to the state authorities. In February, New York had an historic blizzard. Over 10,000 flights were canceled, New York City instituted a travel ban, and the Bar Examiners put out a voicemail informing stranded applicants<\/a> that not showing up counts as a withdrawal. One Washington Heights site closed while other city locations stayed open. The Board\u2019s institutional reflex, tested twice in seven months, proved identical both times: the exam always comes first.<\/p>\n

New York devotes two days every summer to determining whether applicants can identify a duty of care, spot the breach, and trace the causal chain to the damages. The people running it have had a year and still can\u2019t find the issue.<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Bar Exam Taker Suffers Apparent Heart Attack<\/a>
Bar Applicants Call B.S. On Examiner\u2019s Account Of Test-Taker Suffering Cardiac Arrest<\/a>
5 Crucial Lessons From The Bar Exam\u2019s Near Deadly Failure<\/a>
Politician Calls On New York Bar To Reform \u2018Disorganized, Delayed\u2019 Emergency Response<\/a>
New York\u2019s \u2018Clock Should Stop Act\u2019 Could Ensure Safety Measures For Future Bar Exams<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last July, a woman taking the New York bar exam went into cardiac arrest. She gasped for air, cried out, fell out of her chair, and turned blue on the floor in front of proctors, staff, and hundreds of other examinees. The proctors told everyone to stay in their seats and keep writing. A year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":159681,"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-159724","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\/08\/Headshot-300x200-PLkNUJ.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159724","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=159724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}