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The State Bar of California’s new exam has been rife with problems, an A.I. controversy and now the likelihood of delayed results.
April 30, 2025Updated 11:52 a.m. ET
Thousands of people took the new California bar exam in February, ready to the join the ranks of the state’s 195,000 lawyers.
But a series of missteps by the institution responsible for licensing lawyers has thrown thousands of nascent legal careers into a frustrating limbo.
First, there was the faulty testing software used during the exam. Test takers had trouble logging in. The software often crashed or was missing critical functions like copy and paste, leaving many unable to complete the exam. The organization that administers the test, the State Bar of California, had to offer adjustments of test-takers’ scores and other remedies.
Then came the news that at least a handful of the multiple-choice questions had been developed with the help of artificial intelligence. To many of those who took the exam, it was hardly shocking — they already had suspicions that A.I. had been used, based on a few questions that they said had struck them as bizarrely worded or legally unsound.
And now, California’s future lawyers are likely to have to wait a little longer to find out if they made the cut.
The state bar said it would need more time to obtain approval from the Supreme Court of California to adjust test scores in light of the problems. The results of the February exam had been slated to be released on Friday, but that is likely to be delayed.
