LA wildfires will not stop California's plans to offer new bar exam next month
A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter works on extinguishing hot spots in the aftermath of the Palisades fire in California on Jan. 12. (Photo by Scott Strazzante/The San Francisco Chronicle via the Associated Press)
While plans to launch a new Kaplan-developed bar exam Feb. 25 and 26 move forward, the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners will consider offering a refund to February examinees impacted by the wildfires that have plagued the Los Angeles area.
“The state bar recognizes that the Southern California wildfires’ destruction and impact is far-reaching,” Bridget Gramme, special counsel in the division of consumer protection, admissions, and access and inclusion at the State Bar of California, wrote to the ABA Journal.
As of Jan. 22, more than 15,000 structures had been destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a state agency known as CAL FIRE.
The state bar posted on its admissions page that February bar exam test-takers who have been displaced or personally affected by the wildfires around Los Angeles County can email [email protected] to discuss changes in their circumstances related to the exam.
These requests for assistance will inform a policy recommendation to the committee at its Jan. 31 meeting, Gramme wrote.
In addition, the state bar has contacted law school deans and administrators reminding them to share its Lawyer Assistance Program with impacted students and community. The resource offers free, confidential support to attorneys, bar applicants and law students, including two sessions with a licensed therapist.
The state bar contracted Kaplan to create a proprietary 200-question multiple-choice exam that could be administered remotely. The February exam will be its debut administration.
See also:
ABA supports victims of California wildfires
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