Details of NY’s Remote Bar Exam Released

Details of NY’s Remote Bar Exam Released

8.26.2020

By Christian Nolan

The New York State Board of Law Examiners has released details about the Oct. 5-6 remote bar exam.

The remote exam, which will be the same as the content of the Uniform Bar Exam, will consist of one Multistate Performance Test item, three Multistate Essay Examination questions, and 100 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) questions divided into two 50-question sets.

The exam will consist of four 90-minute test sessions administered over the two days and there will be a 30-minute break between sessions on each day of the exam. The exam will begin at noon each day with the second session resuming at 2 p.m. The second day will consist entirely of the 100 MBE questions broken up into the two 50-question sessions.

Once an earlier session is completed, the test-taker will not be able to return to the questions given in prior sessions.

The October remote exam will be administered by ExamSoft using its Examplify testing software. Examplify is the same software that New York has been using for the New York Law Exam since its inception in 2016.

Applicants will need a reliable internet connection to obtain the password for each exam session, to check in and begin each session and to upload their answer file and proctoring video at the close of each session. An active internet connection during each session will not be required. Once a test-taker checks in and begins the exam session, they will take the exam offline.

Applicants may take the remote exam at the location of their choice but no one else is allowed in the room. Some law schools are offering space for applicants who may not have a secure and reliable internet connection or suitable place to take the exam. They will be distanced for both testing security and safety reasons.

All applicants will be required to take at least two mock exams, and applicants will have the opportunity to take a third mock exam before the date of the exam. The mock exams will be available for download after registering with ExamSoft beginning on September 1, 2020.

Click here for full details on the exam.

In late July, the New York State Court of Appeals announced that it would administer a one-time emergency remote bar exam on Oct. 5-6. The news came one week after New York canceled its rescheduled September bar exam to protect the health of thousands of law school graduates who planned to take the test in the midst of the pandemic. The exam is typically administered each July and February.

The Board of Law Examiners, which operates under the auspices of the New York State Court of Appeals, has entered into reciprocity agreements to allow candidates to transfer scores earned on the remote bar exam. The agreements were made with the following jurisdictions: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont, Illinois, Oregon and the District of Columbia.