California Bar Exam Chaos: A Timeline of Events
The February 2025 administration of California’s brand-new bar exam was meant to usher in a new era of testing and to save the state millions of dollars, breaking away from the National Conference of Bar Examiners and its widely used Uniform Bar Examination and its other licensed testing components.
Instead, the California bar exam has been marred by widespread technical failures, logistical nightmares, and growing frustration among examinees.
According to an email sent to all test-takers on the evening of February 25 (which was the first day of the California bar exam), the State Bar of California acknowledged “significant technical and customer service challenges” and offered an apology.
These technical and support issues were and are unacceptable. Ensuring a fair and reliable exam experience is our top priority, and we are actively evaluating next steps. — The State Bar of California Office of Admissions
Reports surfaced of candidates experiencing login failures, lagging response times, and even the inability to use the cut-and-paste function—an essential tool for written portions of the exam. Some test-takers also reported unresponsive proctors and communication breakdowns with the exam’s administrator, Meazure Learning.
While the State Bar is still assessing the full scope of the damage, options being considered include offering a retake of the performance test and essay questions for affected examinees or adjusting scores. March 3 and 4 had already been earmarked for makeup exams before the test launched. However, the uncertainty surrounding a resolution has left many examinees anxious about the impact of these problems on their results and future careers.
How Did We Get Here?
The rollout of California’s independent bar exam was never expected to be seamless. Below is a timeline of key events leading up to the February 2025 exam:
May 16, 2024: The State Bar postponed its initial plan to develop a state-specific bar exam, citing concerns over an accelerated timeline and potential risks.
July 18, 2024: The State Bar's Board of Trustees authorized negotiations with Kaplan Exam Services to create a California-specific bar exam.
August 14, 2024: California finalized an $8.25 million contract with Kaplan Exam Services to develop the exam over five years.
September 10, 2024: Nevada followed California's lead and announced that it would not adopt the NCBE's NextGen Bar Exam.
September 17, 2024: The State Bar proposed offering a score boost of up to 40 points for beta testers of the new exam.
September 19, 2024: The California Supreme Court denied the State Bar’s petition to implement the exam in February 2025, citing procedural missteps.
October 10, 2024: The California Supreme Court rejected the so-called Portfolio Bar Exam, an alternative to the bar exam, which would license law school graduates who work for up to six months under an experienced attorney's supervision and submit a portfolio of legal work to state bar evaluators.
October 10, 2024: The Committee of Bar Examiners approved a policy allowing candidates to take the new exam remotely or at test centers outside California.
October 21, 2024: The California Supreme Court approved the new Kaplan-drafted exam format for the February 2025 administration.
November 8, 2024: The State Bar announced that 53.8% of applicants passed the July 2024 General Bar Exam, the last using NCBE materials.
December 13, 2024: The NCBE reported that 29 jurisdictions adopted the NextGen Bar Exam with the announcement of Virginia and South Dakota (both non-UBE jurisdictions, like California) agreeing to administer the new exam.
January 31, 2025: Examinees reported early technical issues with California’s new bar exam, including scheduling and software problems.
February 10, 2025: With the California bar exam three weeks away, the State Bar posted an update and made changes to the California Bar Exam Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Student Guide.
February 13, 2025: With the California bar exam less than two weeks away, the State Bar offered full refunds to over 600 applicants who withdrew due to concerns over the exam rollout.
February 21, 2025: With the California bar exam less than one week away, the State Bar Board of Trustees approved free July 2025 retakes for those who withdrew or failed the February exam.
February 25, 2025: Day 1 of the inaugural administration of the California bar exam took place but was plagued by technical failures. The State Bar announced retake options for affected examinees, including make-up opportunities on March 3 and 4.
