California Supreme Court Approves Additional Bar Exam Remedies

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday issued rulings on two petitions submitted by the State Bar of California concerning the administration of the February Bar Exam, granting several key requests intended to provide further relief to impacted applicants.

The court approved an expansion of the Provisional License Program to include the February applicants, but limited eligibility to first-time takers who either failed the exam or withdrew from the exam. These applicants may now practice law under a provisional license, provided they are supervised by an eligible California attorney.

The Provisional License Program was originally established in 2020 to support law school graduates whose first bar exam opportunities were disrupted and delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court also granted the State Bar’s request to extend scoring adjustments for applicants who performed well on the November 2024 test sessions. These adjustments will be applied to the first bar exam they take during 2025 or 2026.

But the court denied without prejudice a request to explore proposals for admitting attorneys licensed in other states without requiring them to take the California Bar Exam. The court indicated that any such request must await statutory changes to Business and Professions Code section 6062, which currently mandates passage of the exam for admission.

The court also granted the State Bar’s request to modify the court’s prior order and allow imputation of performance test scores for the February exam. Due to significant technological disruptions affecting the performance test portion of the exam, the court approved the use of applicants’ essay scores to impute their performance test scores.