The Washington State Supreme Court on Thursday granted many law school graduates a so-called “diploma privilege” — the right to practice law without taking the bar exam. It was a response to a notorious malfunction that led to the July exam being cancelled. Now, affected graduates who were taking the exam for the first time can choose: either to sit for a make-up exam in September or to decline testing altogether and receive admission to the profession immediately.
The incident happened last month at the Yakima convention center, where 645 graduates arrived for a two-day exam. Due to widespread connectivity problems, most participants were unable to answer even a single question. After hours of delays, the state bar association was forced to cancel the remainder of the test. The graduates had to put off entering their jobs, extend hotel stays, change flights, and continue preparing for an exam they believed was already behind them.
The choice to hold the exam in Yakima was itself a deliberate compromise. The bar exam in the United States is a two-day written test, which in Washington is administered by the State Bar Association on behalf of the state Supreme Court. Yakima is located roughly in the middle of the state, making it equally convenient for candidates coming from both the west — from Seattle and Tacoma — and the east — Spokane. Renting a large convention center in Seattle would have been significantly more expensive, and the exam requires a huge facility where hundreds of graduates write the test simultaneously under strict supervision. Yakima has a suitable convention center, and local hotels can accommodate visiting candidates. In addition, a smaller city is preferable for safety and confidentiality: exam materials are easier to protect from leaks, and the environment allows candidates to be less distracted than in a noisy metropolis.
The court said that there is no perfect solution in this unprecedented situation and tried to strike a balance between fairness to graduates and the need to maintain professional standards. A similar measure was used in the state in 2020, but then the cause was the COVID-19 pandemic. Deans of all three Washington law schools unanimously asked the court to take such a step starting from the time the exam was cancelled. The request involves the state’s three only law schools accredited by the American Bar Association: the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle — the state’s only public law school; Seattle University School of Law — a private Jesuit university; and Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane — also a private Jesuit university. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, their deans already appealed to the state Supreme Court with a similar request, and the court granted it via an emergency order because holding the exam in the usual format was impossible. That had been a temporary measure, and the exam later resumed in the standard format.
The “diploma privilege” does not apply to those who previously failed the bar exam in any state: they can transfer their payment to the 2026 or 2027 exams or request a full refund. The privilege also does not apply to participants with special accommodations who managed to complete the test; however, those who did not achieve a passing score will be allowed to retake the exam in February for free. Those eligible for the waiver must notify the bar association by noon on August 14.
Based on: WA Supreme Court waives bar exam requirement for many after snafu