The Colorado Supreme Court announced Friday the upcoming February 2021 bar exam will be administered remotely, changing course from July when prospective lawyers sat through an in-person exam.
The choice was in response to increasing COVID cases in Colorado and the expectation that trent “may continue this winter,” according to a press release from the court. February bar applicants will be able to take the exam online via a computer with video capability and internet/Wi-Fi connection.
The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, and the Office of Attorney Admissions, is consulting with states who administered an “shorter bar exam” remotely this year, in order to learn from their experiences and address concerns with testing.
The two-day exam is traditionally given in-person in a single room. The July bar exam took place in-person placing applicants in many rooms and at three different locations and following pandemic protocols, however, a classroom of students was exposed to a tested-positive applicant — learning of the exposure only after the exam.
The Uniform Bar Exam wasn’t available for remote testing this year, according to the release. However, the National Conference of Bar Examiners announced in October that it would make the exam available for the February 2021 exam. A bar exam is developed for a twice-a-year administration, then working with participating jurisdictions,
scoring the exam.