Latest bar exam cancellation leaves Queens law grads in limbo
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CUNY Law grad Christina Lee (second from right), a 3L student ambassador for the QCBA’s Law School Liaison Committee, said the latest bar exam cancellation complicates career planning for her and thousands of other law schools gradas statewide. From left, Joel Serrano, co-chair, Law School Liaison Committee; Amanda Dunne, CUNY Law student; Marie-Eleana First, past QCBA president; Tycel Harris, student ambassador, 2L CUNY Law School; Lee; and Kristen Dubowski Barba, co-chair of the Young Lawyers Committee. Photo courtesy of the QCBA
By David Brand
Christina Lee was set to begin a new job at Legal Aid in September, just after sitting for the bar exam. But that was before the state cancelled the Sept. 10 and 11 lawyer-certification test on Thursday — the second time the Court of Appeals has decided to postpone the exam to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
With law school loans looming and a steady income further from reach, Lee, who graduated from CUNY Law in May, faces an uncertain future.
“I had a firm date of when I was going to start my actual job as an attorney and now that is in limbo,” said Lee, a 3L representative for the Queens County Bar Association’s Law School Liaison Committee. “Not being able to have that first paycheck is really jarring. It’s anxiety inducing.”
Lee said she knows recent law school graduates who have children and need to start earning attorney-level salaries soon. “How are they going to support their kids?” she said.
About 10,000 law school graduates typically take the test in July each year, but COVID-19 precautions compelled the state to reschedule the exam until September. The decision to again postpone the test places “recent law graduates in a stressful and uncertain situation,” said Joel Serrano, the co-chair of the QCBA’s Law School Liaison Committee.
“The delay in determining how recent graduates will be admitted to practice will hurt the graduates, their employers, and their clients,” Serrano added.
As early as March, academics and task forces sounded the alarm about the coronavirus’ likely impact on the bar exam, which is administered to hundreds of people in specific locations across the state twice each year. Local lawmakers, including State Sen. Michael Gianaris, also encouraged the state to administer an online exam in September.
“To again postpone the bar exam would be financially damaging for candidates who already have legal jobs paying a lower rate until bar exam passage,” Gianaris said in a letter to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. “Others may not be able to attain employment to begin with until they have taken and passed the exam.”
The Court of Appeals is now considering a remote testing date in early October, though that test may not be part of the Uniform Bar Examination, which allows attorneys who pass the bar in New York to work in other states.
Scott Karson, president of the New York State Bar Association, said the association “will review and make recommendations on how best to proceed.”
“The class of 2020 has been dealt a difficult hand and many graduates are experiencing stress and strain over the uncertainty surrounding the bar exam, a grim job market, and staggering student debt,” Karson said. “NYSBA will expeditiously examine the alternatives, taking into account the interests of consumers of legal services as well as the law school graduates seeking admission to the New York bar.”
