Think back to when you took the bar exam. Now try to think how you would feel if after you finished, you were unable to submit the exam. That is exactly what happened yesterday for exam takers in as many as seventeen states.
New law graduates in many states experienced a technology snafu at the worst possible time Tuesday night: as they were attempting to upload bar examinations just before deadlines in their states. Many reported spending hours trying and failing to upload their answers. ExamSoft, a company that manages the bar test submission process in many states, acknowledged "slowness or difficulty" being experienced by many test-takers, and said that it was sorry for the difficulties many were having. The company, working with various state bar associations, announced 17 deadline extensions by states, so that people who couldn't submit their exams would not be penalized.
Many bar exams continue today, so the frustrated test-takers who were up late, some fearing that they may have failed by not submitting their day's results, have another stressful day ahead of them. Many of them without as much sleep as they might have had otherwise.
I guess from a consumer law standpoint, the interesting question is what rights the exam-takers may have if they failed due to this "snafu"? Are the exam-takers “consumers”? Do they have a claim under state UDAP statutes or for common law negligence? Just asking.
