Barr in California is suing vendors who managed the February bar exam, a disastrous development of a new testing platform that shakes confidence in the organization’s leadership, urging lawmakers to monitor the audit and the state Supreme Court to order them back to the traditional July exam format.
The complaint filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges that Meazure Learning committed a breach of contract by claiming that it could conduct fraud, misrepresentation of negligence and a two-day window to conduct remote and in-person examinations.
“For months, Meazure has represented its representatives to convince state bars to provide seamless remote, in-person exam experience worthy of the California bar exam,” the complaint states. “But now it’s clear that Meazure couldn’t deliver.”
For many aspiring lawyers, the development of the new exam in February was a major failure. Experts seeking to practice law in California complained of a series of technical flaws and irregularities. The online testing platform crashed repeatedly before starting the exam. Others experienced screen delays and error messages, had trouble completing and saving the essay, and were unable to copy and paste text from test questions into the exam response field.
But Tuesday’s learning pushed back the idea that Tuesday was the cause of a major failure. In a statement in response to the lawsuit, Meazure said it is proud to have a track record of “ensure management of over 4 million exams a year,” and is proud to support over 1,000 organizations over 20 years. It suggested that state bars were trying to pass the money for their own failure.
“We recognize the importance of a smooth exam experience and regret the issue that occurred during the California Bar Exam in February 2025,” said a spokesman for Meazure Learning. “This lawsuit is an attempt by state bars to shift responsibility for the flawed development process for the February exam. We will be fiercely defending ourselves in court.”
When Meazure was tapped to manage the February exam, the lawsuit reassured state bars that it had 25,000 exams over a two-day period and had experienced “not being concerned” about meeting the needs of remote testing of state bars. It also promoted experience with 2,200 customers over 20 years, describing it as “the safest and most accessible” in the “Techenable Assessment Solutions” industry, advertising short chat and phone support wait times within a minute.
“Meazure promises that there will be no limits on remote testing capabilities in managing bar exams and we know well enough that it has done,” the lawsuit states. “In reasonable and good faith, the state bar relied on Meazure’s ongoing statements and actions that showed that it could be scaled up as needed to process the volume of remote testing.”
However, since the trial was lawsuit, Meazure said it has hampered state barriers and attempts by state bars that “rejected the tactics adopted to prevent state bars from obtaining complete and important information.”
“In light of the serious difficulties endured by applicants in February 2025 and the violation of certain contractual obligations outlined in our agreement, state bars said Brandon Stallings, chairman of the National Prison.
State Bar, represented by Hueston Hennigan’s lawyers, seeks compensation and punitive damages for “unacceptable February bar exam experience,” and also seeks an independent audit of the company.
Before testing in February, State Bar encouraged new trials as a cost-cutting initiative that would provide test takers with a choice of remote testing. After deciding to break away from the national testing that has been in use for over 50 years, the agency signed a $4.1 million deal last year with Meazure learning to manage new exams. It also announced an additional $8.25 million five-year contract that allows the test preparation company Kaplan Exam Service to create multiple choices, essays and performance test questions.
In the months leading up to the exam, many deans of California’s top law schools flagged their concerns in state bars.
During the November exam survey, some testers complained that they had problems logging in to Meazure’s exam platform, and during the January OK exam, a technical glitches prevented the test from taking part in the exam, submitting answers and using basic word processing capabilities.
“Meazure once again ensured that it would do so to state bars and future candidates. [and did] We fixed these issues before the February exam,” the complaint said. “But it wasn’t.”
The news of the lawsuit comes hours after the results of the February exam were announced. The agency reported that 55.9% of candidates had passed. This is the highest spring pass rate since 1965.
The California Supreme Court, which oversees the state’s attorneys, ruled Friday, which helped lower the scores in the February exam due to the catastrophe. The IT and admission staff at the state bar were working to coordinate scoring over the weekend, allowing them to let them know if the examiners had passed or failed.
The state’s highest courts have also ordered state bars to abandon their new system of multiple choice questions and return to traditional multi-stage surveillance for the July bar exam multiple choice questions.
Leah T. Wilson, the hard-working executive director of Statebar, who announced his plans to resign in July, congratulated Test Taker.
“The perseverance presented by the applicant is both commendable and impressive given the technical and other issues this cohort has faced,” Wilson said in a statement.
Candidates who fail the exam will receive a letter detailing their results later this week. They can retry the exam in July.
Several February test takers urged state bars to provide fair remedies after the fiasco, including adopting an interim licensing program immediately or granting a full legal licence in California without the need for additional exams.
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