Washington's three accredited law schools have asked the state Supreme Court for emergency diploma privilege after the July NextGen bar exam collapsed under technology failures in Yakima, leaving hundreds of examinees without a score and without a clear path to practice.
Bloomberg Law reported that the petitions target emergency authority the Supreme Court already holds over admission rules.
That distinction will matter if the court worries about precedent for future technical glitches.
NextGen launched in multiple jurisdictions the same week.
That history undercuts claims that a bar score is the only legitimate gate the court has ever recognized.
Washington’s three accredited law schools petitioned the state Supreme Court for emergency diploma privilege after the July NextGen bar exam was canceled in Yakima over technology failures that left about 645 examinees unscored.