Big firms are preparing to make adjustments as a result of the latest cancellations of in-person bar examinations, such as pushing back start dates and implementing study leaves when Class of 2020 graduates can finally take the bar exam. 

But many firm plans are not yet set in stone, as state bars across the country implement wildly different contingency plans for exams amid the ongoing pandemic. Just like the students who are directly affected by state bar decisions across the nation, big firms that employ dozens of new law graduates are also watching how things play out.

"All of it is happening in real-time," said Jacqueline Bokser LeFebvre, a managing director of Major, Lindsey & Africa's associate practice group. "We're seeing many firms are pushing back their start dates. Everybody is trying to come up with an approach that works for their individual state and their individual law firm."

At New York-based Milbank, the firm still plans to welcome a class of first-year associates this year, with the vast majority opting for an October start date, said chairman Scott Edelman. The firm has 60 first-year associates in the U.S., with a $190,000 starting pay. The firm's financial performance this year is better than expected, a factor in the firm's decision to keep an October start date, he said.

Edelman doesn't see a huge impact on the firm as a result of New York's in-person bar exam cancellation.

"If first years are unable to take the bar exam before they start in October, we have told them we will give them a three-week paid bar leave so they can prepare for the exam," Edelman said, adding a leave period after starting work is "clearly is not ideal for everybody, but we want to make it easier for them."

"It would clearly be much more convenient for the firms and the first years if they can get the bar exam before they start work," he added.

Still, the admissions process for new lawyers is usually monthslong anyway, and first-year associates at big firms are often not in a position of practicing law without supervision in the first case. "They're not doing court appearances or depositions without supervision," Edelman noted.

New York—the single largest bar exam jurisdiction—announced last week that it was canceling its in-person exams set for September. The court has said it would allow eligible law graduates to temporarily work under a qualified attorney's supervision.

On Thursday, court officials announced that New York would hold an online bar exam on October 5 and 6.  A court-appointed working group had rejected other options, including an emergency diploma privilege that would allow graduates to practice without taking the exam.

Shifting Start Dates

Timothy Powers, managing partner of Texas-founded Haynes and Boone, which has 14 offices in the U.S., said that, in the wake of uncertainty about the bar exam in several states, the firm is eyeing a late November or early December start date for first-year associates.

Texas court officials earlier this month canceled the exam that was to be held in person on July 28 and 29. Test-takers may either take the previously scheduled in-person exam on Sept. 9 and 10, or a newly announced online bar exam Oct. 5 and 6, the court said.

Powers said to expect a number of managing partners, including many in Texas, to support diploma recognition for this class, considering the uncertainty of bar exams in many states.

"It's just kind of the right thing to do," said Powers, who notes that law grads joining Haynes and Boone and peer firms are "highly likely to pass the bar exam anyway." 

In California, the state last week canceled its in-person bar exam set for September and instead scheduled a two-day online test for Oct. 5-6.

At Los Angeles-based Irell & Manella, all nine of the firm's first-year associates this year will be taking the state's bar exam, said Jonathan Kagan, a member of Irell's executive committee and chair of its hiring committee.

Irell was initially going to have its associates start in early to mid-October, as the firm likes to give its associates a four- to six-week break after taking the bar, Kagan said. But a firm spokeswoman said Wednesday the start dates for the firm's associates are now staggered across the fall — a pair of associates who have already taken the bar will start in September, while the rest will either come onboard in mid-October or early November.

"I do feel for the law students. We're all affected by this," Kagan said. "For Irell, the people we hire we really care about and we want them to be employed, and we really need them."

Even before several states this month canceled in-person exams, many firms had already set back start dates or otherwise put first-year associates in limbo. According to a June survey by the National Association for Law Placement, 50% of law offices with Class of 2020 first-year associates had not yet established start dates for these associates, and of those offices with established start dates, 62% scheduled first-years to begin in January 2021.

Nearly half of law school respondents in the NALP survey reported that some of their class of 2020 graduates had their postgraduate employment offers rescinded.

Still, some firms are still configuring how to adjust to the canceled bar exams. One partner at a New York-based law firm said it was still too early to draw any conclusions about how the changes in the bar exam would affect the industry's associate hiring. Several firm leaders and representatives declined to comment about any what, if any, adjustments they would make.

'Waiting Game'

Peter Ausili, assistant dean for career and professional development at Touro Law Center on Long Island, New York, said none of the 140 recent graduates have reported to career services that their job offer was rescinded because of the cancellation of the in-person New York exam.

"There is a little bit of a waiting game, because the court is deciding between a number of options—an online exam in October [or] diploma privilege," he said, speaking before Thursday's announcement about the online exam in New York.

Ausili said most of the graduates are for the moment continuing to study for the bar exam, preparing for an online exam.

The notion of taking the bar online is of little comfort to a law school student like Samuel Feigenbaum, who graduated from Harvard Law School this year. Feigenbaum said he considers himself lucky—he has a job lined up with an Am Law 100 firm, doesn't have children to care for, and doesn't have a spouse who is an essential worker.

But he's still sweating bullets over an online bar exam scheduled for October 5-6. At this point, Massachusetts has not detailed what kind of grace period it will grant students who suddenly lose internet access during the exam, Feigenbaum said. Students taking the California bar exam will have a 10-minute window, he noted.

"I am very nervous. My internet's not perfect," Feigenbaum said. "If my internet goes out for 10 minutes, I'm going to be out of luck until February."

At this point, Massachusetts and other states such as California and Illinois have declined to grant diploma privilege. Feigenbaum said he and other law students are planning to file a formal legal petition with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court asking for diploma privilege soon. 

"Beyond that, there's not much else we can do," Feigenbaum said. "Certainly speaking for myself, we feel really strongly that this is the right thing to do."

This article was updated on July 23 to reflect the announcement about New York's online bar exam.