The University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford. Photo: Peter Morenus/Uconn

The deans from the state's three law schools have written a two-page letter asking the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee to waive the exam scheduled for early October because of COVID-19 to those who want to practice in Connecticut.

The letter, written Monday, supports diploma privileges for 2020 graduates seeking to practice in the Nutmeg State, but says the remote exam would work for a smaller group of test-takers who plan to practice in other states and might need passage of the bar exam to practice.

The letter states in part: "The CBEC's most recent decision to rely instead on an online exam allays some public health threats, but it generates other concerns. Some applicants have only spotty WiFi access and must take a very high-stakes exam while also managing anxieties about technology."

The deans also wrote: "We do not make this request lightly, but do so with the beliefs that the risks, if any, to the public are modest and that fairness to the bar applicants calls for this response."

While the CBEC would be the entity to waive the exam, a decision on allowing diploma privileges would be made by the Rules Committee of the Superior Court in Connecticut.

CBEC chairwoman and Pullman & Comley member Anne Dranginis said Tuesday she didn't see the committee waiving the exam, but said anything is possible. The committee is expected to discuss the possibility of diploma privileges during its regular quarterly meeting on Friday.

"The consensus of the bar examining committee is diploma privileges are not appropriate as a means to protect the public, and that the Practice Book currently requires we conduct an examination," Dranginis said. "The consensus remain there needs to be some kind of examination."

"I think the deans are supporting their students because they know what these particular students have gone through," Dranginis added.

Rules Committee Chairman and Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald said Tuesday his committee "would not act on any proposal like this until we had the affirmative recommendation of CBEC and the chief disciplinary counsel."

Decisions about whether to push forward with bar exams are being made across the nation as COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc. Louisiana, Oregon, Utah and Washington state are among those that have adopted emergency diploma privileges. Hundreds of law professors in New York have pushed for an emergency diploma privilege for graduates there.

The Connecticut letter was a joint collaboration between Jennifer Brown, dean of Quinnipiac University School of Law; Timothy Fisher, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Law; and Heather Gerken, dean at Yale Law School.

The letter comes less than one week after the CBEC announced the bar examination will be given in an online format over two days in early October.

While Fisher and Gerken declined to elaborate on the letter, Brown said she "wouldn't presume to predict what CBEC might do," and if the deans' support of diploma privileges would sway the committee in any way.

But law school graduates will be burdened if they must take the exam, now slated for Oct. 5 and 6, remotely, Brown said.

"This has been hard on law school graduates. Many of them have had to complete their legal degrees at home and in a situation that was not conducive to joining online classes," Brown said. "It wasn't always conducive to taking their law school exam, let alone a bar exam online. Imagine you have to go home and your folks live in a small apartment or house and there are younger children or maybe even your children. Our graduates of 2020 have already shown incredible resilience in completing their legal education and studying of the bar exam under adverse circumstances."

Brown continued: "We have all seen the adjustments that our graduates have had to make since early March with the shifting of the completion of their legal education online and how they have prepared not only during COVID, but also in a time of historical social movement around Black Lives Matter. It's of historical significance."

The letter from the deans comes six days after five law school graduates began a petition for diploma privilege. That petition now has more than 500 signatures.

Jess Zaccagnino, a University of Connecticut School of Law 2020 graduate, is one of the petition organizers.

"I generally applaud having the deans on board for diploma privilege in some fashion. It's definitely a win," Zaccagnino said. "I do think it will make a difference. The states that have supported diploma privilege have done so with the support of the deans in their state."

In addition, Zaccagnino said: "One of the major issues with online exams is that it serves to exacerbate the rampant inequities that exist both within the legal profession and society. In my case, I am studying from an apartment without air conditioning. I have to take a lot of breaks from studying due to heat exhaustion. Other students I know are in the same boat. Some of us don't have adequate Wi-Fi connections or quiet places to study and take the exam."