The New York City Bar Association is urging the state's Court of Appeals to offer more "certainty" by Aug. 1 over a bar exam and licensure of 2020 law graduates.

The state canceled the planned Sept. 9 and 10 in-person exam. But unlike many other jurisdictions that have also canceled their exams this month, New York did not immediately announce plans for an alternative online test or other licensure paths, placing 2020 law graduates into high uncertainty. Chief Judge Janet DiFiore has appointed a working group to evaluate the next steps.

In a Friday letter to DiFiore and Court of Appeals Associate Judge Michael J. Garcia, along with retired Judge Howard A. Levine, who will chair the new working group, the city bar said it is urging a quick resolution for 2020 law graduates, noting critically important questions remain unanswered on the prospects for an in-person examination, adopting an online examination or granting any form of permanent diploma privilege.

"These questions now hang over the heads of thousands of new law school graduates, to say nothing of countless private and public sector employers who are trying to make critical staffing decisions and run their organizations," said the city bar's letter to the judges. "This ongoing uncertainty creates chaos for our profession."

The letter continued: "Given the hazy implications of the court's announcement, 2020 law school graduates are now deeply worried about their ability to attain (or retain) employment, support themselves, and continue to study indefinitely for an exam that continues to recede into the horizon."

The city bar is recommending some options for the Court of Appeals: adopting the national online multiple-choice examination offered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) for October 2020 or granting permanent diploma privilege to admit all 2020 graduates of ABA-accredited law schools who meet all other qualifications for admission.

"It is essential to announce this decision by August 1 to create certainty for test-takers and employers," the city bar said.

Regardless of which option is chosen, the city bar said, it recommends the court implement an expanded continuing legal education requirement for those who are granted a diploma privilege or take the online NCBE examination.

The city bar also recommends the New York court "could create clarity by announcing, in unambiguous terms, that graduates of the class of 2020 will not be required to sit for an in-person bar examination." Finally, the bar group recommends the court convene an advisory task force from across the state to discuss the implementation of these policies.

The city bar said it was generally supportive of the court's decision to cancel the September 2020 in-person state bar examination from a public health standpoint. But "with the latest information on public health risks in mind, and with due consideration for the various burdens and trade-offs, the above approach balances the interests as best as possible under historically challenging circumstances," states the city bar's letter.