As states around the country reconsider plans to hold a fall bar exam, California's Supreme Court and state bar will host an online meeting July 7 to hear from law school graduates registered to take the test.

In a message sent Tuesday to applicants for the next bar exam, the state bar said the three-hour Zoom meeting will offer participants one minute each to share their thoughts with the court and bar officials. Applicants can also submit written comments.

"The information we learn from you will be provided to members of the court for their consideration in making a final decision," the message said. "No decision will be made at the meeting itself."

A spokesman for the court confirmed the planned meeting but did not know which justices, if any, would attend.

The court's justices and state bar leaders are under increasing pressure to set a firm date for the exam or to create an alternative licensing plan for thousands of recent graduates.

Citing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the court in April delayed the July bar exam until September and told the state bar to "make every effort possible" to administer the test online. Two months later, the justices raised the prospect of pushing back the exam to October, noting that the National Conference of Bar Examiners will offer an online version of the multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam on Oct. 6.

Graduates have criticized the delays and questioned the feasibility, and fairness, of holding a two-day test online. Some alumni and deans are lobbying for diploma privilege, which would allow graduates to practice without passing the bar.

Oregon, Utah and Washington have announced that certain law school graduates can skip the exam this year and join the bar. Minnesota is considering a similar move and the deans of Texas law schools asked that state's high court for a one-time diploma privilege for their graduates.

California law school deans are scheduled to meet privately with representatives of the state Supreme Court on Thursday. Nineteen deans asked for the meeting in a June 14 letter, citing their students' "considerable anguish" coping with an uncertain exam date and career prospects.

The bar's message on Tuesday said the July 7 meeting will be "limited to those who registered for the fall bar exam." Public comments can be sent through July 6 to [email protected].