[Eugene Volokh, July 27, 2007 at 4:36pm] Trackbacks
Uh-oh:

From the Albany Times-Union:

Some of the 5,000 prospective lawyers who took the essay portion of the state bar exam online this week fear their efforts have been lost because of a computer glitch....

John McAlary, executive director of the state Board of Law Examiners, said a small number of candidates were affected by the glitches. He was unable to say exactly how many.... The

He said he is confident every essay will be recovered because multiple backups were in place....

Let's hope so. Oh, and speaking of lawyering, note the last two sentences of this paragraph: "Software Secure posted a statement to its Web site Thursday saying the problem was identified and that a tool was created to recover backup files saved during the examination. A company official who refused to identify himself said he was not prepared to comment early today. He would not even confirm the online statement."

Thanks to Tom Klotzbach for the pointer.

Rich B. (mail):
I heard on a recent "On The Media" segment that reporters making FOIA requests are now getting copies of governmental press releases with redacted passages.

In a world in which press releases get redacted, I am not surprised to learn that companies refuse to confirm their online statements.

I'm just glad I wasn't sitting for the NY Bar this week.
7.27.2007 5:50pm
Eric @ New York Personal Injury Law Blog (www):
It wouldn't be the first time in New York. My multi-state exam answers were stolen (or lost) along with 500+ others 22 summers ago. I wrote about that just last week:

Your Bar Exam Answer Sheet Is Gone -- Now What?

—ET
7.27.2007 5:59pm
Jon Rowe (mail) (www):
They should be given 100% on the answers to any parts that are missing.
7.27.2007 6:44pm
Isaac Zaur (mail):
FWIW, the tool created by the software company didn't work when I ran it on my computer. The company has not responded to any of my three emails or about eight phone calls (the tech support number has been busy since a few minutes after the exam was over). Also, candidates like me who are affected by this problem have received no direct communication from the Board of Law Examiners. This is a frustrating situation, one the software vendor and the BOLE do not seem to be handling with much professionalism.
7.27.2007 6:53pm
PersonFromPorlock:

This is a frustrating situation, one the software vendor and the BOLE do not seem to be handling with much professionalism.

I suspect you're about to discover that the essence of professionalism is knowing when to duck.
7.27.2007 7:21pm
The Red Menace (mail):
Serves them right. Cheaters.

says the Bitter Blue Book User
7.27.2007 7:26pm
Garth:
so why can't the RNC find KKKarl Rove's emails?
7.27.2007 7:34pm
William Spieler (mail) (www):
Well I'm just relieved that the most of my worries was that I put different social security numbers on the morning and afternoon multistate.
7.27.2007 8:06pm
William Spieler (mail) (www):
Also, I'm shocked and outraged at the lack of a blog post wishing everybody good luck on the bar exam.

Damn selfish libertarians :(
7.27.2007 8:08pm
William Spieler (mail) (www):
And rereading my last comment, sarcasm doesn't show up well online.
7.27.2007 8:09pm
Smokey:
Can fewer lawyers be a problem [ha-ha!]?

Don't mean to step on any toes here. That wouldn't be nice.
7.27.2007 9:06pm
Bruce Hayden (mail) (www):
Yeh, I agree. Too many lawyers already. This should happen more often, and if it does, those of us who have already passed can raise our rates.
7.28.2007 3:27am
Mary Katherine Day-Petrano (mail):
[Off-topic post removed. -EV]
7.28.2007 4:12am