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Law360 (May 11, 2020, 1:37 PM EDT) -- Delaware's Supreme Court postponed the state's annual bar examination by six weeks on Monday, pushing the start date to Sept. 9 and coming into line with pandemic-driven changes announced earlier in California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and other jurisdictions.
The state's high court said the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners would provide further details later this week on the move from the originally scheduled July 27-29 testing to September 9-11.
Delaware's entire court system remains largely closed to the public under a COVID-19 pandemic emergency order issued in March by Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr., with the current order scheduled to expire on March 14 but subject to renewal. Many court proceedings are taking place by teleconference, videoconference or, more recently, Zoom productions.
A broader, statewide public health emergency and stay-at-home order remains in effect in the state until at least May 31, although Gov. John Carney relaxed some closing and sheltering orders on Friday, permitting some retailers to provide curbside service provided that safe-distance practices are followed.
The Delaware Board of Bar Examiners reported earlier that it was considering postponement from the July date and said that it was in close contact with the National Conference of Bar Examiners and other jurisdictions about the change.
Although many of the nation's largest states and litigation centers already have shifted from July to September, the NCBE's website showed a mix of approaches on Monday.
Texas and Nebraska have straddled the problem, retaining July testing but also scheduling testing for Sept. 9-11, while Minnesota has said that the September dates would be in addition to or in lieu of July.
The national group reported that 68,305 individuals took bar examinations last year, with about 65% attempting the test for the first time. Some 58% of the 2019 total passed the exam.
Pressures have surfaced in recent weeks for stepped up access to alternatives, including a "diploma privilege." Utah's Supreme Court gave a nod to the option last month, approving and emergency diploma privilege allowing recent law school graduates to become members of the state bar if they complete specified requirements, including 360 hours of work under a state-licensed attorney.
As of the middle of last week, 19 jurisdictions had reported cancellation or postponement of July bar exams.
Delaware's bar examination includes the Multistate Bar Examination, two multistate performance tests, eight essay questions on topics such as constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, equity and Delaware court procedures, among others.
--Editing by John Campbell.
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