In re Sept. 2020 Bar Examination

Full title: In the Matter of the September 2020 Bar Examination

Court: SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI'I

Date published: Aug 28, 2020

SCMF-12-0000538 (Haw. Aug. 28, 2020)

Opinion

SCMF-12-0000538

08-28-2020

In the Matter of the September 2020 Bar Examination

By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, and McKenna, JJ., and Intermediate Court of Appeals Chief Judge Ginoza, assigned by reason of vacancy, with Wilson, J., concurring and dissenting separately

AMENDED SECOND ORDER REGARDING THE SEPTEMBER 2020 BAR EXAM IN LIGHT OF COVID-19
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On July 22, 2020, this court entered an Order Regarding the September 2020 Bar Exam in Light of COVID-19. The order afforded applicants who were granted permission to sit for the Hawai'i Bar Exam, scheduled for September 9 and 10, 2020 at the Hawai'i Convention Center, an opportunity to elect one of the following options:

(1) sit for the bar exam as scheduled;

(2) defer sitting for the exam until a later date, without being required to pay an additional application fee; or

(3) defer sitting for the exam while pursuing a provisional license, subject to meeting certain requirements as set forth in that order, without being required to pay an additional application fee, and including an expiration of the provisional license on July 1, 2022.

Applicants were ordered to inform the Board of Examiners' staff by July 28, 2020 of their option.

NOW, THEREFORE, in light of the continuing increase in COVID-19 cases on O'ahu,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that for those applicants who chose to sit for the exam, the deadline to defer taking the exam or to pursue a provisional license is extended to the end of the first day of the September 2020 examination. Applicants may inform the Board of Examiners' staff by electronic mail to baradmissions@courts.hawaii.gov.

At present, the approximately 120 applicants who have elected to take the written exam using their laptops will be seated in a 59,000 square-foot exhibition hall. Each applicant will be seated alone at an eight-foot table, with at least ten feet between each table.

Numerous safety precautions are being taken as reflected in the attached instructions (Attachment 1), which were provided to all applicants no later than August 5, 2020. As indicated in the attachment, everyone will be required to wear a face covering. Face masks with one-way valves, bandannas, and neck fleeces such as balaclavas and neck gaiters are prohibited.

DATED; Honolulu, Hawai'i, August 28, 2020.

/s/ Mark E. Recktenwald

/s/ Paula A. Nakayama

/s/ Sabrina S McKenna

/s/ Lisa M. Ginoza

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