One
of
the
challenges
of
the
bar
exam,
curses
upon
its
name,
is
grabbing
blindly
at
personal
jurisdiction
concepts
you
haven’t
really
thought
about
seriously
since
1L
year
under
timed
conditions.
This
goes
just
as
well
for
the
elements
of
battery,
the
mirror
image
rule,
and
all
the
other
stuff
you
need
to
show
you
know
before
you
go
on
to
do
transactional
work
and
never
touch
the
stuff
again.
With
careers
and
abilities
to
pay
off
the
hundreds
of
thousands
of
dollars
in
debt
on
the
line,
test
takers
pray
for
more
time
to
prove
their
minimum
compentency.
Thankfully
(?),
a
growing
number
of
those
prayers
are
being
answered.
The
Wall
Street
Journal
has
coverage:
More
aspiring
young
lawyers
are
asking
for—and
getting—extra
time
to
finish
the
bar
exam,
according
to
a
Wall
Street
Journal
analysis.In
California,
for
instance,
where
more
people
take
the
bar
than
in
any
other
state,
14%
of
the
nearly
8,000
test
takers
last
July
received
accommodations,
up
from
4%
a
decade
earlier,
according
to
the
state
bar.
In
Washington,
D.C.,
the
number
has
exceeded
one
in
seven.The
development
follows
one
already
coursing
through
high
schools
and
colleges:
More
students
have
diagnoses
for
disabilities
like
ADHD
and
receive
extra
time
for
classwork
or
the
SAT.
Now,
as
this
generation
enters
the
workforce,
the
phenomenon
has
reached
professional
licensing
exams—and
law
firms
are
adapting,
launching
programs
to
support
young
associates
with
diagnoses.
I
am
generally
all
for
accommodations
—
so
much
so
that
I
think
people
who
think
they’re
totally
fine
should
still
get
check-ups
every
once
in
a
while.
One
of
the
funny
things
about
having
a
disability
is
that
you
don’t
need
to
know
you
have
one
for
it
to
impact
you.
Speaking
personally,
I
thought
that
stop
sign
lights
were
supposed
to
look
like
Christmas
lights
before
I
got
my
first
pair
of
glasses
in
kindergarten.
I
was
lucky
to
get
the
help
I
needed
early
in
my
education;
a
member
of
my
cohort
found
out
that
they
needed
glasses
to
see
the
board
in
law
school!
Their
experience
isn’t
uncommon
either.
While
it
can
be
hard
to
pay
attention
to
assigned
readings,
it
shouldn’t
be
that
hard;
there’s
a
community
of
adults
who
found
out
that
they
have
attention
deficit
disorders
and
the
like
as
they
were
going
about
their
studies.
And
they
should
get
accommodations
during
the
test,
that’s
what
they’re
there
for,
after
all.
But
there
is
a
concern
that
wealthy
people
who
don’t
actually
need
them
are
faking
the
funk
to
get
extra
time
on
their
exams.
Perry
Zirkel,
a
disability-law
scholar
and
former
Lehigh
University
dean,
said
the
need
for
testing
accommodations
for
truly
disabled
students
is
real,
but
he
worries
about
unfairness.
Savvy
families
that
can
pay
thousands
of
dollars
for
private
disability
assessments,
he
said,
gain
advantages
by
gaming
the
system.“This
gives
a
benefit
to
those
who
already
have
power
and
privilege,
and
once
they
get
good
at
it,
they
just
simply
keep
playing
the
game,”
Zirkel
said.
If
you’re
sick
and
tired
of
being
sick
and
tired
of
expecting
meritocracy
just
to
find
veiled
plutocracy,
you
aren’t
the
only
one.
The
numbers,
though
inconclusive,
make
for
an
interesting
story:
At
some
affluent
high
schools
today,
more
than
30%
of
students
have
disability
diagnoses
and
receive
testing
accommodations.
Some
colleges
reflect
this
surge:
At
Hampshire
College,
Pace
University
and
Smith
College,
more
than
one
in
three
students
claim
a
disability,
according
to
federal
data.
By
contrast,
less
than
3%
of
students
at
Springfield
Technical
Community
College,
20
miles
from
Smith,
claim
disabilities.
Does
that
mean
that
a
third
of
students
at
Hampshire,
Pace,
and
Smith
are
big
fakers
and
community
college
attendees
know
some
secret
to
keep
disabilities
at
bay?
Of
course
not!
The
numbers
could
be
telling
us
that
people
with
more
monied
backgrounds
are
better
able
to
get
diagnostics
tests
or
even
that
they
are
more
likely
to
disclose
disabilities
if
they
are
aware
of
them.
There
aren’t
any
deductions
to
make,
but
the
inference
that
students
coming
from
money
can
fib
test
results
and
game
the
system
in
ways
that
less
well-off
students
can’t
is
entirely
plausible.
And
who
knows!
The
rising
trend
might
be
explained
in
part
by
the
brain
damage
virus
we
all
pretend
stopped
so
the
market
could
pick
back
up.
If
anyone
is
concerned
that
the
rich
can
cheat
the
system
to
exploit
time
exam
limits
on
the
bar,
I’d
like
to
remind
everyone
that
they
can’t
exploit
the
bar
exam
if
it
is
abolished.
The
Number
of
Law-School
Grads
Getting
Extra
Time
for
the
Bar
Exam
Is
Surging
[Wall
Street
Journal]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.