Software issues spell problems for law students hoping to take bar exams

Law school students say they’re afraid to take the Florida Bar exam became some students’ personal accounts are being hacked.

The bar is being administered through software that is taking their information, including banking information. Some students say they could be left with no income and significant debt.

Ashley Hart is almost $250,000 in the hole, all so she could earn a law degree. But now, “my job is on the line,” she said, because between her and her first job is the bar exam, and she’s afraid to take the online test because the software is corrupt.

“We’re all angry, frustrated, burnt out, tired; it’s disheartening,” Hart said.

“I find myself in a situation where my pleas are falling on deaf ears,” said Brian Heckmann, another Florida Bar applicant. He has a debt of $150,000.

Florida only offers the bar exam twice a year – next week and in February. People who have downloaded the software here and in other states say they’re dealing with security breaches and damage to their devices, which can prevent the exam from being finished.

“Computers were overheating, we were struggling to … we are having a lag when we were typing, we had security breaches,” Hart said.

If the student can’t finish the bar exam, they fail and their future goes from promising to in doubt with all that debt to pay.

“It goes from a 90% chance for me, from my law school and for my preparation to get that license and keep my job, to about an 80% chance that I’ll lose that job,” Heckmann said.

At least one state has postponed the bar exam because of the reported problems, but the Florida Board of Bar Examiners has said only that they’re reviewing the software issues.