NY Lawmakers Push for Bar Exam Safety Plan After Cardiac Crisis

New York’s bar exam administrators would have to craft a plan for emergencies under legislation poised to advance in Albany after an episode last year in which a test-taker required CPR.

The “Clock Should Stop Act” follows criticisms that proctors ignored pleas to help a Hofstra University examinee during a 2025 exam, and declined to pause it while the emergency unfolded.

“It became clear that there are no protocols in place, unlike protocols that exist for other professional exams,” Democratic New York Sen. John Liu said Wednesday. “There’s a lot of support for this.”

Liu introduced the measure in the state Senate on Jan. 9 as New York’s new legislative session kicked off, joining Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Democratic Assembly Majority Whip, in backing the bill. She first introduced it in that chamber shortly after the incident, and is carrying the measure there again this year.

“We believe it can pass this year as it will be a priority bill,” Bichotte Hermelyn said Wednesday.

The bill moved to the Assembly Judiciary committee on Jan. 7. The chairman of that committee, Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D), spoke out about the incident at Hofstra last year.

Lavine called for the New York State Board of Law Examiners to develop “a statewide emergency preparedness policy for all bar examination sites,” in a letter to the agency.

Lavine told Bloomberg Law Thursday the measure would receive “a full consideration” from the committee. The Senate Judiciary chairman, Democratic Sen. Luis R. Sepúlveda, didn’t immediately comment.

Examinees in the room where the emergency took place last year said afterward that no plan appeared to be in place, sparking a debate online and among lawyers about whether the state put administering the bar exam over someone’s health.

The bill could face pushback from the New York State Board of Law Examiners, which administers the test. The current version of the legislation would require the agency “to adopt emergency protocols — including stopping the exam clock and offering accommodations when emergencies arise before or during the bar exam, in order to protect examinee welfare and uphold the fairness and integrity of the examination process.”

The Board is “reviewing the bill,” Jessica McClung, its acting executive director, said.

The agency last year defended how the emergency at Hofstra was handled, with a spokesperson saying then that, “the priority was to obtain immediate aid to the stricken examinee, which is what occurred. Before a decision could be made to stop the exam, the exam session concluded.”

Liu said he’s reached out to the NYSBOLE and wants their input as the bill is negotiated throughout the next several months. The session began Jan. 7 and stretches through June. A spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the measure.

At least one of the other test-takers in the room at Hofstra last year welcomes the legislation.

“I still think about it,” the examinee, Caroline Johnson, said. “Any form of regulation or plan for an emergency I think is necessary.”