–Ben Kwan, Attorney

As if the nation’s bar examinees didn’t have enough to worry about — last night, the company administering the process for any test-taker using his or her laptop to take yesterday’s essay portion of the exam experienced what could only be described as a major meltdown.  ExamSoft reports a problem at a “co-location,” causing a problem where bar examinees could not upload their exam files.  This caused panic, as states like Minnesota impose a same-day deadline for examinees to take their laptops home after the test, get online, and upload the secure, locked-down exam files from the test.

Social media — Twitter, in particular — came in handy as ExamSoft kept examinees updated regarding the problems, and informing them of extended deadlines.  Minnesota, for example, extended the upload deadline until this morning at 8 a.m.

David Lat and the good people over at Above the Law asked whether this debacle was “The Biggest Bar Exam Disaster Ever?”  Lat reports that it is the biggest foible in his eight years covering the bar exam on Above the Law.  Lat and his team updated their blog late into the night and one writer shared Tweet updates later than that.

A glance of the state of Minnesota’s website for the board of bar examiners doesn’t reveal any helpful or reassuring messages for test-takers regarding yesterday’s meltdown.  It goes to show that today, when problems arise, social media and the greater web community are the best places to find answers.

Today, examinees in most states are sitting through six hours of multiple choice questions — 200 in all.

Any of our lawyer-devotees have a disastrous bar exam story you’d like to share?  If not, sit back, think back, and be glad you’re not sweating through that beast again.  And to the bar examinees out there — by the time you see this, the thing will be done.  CONGRATULATIONS!