Supreme Court Order Sets Pathway Forward for Applicants
Updated Aug. 11, 2026: Options & Deadline for Applicants
Applicants affected by the July 2026 exam cancellation have four options: a conditional exam waiver for qualifying applicants, a fee-waived make-up exam September 1-2 at the Tacoma Convention Center in Tacoma, WA, a fee-waived transfer to the February 2027 exam, or withdrawal with a full refund. Applicants must notify WSBA of their election by noon PDT Aug. 14, 2026. WSBA is also finalizing a process for reimbursement of certain July 2026 exam-related costs, with details to follow soon. Full eligibility details and answers to common questions are available in our July 2026 NextGen Bar Exam FAQ.
Updated Aug. 6, 2026: A Statement from the WSBA President and Executive Director
The Washington Supreme Court today issued an order to provide solutions and clarity to applicants sitting for the July 2026 bar exam. The bar exam was canceled for the majority of applicants because of a technology failure, and we want to first acknowledge the impact on examinees: The amount of study and preparation—and the personal measures they undertook to show up at the venue—were momentous. We appreciate that the Court’s path forward comprises a careful consideration of all the circumstances with a focus on the applicants, as well as the importance of the admissions process; we at the WSBA are ready to implement the order.
Bar applicants, potential employers, and members of the legal and nonlegal communities will likely have different viewpoints on the Court’s resolution, which includes waivers and special exam makeup considerations. There is no perfect solution here, as the Court notes in its statement to applicants, but as leaders of the state bar, our underlying commitment is twofold:
- To ensure this group of aspiring lawyers enters the profession—and begins serving Washingtonians who need legal help—with no delay due to the exam-administration failure.
- To uphold the integrity of and public confidence in the profession, including our admissions processes.
The Court’s order delivers on the first commitment. With respect to the latter, we are actively pursuing a full, independent review of the July failure and working closely with the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The Court moved early to adopt the NextGen exam, so that Washington joined a group of nine other jurisdictions in July as the first wave to implement the new format, which better tests real-world lawyer skills and competency. We still believe in these goals and are working to ensure that future administrations run as expected.
We have reached out directly to all July 2026 bar-exam applicants with specific information about the order and how it applies to them. If you have questions, please refer to our FAQs or reach out to admissions@wsba.org.
Sincerely,
Terra Nevitt, Executive Director, and Francis Adewale, President
