Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on nearly every aspect of life starting in 2020. Existing research measuring the relationship between COVID restrictions and academic performance has found significant harm across numerous settings. This first-of-its-kind study is designed to measure if a similar phenomenon is present with performance on state bar exams taken by law school graduates. The counterintuitive results from this study—that more restrictive COVID lockdowns correlated with improved bar examination performance—spark discussion regarding lockdowns, legal education, remote learning pedagogy, and the bar exam. Furthermore, the findings of this study will hopefully serve as a powerful catalyst to spark productive debate regarding the inherent tradeoffs involved in pandemic policies. This comes at an opportune time as we are currently at a critical juncture of relevant events. These include rising online teaching modalities in the twenty-first century, a growing movement to abolish the bar exam, the threat of artificial intelligence replacing some aspects of the practice of law, increasing salience regarding race and educational outcomes, and a movement to diminish the importance of higher education.
Recommended Citation
Michael Conklin,
Zoom to the Bar: How Law School Remote Instruction Affected Bar Exam Performance,
49
S. Ill. U. L.J.
293
(2025).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol49/iss2/8