‘I can see the commercial now’: KIRO hosts push back on WA’s decision to waive bar exam for hundreds after Yakima mishap

KIRO host Spike O’Neill and KIRO fill-in host Greg Tomlin pushed back on the Washington Supreme Court’s decision to waive the bar exam requirement for hundreds of graduates who were unable to take the test due to technological issues at the Yakima Convention and Event Center last month, as reported by The Seattle Times.

Spike and Greg urged students to retake the test, noting that graduates were given the option to either accept the diploma privilege or voluntarily sit for the bar exam in September.

“The bar exam is there in part as a safeguard for the public,” Greg said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “Law school is much different. Passing law school is much different than passing the bar exam. It’s measuring competency, which seems like it might be crucial in the practice of law. And let’s make no mistake: this was a big screw-up, a fiasco on the state’s part, and so is this the best compromise? I would say no, on its surface.”

Spike said he took driver’s ed, but he still had to take a driving test to prove he could operate a car. Greg noted the other part of the controversy is that students who previously failed the bar exam have to take the one in September.

“But how many people would have failed this one, had they not been met with the technical difficulties?” Greg asked. “Surely there are some that are going to be practicing law out there that we’re not going to have passed the exam.”

Spike on why some students can’t wait to retake the bar exam: ‘They can’t have a livelihood till then’

Spike agreed, but pointed out some students had jobs waiting for them after the bar exam.

“What if someone is working for a law firm?” he asked. “They’ve got a job. It’s waiting, and they can’t get a bar exam until September. They can’t have a livelihood till then.”

Spike said his initial thought was to grant the diploma privilege, but have them come back and take the bar in September.

“What happens if you’re working for a firm?” he said. “You’re working on a case, because you’ve got a diploma privilege, but then you fail the bar — everything you’ve done for that case will come into question.”

“Yeah, it just sucks,” Greg responded. “But this doesn’t seem like the appropriate remedy to me.”

Spike warns attorneys who skip the bar: ‘If they win a case against me, I’m suing’

Spike implored students to retake the exam, warning that attorneys who never passed the bar could face lawsuits if they win cases.

“If they never go back and take it, if they win a case against me, I’m suing because you never passed the bar,” he said.

“I can see the commercial now on TV,” Greg replied. “In your case, was there an attorney practicing with diploma privilege?”

“Call us, we’ll sue,” Spike quipped.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3