back to article Alleged buggy software wrongly flunks wannabe lawyers from bar exam. What happened next won't shock you

A California software company is being sued after its product mistakenly flunked more than 90 would-be attorneys taking their bar exam. The class-action lawsuit was filed in a Georgia state court against ILG Information Technologies of Mountain View, California. It seeks damages on behalf of the law students who were told they …

  1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. sjsmoto

    I hope the all of the newly minted lawyers get exactly what their future clients would get - one coupon good for $10 off any ILG test.

  3. Wommit

    Lawer prevention

    surely that's a feature.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lawer prevention

      It's a bonus!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Except when otherwise stated in writing the copyright holders and/or other parties provide the program 'as is' without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

    Surely no respectable software company would have forgotten to add such a standard clause in its license?

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      They might have

      But it wouldn't have helped. That only pops up when the purchaser of the software goes to install it.

      The wannabee lawyers would not have seen it, therefore they have fair grounds to sue.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @MrDamage

        "The wannabee lawyers would not have seen it, therefore they have fair grounds to sue."

        I'm actually not too sure about that, though I don't want to pretend to know exactly how the law works in this manner. But it would be more logical for these students to sue the institute which held the exams. The software may have caused the mistake, but it was the institute itself which eventually didn't pass them. So it seems more logical to me to put the blame on the institution.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: @MrDamage

          "So it seems more logical to me to put the blame on the institution."

          Maybe they thought the software company had more money. Or the institute had strong T&Cs.

  5. Martin Summers Silver badge

    Ha! The irony is just delicious.

  6. tfewster
    Facepalm

    Easy target?

    It's notable that they didn't sue the Georgia state bar (who have too much clout and their own lawyers), but went after the subcontractor who administered the test. Was there really a contract in place between the wannabes & the subcontractor?

    Need a popcorn icon --->

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Did it also work in reverse?

    Did they license lawyers who flunked the exam? Bet they won't sue!

  8. JustNiz

    Passing the bar is overrated.

    I can honestly say that Its much better to stop in every one.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Passing the bar is overrated.

      Possibly not even legal in Hobart, Tasmania. A lawyer friend chastised me not too long ago for passing the Victoria Tavern "on a designated drinking day" without going in for a drink.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Easiest. First. Case. Ever.

    1. DNTP

      "Hey guys, I'm such an awesome lawyer that I did an honors project instead of taking the final exam. My project was suing the examiners."

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Headmaster

    Quite common in my experience

    Dodgy on-line examination software is quite common in my experience. Recently did a vendor certification exam: 25 multiple-choice questions so my percentage score should be a multiple of 4, right? Nope.

    Maybe some questions count for more than others (although they didn't say this)? Still nope - managed to score 62.04%. No idea how they got the .04%.

    [Teacher icon, because]

    1. DonL

      Re: Quite common in my experience

      "Maybe some questions count for more than others"

      Correct, they often assign a different weight to certain subjects. I agree that it's not always transparent. But with the complexity in scoring, there is an increased risk of errors.

      Makes me wonder whether the lawyers didn't just marginally pass the test and a small error (wrong weight assignment) made the score a fail instead of a pass. I wouldn't want to sue and have my name mentioned in the court documents in that case though ;)

    2. MiguelC Silver badge

      Re: Quite common in my experience

      Often there are different scores for each of the multiple choices, most points for the correct answer and lesser scores going from the least wrong to the most wrong (or even negative points for incorrect answers)

      The problem is that the scoring system isn’t always explained

  11. Mark 85

    The Bar Association and a contractor..... and things went pear-shaped.

    Since this is second time and different contractor, I'd be curious what the specs from the Bar showed. And any amendments to the specifications. Once is understandable, twice however, is not. There's a hole in the system in Georgia.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Re: The Bar Association and a contractor..... and things went pear-shaped.

      There's a hole in the system in Georgia.

      [singing]

      There's a hole in the system, dear Georgia, dear Georgia

      There's a hole in the system, dear Georgia, a hole!

      [/singing]

      1. Graham Lockley

        Re: The Bar Association and a contractor..... and things went pear-shaped.

        Well fix it dear Henry

        1. Pompous Git Silver badge

          Re: The Bar Association and a contractor..... and things went pear-shaped.

          Well fix it dear Henry

          My name is not Henry

          Dear Graham, dear Graham...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Bar Association and a contractor..... and things went pear-shaped.

      That's actually a good point. If the company can prove that the software conforms to the requirements specified by the customer, and that the customer signed off to say that it was OK, then they should be in the clear.

      However this requires a clear documentation trail being kept by the company. In my experience, not many software houses are that careful.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "not make the same errors going forward."

    Twatspeak. Whats wrong with "not make the same errors again"?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "not make the same errors going forward."

      It leaves the option open of making more errors going sideways.

      1. David 132 Silver badge
        Happy

        Re: "not make the same errors going forward."

        It leaves the option open of making more errors going sideways.

        Now you're just being crabby.

  13. Jos V

    From the ILG website...

    "ILG's Electronic Bar Admission Solution is designed specifically for state bar admission offices and currently used by Illinois, Missouri and New Jersey bar admission offices and in implementation phase for Georgia Office of Bar Admissions."

    I'm guessing they won't go much beyond the implementation phase there.

    And they call themselves ILG Information Technologies, but their homepage is one giant Flash thing. So much for that credibility.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    ILG Bar Exam360 software by ILG Technologies

    'Exam360 software by ILG Technologies will be used during the Essay'

  15. frobnicate
    Trollface

    It would be a nice turn

    if in the course of the trial it were found that they didn't pass the bar after all.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well on the other hand....

    I sure as hell hope that the issue with scoring hasn't PASSED a truck load of the buggers that really shouldn't be practising law....

    1. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

      Re: PASSED a truck load of the buggers that really shouldn't be practising law

      Consider the scenario where the Class Action was instigated using a lawyer who could potentially fall into that category. Would he/she need to withdraw on grounds of "conflict of interest"?

      (Win the case and find out they might have been scored incorrectly themselves OR lose the case to hide a possible investigation of whether or not they passed the exams).

  17. hayzoos
    Joke

    Class action lawsuits are getting ridiculous. Now we have only lawyers benefiting from them.

  18. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Lets just hope that....

    ...ILG Technologies don't run similar exam systems to qualify insurers or they may find their liability insurance is no longer valid.

  19. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    How are these two statements compatible? (Unless you're a lawyer)

    "There has been no problem with the software and services provided to the Georgia Board of Bar Examiners."

    and:

    "We have conducted a thorough investigation and have confirmed the causes of the errors in the scoring process," the Georgia Office of Bar Admissions said. "Those have been corrected and we are establishing procedures to ensure we will not make the same errors going forward."

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