February 2021 Bar Examination and the Coronavirus Pandemic

The February 2021 Bar Examination is scheduled to be conducted on February 23 - 24, 2021.  As it did for the July 2020 Examination, the Supreme Court of South Carolina has determined that the February Bar 2021 Examination will be conducted as a live, in-person examination.  The Supreme Court will continue to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic, including state and federal directives and guidance, to determine if this Examination can be safely conducted, and will impose appropriate measures to mitigate the risks posed by the pandemic.

For the July 2020 Examination, various mitigation measures were imposed as reflected by the Order of the Supreme Court dated July 2, 2020, which is available at https://www.sccourts.org/whatsnew/displaywhatsnew.cfm?indexID=2517.  The Supreme Court intends to impose similar measures for the February 2021 Examination, and additional enhancements to the measures are being considered, such as requiring applicants to be tested for COVID-19 shortly before the Examination, to further reduce the risk.

The Supreme Court is aware that applicants may be hesitant to take the Examination in February due to the risk posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, or that some applicants may not desire to take the Examination under the mitigation measures which will be imposed.  Therefore, if an applicant withdraws his or her application to sit for the February 2021 Bar Examination by January 29, 2021, the applicant will be allowed to apply for the July 2021 Bar Examination without paying any additional filing fee.

The Supreme Court deeply regrets the impact the COVID-19 crisis will have on the applicants taking the February 2021 Bar Examination.