A 8984: Requires the state board of law examiners to establish protocols for addressing emergencies that occur during the administration of the bar examination, and to provide testing accommodations for persons who have applied for examination for admission to practice and are the subject of, or a witness to, or are affected by the emergency.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8984 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY August 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to enacting the "Clock Should Stop Act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Clock 2 Should Stop Act". 3 § 2. Legislative intent. On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, a young woman 4 taking the New York State bar exam at a location at Hofstra University 5 suddenly suffered an apparent heart attack shortly before the scheduled 6 lunch break. The woman collapsed onto the floor, suffered impaired 7 breathing, and turned blue. Emergency help was summoned and subsequent- 8 ly, Hofstra Public Safety officers provided life-saving emergency care 9 to the woman, including CPR and defibrillation, until paramedics arrived 10 and transported the woman to a nearby hospital. It has been reported 11 that there was a delay in seeking assistance for the young woman. 12 Multiple other bar examination takers were present during the inci- 13 dent. Despite the occurrence of this medical emergency, the morning 14 session of the bar examination was not halted. The examination was 15 allowed to continue to the conclusion of the morning session, at which 16 time the other examination-takers were allowed to leave the room. These 17 same individuals were required to return to the scene of the emergency 18 an hour later and complete the afternoon session of the examination. 19 The legislature finds that there is a need to establish protocols to 20 address medical or other emergencies that occur during the adminis- 21 tration of the New York State bar examination. These protocols should 22 address measures taken to render assistance to an injured or ill person, 23 and address other conditions of the emergency, as well as measures to 24 provide testing accommodations to other examination-takers affected by 25 the emergency. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13598-03-5 
 A. 8984 2 1 § 3. The judiciary law is amended by adding a new section 460-a to 2 read as follows: 3 § 460-a. Special arrangements due to emergency. 1. The state board of 4 law examiners shall provide protocols for: 5 (a) addressing emergencies that occur immediately prior to or during 6 the administration of the bar examination, including during any routine- 7 ly scheduled lunch breaks; and 8 (b) providing testing accommodations for persons who have applied for 9 examination for admission to practice as an attorney and counsellor-at- 10 law and who are the subject of, are witness to or are affected by the 11 emergency or emergencies. 12 2. As used in this section, "emergency" includes: 13 (a) the medical emergency of a person who has applied for examination 14 for admission to practice as an attorney and counsellor-at-law; 15 (b) a criminal incident that directly and materially affects an exam- 16 ination location or the administration of the examination; and 17 (c) any natural or man-made disaster as contemplated by section twenty 18 of the executive law that directly and materially affects an examination 19 location or the administration of the examination. 20 3. The protocols required by this section shall include procedures to: 21 (a)(i) immediately seek medical assistance for any person who suffers 22 illness or a physical injury as a result of the emergency; 23 (ii) allow for the use of cell phones by examination proctors to be 24 used for the purpose of summoning emergency assistance; and 25 (iii) mandate an immediate pause of the examination timer when an 26 emergency is reported or observed, without delay, to uphold examinee 27 welfare and preserve the integrity of the testing process; 28 (b) ensure the prompt reporting of the incident, and to the extent 29 possible, the safety of persons present in the location of the emergen- 30 cy; and 31 (c) provide testing accommodations for persons taking the examination 32 in the same location who were affected by the occurrence of the emergen- 33 cy, including: 34 (i) providing additional time to complete the portion of the examina- 35 tion during which the emergency occurred to compensate for any time lost 36 as a result of the emergency or a response to the emergency; 37 (ii) allowing credit for those portions of the exam that were 38 completed prior to the occurrence of the emergency; and 39 (iii) allowing affected persons to re-take the examination, or a 40 portion thereof, at no additional fee and without penalty within six 41 months from original exam date. 42 4. (a) Any person provided a testing accommodation under paragraph (c) 43 of subdivision three of this section shall be required to provide proof 44 of attendance at the examination at the location where and on the date 45 when the emergency occurred. 46 (b) If a person elects to complete the examination on the date of the 47 emergency, a testing accommodation shall be allowed under paragraph (c) 48 of subdivision three of this section only in the event that the person 49 fails the examination due to such person's score on the portion of the 50 examination during which the emergency occurred or a subsequent portion 51 of the examination completed on the same date. 52 (c) No person shall be allowed more than one testing accommodation 53 under this section. 54 5. The retaking of an examination or any portion thereof pursuant to 55 this section shall not be deemed to constitute an examination for 
 A. 8984 3 1 purposes of the limit specified under section 6000.4(c) of the rules of 2 the state board of law examiners. 3 6. The state board of law examiners shall render an annual report on 4 the number of law examinees receiving testing accommodations pursuant to 5 this section, if any, and the types of testing accommodations provided. 6 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 7 have become a law; and shall apply to New York State bar examinations 8 administered on and after such effective date. Effective immediately, 9 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 10 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 11 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.