'Error' leads to more than a dozen law school graduates receiving incorrect Kentucky Bar Exam results

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kirk Mattingly was told that he failed the Kentucky Bar Exam on Monday.

Three days later, he found out that he had actually passed.

"I was really bummed out because I did really well in law school and studied a lot for the test," he said. "I felt like I probably passed, so it was kind of a surprise to get the email."

Mattingly was among a group of 18 people who received incorrect pass/fail exam results from the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions (KYOBA). Fifteen people who were initially told they had passed found out Thursday they had actually failed. Mattingly and two others who were told they failed learned they had passed.

"As you are probably aware, an error accord for a limited number of applicants during the data entry of October Remote Bar Exam Scores," the office said in an email to the 323 individuals who took the exam. "If your score was affected you will be individually contacted by this office."

Mattingly said the three days of disappointment were devastating, and he feels for those who had it the other way around.

"The test was cancelled like twice and moved around, so the whole process was kind of stressful," he added. "This was the cherry on top for a lot of people.”

The KYOBA apologized for and explained the error in a statement:

"The scoring error occurred when an applicant identifier was entered into a database spreadsheet twice, causing a limited number of other applicants’ scores to be misaligned and assigned to the wrong applicant. The Office of Bar Admissions worked immediately to investigate and correct the error, which unfortunately resulted in eighteen applicants having been informed incorrectly about their Bar Exam results. Three applicants who had been informed they did not pass the exam were told yesterday they had passed. Fifteen applicants who had been informed they passed the exam were told yesterday that they did not pass."

According to the statement, the Board of Bar Examiners and Supreme Court have waived all application fees for the 15 individuals who were affected by the error to retake the Bar Exam in February.

"I want to apologize to every applicant affected by the incorrect Kentucky Bar Exam results that were issued by my office earlier this week," said Valetta Browne, executive director of the KYOBA, in the statement. "I know that no apology can undo the anguish and disappointment that these bar examinees and their families have endured. We sincerely regret this mistake, which was the result of a data entry error."

Sam Marcosson, a professor at the University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, has heard from a handful of his students who were negatively impacted by the error. He said he knows humans make mistakes, but that there should have been something in place to prevent what happened.

"They didn’t have checks in place to make sure that they had the right numbers for each of the test takers before they told them what their results were," he said. "That’s where I find it difficult to accept.

"... It's so important, to me and everyone who is involved in this, that steps are taken to absolutely assure that this doesn't happen again."