By Karen Sloan

July 14 (Reuters) - Testing vendor Meazure Learning has agreed to pay $5.25 million to the State Bar of California to settle a lawsuit the agency filed after its problem-plagued February 2025 bar exam, the state bar said Monday.

Meazure Learning will also forgo an outstanding $1.36 million payment from the state bar as part of the settlement, ending more than a year of legal wrangling over the delivery of the exam, which was marred by multiple technical problems. The settlement agreement calls for the state bar to dismiss its lawsuit within two days of receiving payment from Meazure.

In a statement, State Bar General Counsel Ellin Davtyan called the settlement a “reasonable, appropriate, and acceptable resolution” that helps to offset the costs the state bar incurred after the botched exam.

Meazure Learning continues to deny any liability or wrongdoing, a company spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. But the settlement allows it to “avoid the time, expense, and distraction of protracted litigation.”

The state bar sued Meazure in May 2025, alleging the company failed to live up to its promises that its systems could handle thousands of bar examinees. The bar signed a $4.1 million contract with the company in September 2024 to administer the February and future exams, to be given both remotely and in person. The new format was meant to reduce the cost of administering the attorney licensing exam by eliminating the need to rent out large event spaces.

However, February 2025 test-takers encountered widespread technical and logistical problems. Some examinees were unable to log into the bar exam at all, while many experienced delays, lax exam security, distracting proctors, and a faulty copy-and-paste function.

A California State Auditor report released Thursday concluded that the February 2025 bar exam cost the state bar at least $5.1 million, with an additional $4 million in lost revenue from fee waivers and exam refunds for test takers. The audit also found that the state bar contracted with Meazure without fully verifying the company’s ability to effectively deliver the exam.

California returned to in-person testing following the exam, and the state bar’s Board of Trustees in May recommended to the California Supreme Court that the state begin using the NextGen bar exam developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners starting in July 2028. That exam is also only given in person.

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