FAQs | School of Law

Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Is there a deadline to request accommodations?
While we work with students on a case-by-case, class-by-class basis, we strongly recommend that you complete the process of having your letters issued within the first two weeks of the term, especially if you have any midterm exams. To ensure testing accommodations are in place for final exams, accommodation letters should be provided no later than November 1 (Fall) and April 1 (Spring). Accommodation requests made on short notice will be attempted but cannot be guaranteed.
Do I have to request accommodation letters every semester?
Yes. UC Davis requires that you request new letters each semester on a class-by-class basis once services are established. You request letters through the My SDC Online student portal.
I’ve never had accommodations in the past, but I think I have a disability and need accommodations in law school – what should I do?
We sometimes see law students who have “self-managed” their disability prior to law school, struggle without accommodations when they are in law school. Begin by visiting the SDC website to learn about the UC Davis accommodations process and by discussing your situation with your medical or mental health provider. Your medical or mental health provider will need to verify your disability and complete the required documentation from the SDC website. Most providers will need to get to know your situation sufficiently to complete the documentation. The type of provider you contact will depend on the nature of your disability or medical condition.

If you do not currently have a provider, you might start with a physician or mental health counselor at Student Health and Counseling Services or with King Hall’s embedded counselor at counseling@law.ucdavis.edu. You may also find a provider through your health insurance.

During these initial stages, you may also find it helpful to reach out to the law school’s SDC liaison, Abby Tilden at atilden@ucdavis.edu to discuss your circumstances and learn more about the documentation requirements. Dean Scivoletto can be reached at escivoletto@ucdavis.edu and may also be a helpful resource.
I’ve never had accommodations in the past, but I think I have a disability and need accommodations in law school – what should I do?
We sometimes see law students who have “self-managed” their disability prior to law school, struggle without accommodations when they are in law school. Begin by visiting the SDC website to learn about the UC Davis accommodations process and by discussing your situation with your medical or mental health provider. Your medical or mental health provider will need to verify your disability and complete the required documentation from the SDC website. Most providers will need to get to know your situation sufficiently to complete the documentation. The type of provider you contact will depend on the nature of your disability or medical condition.

If you do not currently have a provider, you might start with a physician or mental health counselor at Student Health and Counseling Services or with King Hall’s embedded counselor at counseling@law.ucdavis.edu. You may also find a provider through your health insurance.

During these initial stages, you may also find it helpful to reach out to the law school’s SDC liaison, Abby Tilden at atilden@ucdavis.edu to discuss your circumstances and learn more about the documentation requirements. Dean Scivoletto can be reached at escivoletto@ucdavis.edu and may also be a helpful resource.
My disability has changed, and my accommodations are no longer adequate. How can I update or modify my accommodations?
Please reach out to your SDC Disability Specialist to discuss your needs.
Will my professors know I receive accommodations?
At UC Davis School of Law, professors are automatically notified about classroom accommodations, but not exam accommodations. Your professor may approach you (or vice versa) to discuss how to best implement your classroom accommodations – and that’s okay, but we ask that you please refrain from discussing your testing accommodations with your professor as doing so may compromise anonymity under our blind grading policy. If you believe your classroom or exam accommodations need to be adjusted, please contact your SDC Specialist to discuss your needs, not your professor.
Will my classmates know I receive accommodations?
While accommodations are confidential, it is possible your classmates may deduce that you receive classroom or exam accommodations because you may be using adaptive technology in the classroom, taking your exams in a different location, etc. Each year over 100 students at King Hall receive accommodations in some form. Accommodations are designed to ensure equitable educational opportunities for the students that need them, so don’t be afraid to talk with SDC about what is best for you!
Where do I report accessibility barriers or other concerns?
Accessibility on campus is everyone’s responsibility. Most concerns or issues can be resolved quickly and reporting helps with that process. Please contact your Disability Specialist, the Law School Registrar’s Office, or Dean Scivoletto, depending on the nature of your concerns.

Questions about Classroom Accommodations

Is it okay to talk to my professor about my classroom accommodations?
Yes, it is okay to talk to your professor about your classroom accommodations, especially if doing so would help your professor implement an accommodation more effectively. Because we have a blind grading policy (professors grade exams without knowing which student wrote which exam), please do not discuss your exam accommodations with your professors. If you believe your accommodations need to be adjusted, please contact your SDC Specialist, not your professor.
Instead of recording class myself, I would prefer a recording made by our IT Department – is that possible?
No, your approved accommodation is for you to create a recording of the lecture using assistive technology. If you need assistance with getting the right technology tools to self-record effectively, please contact your SDC Disability Specialist.
My professor is not providing accessible course materials as required by my classroom accommodations – what should I do?
Please alert the Law School Registrar’s Office immediately so we can work with your professor. King Hall faculty members want to assist students and provide the accommodations, but sometimes need assistance or reminders to do so. The Law School Registrar’s Office can work with them so you can focus on the course and your learning objectives.

Questions about Exam Accommodations

Is it okay to talk to my professor about my exam accommodations?
No, because we have blind grading (professors grade exams without knowing which student wrote which exam), please do not discuss your exam accommodations with your professors. If you believe your accommodations need to be adjusted, please contact your SDC Specialist, not your professor.
I have an exam coming up – what do I need to do to ensure my approved accommodations are in place?
The Law School Registrar’s Office will work with you directly to ensure your approved exam accommodations are in place for midterms and final exams.

For timed/proctored exams:

• Please check the exam schedule on the intranet a week or two in advance. If your exam is listed on the exam schedule and you submitted an accommodation letter for that class, you can safely assume that the Law School Registrar’s Office will automatically implement your approved testing accommodations. (See FAQs below for more information about what to expect.)

• If your professor is having a timed assessment not listed on the exam schedule, such as an in-class quiz or informal practice exam, please reach out to the Law School Registrar’s Office so we can coordinate your exam accommodations

For take-home exams:

• Please check the exam schedule on the intranet a week or two in advance. If the exam duration is less than 24 hours, your usual exam accommodations would apply. So, for example, if the take-home exam is 3 hours long, and you receive 50% time plus a 10-minute break every 2 hours, your exam would need to be completed in 4.5 hours, plus you would be able to take two 10-minute breaks. If you have any questions about how to calculate your time, please reach out to the Law School Registrar’s Office. Take-home exams are generally distributed via Canvas and then students submit their answer file via email to a special Box email. The Box emails are managed by administrative staff to preserve blind-grading anonymity, so your professor and classmates will not be made aware of anyone's timing, unless there is an honor code concern.

•If the exam duration is more than 24 hours, typically your exam accommodations would not apply because the exam is designed to be universally accessible, so students with exam accommodations would have the same submission deadline as the rest of the class. An example of a universal design assessment would be a take-home exam where your professor anticipates the exam will take 3 hours to complete, but has given everyone 24 hours. If you have any concerns about completing the exam within the allocated time based on your disability or other accommodation needs, please reach out to the Registrar’s Office or your SDC Specialist.
Where will my exams take place if I have testing accommodations?
It depends:

• Some students have the accommodation “SDC administers exams.” If you have this accommodation, ALL of your exams will take place at SDC’s Accommodated Exam Services Testing Center (“AES”).

• If you don’t have this accommodation, some of your exams will take place at King Hall and others will take place at AES, depending on room and proctor availability, as determined by the Law School Registrar’s Office. We are not able to accommodate preferences regarding testing location. You will receive email notice from the Law School Registrar’s Office, generally a week or two in advance of the midterm or final exam period, confirming the building where each of your exams will be administered.

Please review the FAQs below for more information about both testing locations.
What do I need to know about taking exams at SDC’s Accommodated Exam Services Testing Center (AES) – where is it located, what should I bring, and what else do I need to know?
AES is located in the 1128 Cowell Building. Enter through one of the building’s southern entrances closest to Cruess Hall. (This is the same building where SDC is located, but SDC has a different entrance.) AES is a .7 mile walk from King Hall or you can drive and park in either the lot by Russell Field (Russell Blvd/California Ave) or the Quad Structure (Russell Blvd/Howard Way). There are C, C+, A, and disabled spaces available. UC Davis also has a Mobility Assistance Shuttle for students with documented disabilities and wheelchair accessible rides are available through the UC Davis Police Department SafeRides service. We recommend visiting AES in advance of your exams to familiarize yourself with the space and how to get there.

In advance of your exam, you will receive an auto-generated email inviting you to confirm your exam schedule in the SDC portal. You will get a separate email notification for each exam, generally a week or two in advance. Please log on to My SDC Online to confirm your exams. Confirming your exam helps the AES team plan for your exam and ensure there is an appropriate testing space available.

On the day of your exam, you will check in at the AES front desk with your student ID. Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes before your exam is scheduled to begin. Please bring your laptop with a fully charged battery in case there isn’t an outlet near your desk, as well as your usual exam supplies (laptop, charger, pens, etc.). AES has ear plugs available near the front desk, and bluebooks are available at the front desk by request if you prefer to handwrite or have technical issues during your exam and need to handwrite. You are welcome to bring closed containers with water or other drinkable liquid (e.g. coffee, juice, smoothie) into the exam rooms. If you are bringing food to eat on a break and you will be in a room with other exam-takers, please pack your food in such a way that you can quietly retrieve it while exiting the room. If you experience any issues during your exam, please go to the front desk for assistance.
What do I need to know about taking accommodated exams at King Hall – where do I go, what should I bring, and what else do I need to know?
If you have an exam at King Hall, you will be assigned to a testing room by the Law School Registrar’s Office. Two (2) days in advance of your exam, you will receive an email with instructions about specifically which room to report to and the arrival/start time for your exam. You will receive one email per exam.

On the day of your exam, you will go directly to your assigned exam room. Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes before your exam is scheduled to begin. Please bring your laptop with a fully charged battery in case there isn’t an outlet near your desk, as well as your usual exam supplies (laptop, charger, pens, etc.). Ear plugs and bluebooks will be available if you prefer to handwrite or have technical issues during your exam and need to handwrite. You are welcome to bring closed containers with water or other drinkable liquid (e.g. coffee, juice, smoothie) into the exam rooms. If you are bringing food to eat on a break and you will be in a room with other exam-takers, please pack your food in such a way that you can quietly retrieve it while exiting the room. If you experience any issues during your exam, please go to the Registrar’s Office for assistance.
What time does my exam start if I have testing accommodations?
In general, exams for students with testing accommodations begin at the same time as the standard start time listed on the exam schedule, however there are a few exceptions:

• For exams in the afternoon/evening, we often schedule an earlier start time, so you are not testing late into the evening hours.

• For classes with many students who have different testing accommodations, we often have to stagger start times to allow the proctor time to move from room. For example, we may have a group that starts at 9:00, another group starting at 9:15, and a third at 9:30 – for the same class.

• For midterms: sometimes taking the midterm at the same time as the class is not feasible (such as when you have another class immediately afterwards and there would not be enough time to take the midterm with your extended time accommodation and get to your next class on time). If this is the case, please reach out to the Law School Registrar’s Office at least a week in advance and we will work with you to make alternate arrangements.

Please be sure to arrive on time for your exam (at least 15 min prior to the start time); students who arrive late will not recoup the time lost.
Am I allowed to access materials saved on my hard drive during exams?
No, if your professor has designated the exam as “secure,” you may NOT access materials on your hard drive during the exam and must print your materials in advance (see note below). The exam schedule on the Intranet indicates whether your professor has designated an exam as “secure” or not. Nearly all exams at UC Davis School of Law are designated as “secure.”

Please note: To make the “suspend” option available to students with an accommodation allowing them to pause their exam and take breaks, we must use an unlocked version of the Examplify testing software. This means that technically your hard drive access will not be disabled, even though it has been disabled for your classmates. However, it is a violation of the Code of Conduct if you access your hard drive for any reason, unless your professor has explicitly allowed everyone in your class to do so.
I have breaks as an accommodation – is there anything I should do in advance of exams?
For students who have breaks as an accommodation, please be sure to take the “Mock_Exam_S” in advance of your first exam to ensure your accommodations are working correctly in Examplify this semester. Please refer to the email from the Law School Registrar’s Office titled "Action Required - Confirm Your Testing Accommodation & Complete Steps 1-3." If you fail to test Examplify by completing the three steps detailed in this email and Examplify does not work correctly during a real exam, there is nothing we can do to correct it mid-exam or afterwards.

We also recommend that in advance of each exam, you calculate how many breaks you will have, because you will be responsible during the exam for timing your breaks according to your approved accommodation. For example:

• Your approved exam accommodations include 50% time (time-and-a-half) and a 10-minute break for every 2 hours of testing time.

• The standard testing time for this exam is 3 hours.

• So, you would have 4.5 hours of testing time, plus two 10-minute breaks.

If you have any questions about how to calculate your time, please reach out to either the Law School Registrar’s Office or your SDC Specialist. Your exam proctor will also be able to assist on the day of your exam, if needed. Please note that breaks are time to rest, use the bathroom, step outside for a breather, or have a snack; breaks are not active testing time. During a break, students should suspend their exam and refrain from outlining or writing exam responses, reading through exam or class materials, or otherwise working on their exam.
May I opt out of using my accommodations for an exam?
While we don’t recommend doing this, if you decide to forgo using your accommodation for an exam, please notify the Law School Registrar’s Office at least 24 hours in advance so we can update your Examplify settings. Please be advised that if you opt out of using your accommodations, you will not have your usual extended time or breaks and you will not be able to change your mind mid-exam. Opting out of approved exam accommodations may trigger a file review and adjustment of accommodations permanently.

Bar Exam and Employment Questions

Will future employers know I received accommodations in law school?
No, your transcript will not contain any mention of accommodations you received in law school.
If I get accommodations in law school, will I also qualify for accommodations for the Bar exam?
Not necessarily. Most state Bar Associations have very specific requirements for the granting of accommodations for the Bar exam, which often exceed law school requirements. Depending on the type of accommodation, this typically includes documentation by a qualified medical or mental health professional, accompanied by a comprehensive psychological evaluation and written report, completed within the past five years. You should check with your state Bar as early as possible to find out what is required, as it may take several months to acquire the necessary reports.
I was diagnosed with ADHD years ago. Do I still need psychological testing done to support my petition for accommodations for the Bar?
Check your state Bar’s website for requirements. For example, the CA Bar requires a psychological evaluation and written report completed within the past five years to accompany Form D: ADHD Verification. The qualifying professional needs to verify not only the diagnosis, but more importantly, the functional impairments it causes, and these can change over time. It’s also helpful to attach previous reports that were completed, if possible, to substantiate the history of the condition. For other states, please check their Bar Association’s specific requirements.
Is ADHD the only qualifying disability for accommodations for the Bar?
No. Other conditions, including physical, learning disorders and psychological disabilities may also qualify. The CA Bar has verification forms for each of these types of disabilities. Click here for more information.
How do I get a psychological evaluation required for Bar accommodations? When should I have this done?
The professionals qualified to provide a psychological evaluation typically include Clinical Psychologists, Neuropsychologists, and Psychiatrists. You can ask your SDC Specialist for a list of evaluators, some of whom take SHIP insurance and some who do not.

If you have SHIP insurance, SHIP will cover the cost of the evaluation by an in-network provider after the student pays the required deductible (has been $100 in the past but check with Insurance Services as this number may change from year to year). You will need a referral for “psychoeducational testing” from an UC Davis/SHCS doctor or counselor to get this service authorized. For more information, contact King Hall’s embedded Psychologist/Counselor at counseling@law.ucdavis.edu. SHIP might also provide reimbursement for an out-of-network evaluation on a 60/40 split. Check with Insurance Services for more information.

If you do not have SHIP insurance, check with your insurance policy whether psychological testing is covered and if they can provide referrals for an in-network evaluator, or reimbursement for an out-of-network provider. Otherwise, you would likely have to pay out of pocket.

You should allow for a minimum of two months for the process. The evaluator might be scheduled out several weeks and take several more after the evaluation is conducted to produce the report and complete the Bar forms.
What does the psychological evaluation entail?
These evaluations are lengthy, and often occur over two days. They typically involve a thorough clinical interview, several hours of psychological testing, and several questionnaires to be completed by the student and someone who knows the student well. The evaluator then writes a comprehensive report with results and recommendations.
How do I apply for accommodations for the MPRE?
The MPRE delineates requirements for requesting accommodations separate from the State Bar. It is recommended to check the NCBE website here to familiarize yourself with the requirements prior to registering for the exam.