Feb. Bar Passage Rates

Thanks to Bunny for this article:

35.3 percent pass the February bar exam

The Committee of Bar Examiners announced last month
that 35.3 percent of the would-be lawyers who took the
February bar exam passed. That rate compares with the
37.5 percent pass rate for the February 2003 exam.

If the 1,550 successful test-takers satisfy other
requirements for admission to the bar, they will boost
the number of attorneys in California to more than
197,000.

Of the 4,386 applicants, 1,310 (29.9 percent) were
first timers. Of those, 46.6 percent passed.

The committee also announced that 191 � 54.1 percent �
of the 353 lawyers who took the attorneys� exam
passed. That percentage compares with 60.7 percent for
the February 2003 exam.

Because of two mishaps during the exam � flooding in
Pasadena due to heavy rains and a statewide computer
glitch for some laptop users � the bar asked
professional test consultants to determine whether
some scores should be adjusted.

The experts concluded that the test scores of laptop
users in Pasadena were essentially what they would
have been had there been no flooding. Those
individuals received no adjustment.

Candidates who experienced a more than five-minute
delay because of the computer glitch were awarded
additional points as a function of how long a delay
they experienced.

The committee said it �believes that it has taken
appropriate steps to adjust the scores of those who
were impacted by� the two mishaps.