The New York State Board of Law Examiners announced last week that the passing rate for graduates of New York’s 15 law schools taking the bar examination for the first time in July 2008 was 91.0%. This surpasses the historically high passing rate achieved by this same group who took the July 2007 examination by 2.8%.
The graduates of New York’s law schools again outperformed their counterparts who graduated from American Bar Association approved law schools outside of New York. The passing rate for graduates of such law schools who took the bar examination for the first time in New York this July was 90.0%. The Board examined a record 11,176 candidates during the two days of testing conducted on July 29-30, 2008. The passing rate for all candidates, including U. S. domestic-educated candidates and foreign-educated candidates, first time and repeat takers, was 74.7%. This represents a 4.1% increase in the overall passing rate from July 2007.
