For this year's February bar exam results, the University of Georgia and Georgia State University can both claim bragging rights.

UGA Law's six first-time takers achieved a 100% pass rate on the state bar exam, while GSU Law had the highest overall pass rate of Georgia law schools at 75%, which included repeat test takers.

The pass rates broken out by law school for the Georgia bar exam were released Monday by the state Office of Bar Admissions.

In another spot of good news, the pass rate for the 66 Georgia law school graduates taking the exam for the first-time increased to 65.2%—up from 62.3% last year.

“I see that as a real positive,” said Heidi Faenza, director of the state Office of Bar Admissions. “All the Georgia law schools have been making considerable efforts for the last few years in helping students prepare for the bar exam.”

Conversely, the pass rate for first-time exam takers who are graduates of out-of-state law schools dropped from 75.6% for last year's February exam to 66.7%.

The first-time pass rate for attorneys licensed in another state, who Faenza said usually perform strongly, also dropped, from 89.8% to 80.7%.

Consequently, the overall pass rate for all 246 first-time Georgia bar exam takers dipped from 70.4% in February 2018 to 65% for the February 2019 exam.

Faenza cautioned that the pool of exam-takers for the February exam is smaller than for the July one, which can “skew the percentages pretty strongly.”

|

Georgia First-Timers

UGA Law fielded six first-time test takers, who achieved the 100% pass rate.

“I extend my appreciation to the law school's hardworking bar passage study committee for its continued work,” said UGA Law's dean, Bo Rutledge, in an email. “We continue to stand alongside each and every one of our graduates in their pursuit to pass the bar.”

Georgia State University College of Law was second at 88.9%, followed by a tie between Emory University School of Law and Atlanta's John Marshall Law School at 54.5% for first-time exam takers.

Savannah Law School was next at 50%. Mercer University School of Law's two first-time exam takers didn't pass.

|

Overall Pass Rates

GSU Law's 75% total pass rate, which includes repeat test-takers, topped that of the state's other law schools. That included the highest pass rate for repeat exam-takers, at 63.6 percent. A total of 40 GSU Law graduates took the exam.

UGA Law placed second in overall bar passage at 53.8%. Savannah Law School was third overall at 44.4%, followed by Emory at 42.9%, Mercer at 32.4% and John Marshall at 32.1%.

The overall pass rate for all six Georgia law schools was 43.1%.

GSU Law's dean, Wendy Hensel, attributed the performance of her graduates to strong academic programming and a new academic support program to help current and former students prepare for the bar exam.

“We are committed to ensuring that each and every one of our students has the support and training that they need to pass the bar and be highly competent professionals,” Hensel said. “We have amazing students, and we are so proud of them.”