SAN FRANCISCO — The pass rate for July takers of the California Bar Exam fell to 46.6 percent, a 30-year low, according to figures released over the weekend.

The drop is modest compared to last year's, but continues a trend. The overall pass rate has fallen steadily since 2008, and saw its largest single-year drop in 2014, when it plummeted from 55.8 percent to just 48.6.

The sagging scores appear to confirm what many predicted: that the pool of would-be lawyers is dumbing down. The number and quality of law school applicants—based on numeric predictors such as law school admissions test scores and college grade-point averages—started to slip with the classes that entered law school in 2010, and have not rallied. Legal careers have lost some of their luster since the Great Recession dimmed job prospects and top students look to other fields, like tech, to make their mark.