Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

 

Page 1

 

Mere 26.8 Percent of Applicants Pass February State Bar Exam

Rate Is Lowest Since 1951

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

The results of the February State Bar exam shows the lowest passage rate since 1951: a mere 26.8 percent.

Only 1,128 of the 4,205 applicants passed the exam.

Among those who had not previously taken and flunked it, the success rate was 38 percent, and for repeaters—who comprised 71.6 percent of those tested—it was 22 percent.

There were 417 out-of-state attorneys who took a one-day exam; 163 of them—39.1 percent—passed.

The State Bar provided these figures, on releasing the results Friday night:

 

 

State Bar Interim Executive Director Donna Hershkowitz said that a plan was being submitted to the California Supreme Court yesterday telling of a work plan for administering the exam on Sept. 9 and 10—postponed from July when it is normally conducted in light of the pandemic.

“For the long term, the State Bar has recently completed several studies that we hope will contribute meaningfully to informed discussion around a future direction for the California bar exam,” she noted.

Admissions ceremonies will not be held. New admittees will be sent oath cards which they must sign and return to the State Bar.

 

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