Initial Bar Passage Results Impressive

Since midsummer, most recent law graduates have been chewing their fingernails and putting life on hold as they await word that bar exam results have been posted. For a lucky few, their animated suspension ended this week with the release of bar passage news. 

Initial bar passage rates for 2008 Pierce Law graduates are "nothing less than impressive," says Mary Sheffer, director of Career Services.  "29 of our students sat for the New Hampshire bar in July. Of those, 27 passed, giving a bar passage rate of 93%.  Traditionally the average bar passage rate in this state hovers around 77%.

"We have also heard from Iowa, Maine, Oregon and Vermont.  Our rate of passage in those states, where up to 3 of our students sat, the rate is a remarkable 100%."

In each jurisdiction reporting thus far, Pierce Law graduates passed the bar exam at a rate nearly 20 points higher than the state's norm.

"Of course, these stats are for only for about one-third of our 2008 graduates, but I expect to be reporting more good news in the coming weeks," Sheffer continues.

Generally, U.S. bar passage runs between 65 and 70 percent among all first-time test-takers.  Pierce Law graduates consistently pass at significantly higher rates.