Bar Exams, Law Schools

After Years Of Terrible Bar Passage Rates, Another Law School Makes Bar Prep Courses A Graduation Requirement

What is the school's motivation for doing this?

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graph chart down downward dip plunge recession depressionAside from raising its admissions criteria to make sure entering students stand a chance to be successful on the bar exam, what can a law school do during prior to graduation to make sure students don’t fail the test — and perhaps and cost the school its accreditation? Given the plummeting bar passage rates nationwide, many law schools, especially those whose students are at risk of failing the test, have made bar preparation courses a graduation requirement.

We recently learned that Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School is the latest to institute such a graduation requirement. How poorly are the school’s graduates doing on the bar exam that such a program was necessary? Georgia’s results from the July 2016 administration of the exam are due out this afternoon, but here’s a historical look at some statistics from the past few years, courtesy of the Georgia Office of Bar Admissions.

In July 2015, 64.6 percent of examinees passed the Georgia exam, while 73.5 percent of first-time takers passed. That summer, 35.9 percent of all John Marshall graduates passed the exam, while 50.0 percent of first-time takers from the school passed.

In July 2014, 73.7 percent of examinees passed the Georgia exam, while 80.2 percent of first-time takers passed. That summer, 51.6 percent of all John Marshall graduates passed the exam, while 59.6 percent of first-time takers from the school passed.

In July 2013, 79.7 percent of examinees passed the Georgia exam, while 85.7 percent of first-time takers passed. That summer, 63.6 percent of all John Marshall graduates passed the exam, while 67.1 percent of first-time takers from the school passed.

Since July 2013, the overall percentage of examinees who passed the Georgia exam has dropped by 15.1 points, and the percentage of first-time takers who passed the exam has dropped by 12.2 points. Since, the overall percentage of John Marshall graduates who passed the Georgia bar exam has dropped by 27.7 points, and the percentage of first-time takers from the school who passed the exam has dropped by 17.1 points.

Here’s some information we received from a source who currently attends John Marshall Law, who referred to the school was “one of the worst 4th tier schools in the country”:

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I wanted to share an email that was sent out by one of the deans that is now mandating two bar prep courses that are now REQUIRED for graduation (even for current students). The first offering of this mandatory course is being taught be the dean…so in essence, the school’s dean will determine if you pass the class and ultimately, get the JD. This may be a way to circumvent the proposed 75% pass rule the ABA *should* pass.

Given graduates’ prior performance on the exam, and considering this announcement was made prior to the release of the results from the latest administration of the test, perhaps the administration at John Marshall-Atlanta is bracing for the worst.

If the school has instituted this new graduation requirement solely for the benefit of its students, then it’s something that should be supported. If the school has instituted this new graduation solely for its own benefit, in the hope that it might be able to prevent certain students from graduating and further sullying its already shameful bar exam passage statistics, then that’s something that needs to be addressed.

We get it: Schools like Atlanta’s John Marshall exist to give students who may never have been able to attend law school the opportunity to do so. All you need to do is take a look at the school’s entering admissions data to see that. Have a glance:

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These numbers put the vast majority of John Marshall at risk of failing the bar exam, so the law school needs to do more than offer students the “opportunity” to collect non-dischargeable student loan debt and later be unsuccessful on the very exam that will allow them to follow their dreams. That is why we’d like to believe that John Marshall Law’s required remedial bar preparation courses are wholly for the students’ benefit. If not, then perhaps this is just another law school that preys upon low-information students to fill its coffers. For its students’ and graduates’ sake, we hope it’s the former.

(Flip to the next page to see the email students received from Dean M. Scott Boone.)

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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