Bar Exams, Law Schools

The New York Bar Exam Results Are Out! (July 2017)

How did test-takers fare on this summer's exam?

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In May 2015, it was announced that New York would be adopting the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), and the exam in its new format would first be administered in July 2016. The results from that exam were promising, with modest gains having been made compared to the July 2015 results, which were the worst the state had seen in a very, very long time — at least 35 years.

But how did test-takers fare on this summer’s exam?

The July 2017 New York bar exam results were released today, and according to the New York State Board of Law Examiners, 9,932 examinees — the lowest number of candidates to take a July bar since 2004 — sat for the test this summer. Of those examinees, 68 percent passed the New York bar exam. The overall pass rate for first-time takers was 78 percent. These are nice gains from July 2016, and are in line with passage rates last seen about five or six years ago.

Check out these statistics to see how much better the July 2017 results are:

Year All Candidates All First-Time Takers All First-Time ABA Takers
July 2004 67.4 percent passed 76.5 percent passed 83.1 percent passed
July 2005 67 percent passed 75.9 percent passed 82.7 percent passed
July 2006 69.5 percent passed 79.4 percent passed 86.7 percent passed
July 2007 70.6 percent passed 79.1 percent passed 87 percent passed
July 2008 74.7 percent passed 83.2 percent passed 90.5 percent passed
July 2009 72 percent passed 80 percent passed 88.2 percent passed
July 2010 70 percent passed 78 percent passed 86 percent passed
July 2011 69.2 percent passed 78.5 percent passed 86.1 percent passed
July 2012 68 percent passed 76 percent passed 83 percent passed
July 2013 69 percent passed 78 percent passed 86 percent passed
July 2014 65 percent passed 74 percent passed 83 percent passed
July 2015 61 percent passed 70 percent passed 79 percent passed
July 2016 64 percent passed 73 percent passed 83 percent passed
July 2017 68 percent passed 78 percent passed 86 percent passed

It’s also worth mentioning that compared to the horrendous results from the July 2015 exam, this summer the pass rate for all candidates was 7 percentage points higher, the pass rate for all first-time takers was 8 percentage points higher, and the pass rate for all first-time ABA takers was 7 percentage points higher. Imagine what the results from what was once a beast of an exam will look like next July.

Now that almost everyone gets a bar exam trophy in New York thanks to the UBE, law schools must remain cognizant of the fact that just because the UBE may be easier to pass than prior state iterations of the test, it is no excuse to keep admitting students whose performance and success on the bar exam may be questionable at best. Admissions standards must be raised so that those who bet their lives and careers on a legal education don’t wind up in a worse position than what they started with.

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Congratulations to you if you were able to pass the bar exam in New York this summer. If you didn’t pass, don’t despair. Many very successful people have failed the bar exam (see our list of famous bar exam failures). Focus on February and develop a plan for passing. Believe in yourselves, because you can do it!

Press Release: NY Bar Exam Results – July 2017 [New York Board of Law Examiners]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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