As a would-be lawyer, I've started to investigate that beast called "The Bar." Pennsylvania's Bar used to have a reputation for being easy-street--they called it "the candy bar" (Get it?!). Sadly, some Pennsylvania law-dawgs took affront. And since they had already passed their bar, I'm sure they felt positively giddy about pumping a little more oomf into a test that still can't tell the difference between Hillary Clinton (failed the DC Bar on her first try) and Harriet Miers (what Texas had to offer was no match for this future Bush crony). Also, I bet you dollars to donuts Maurice Levy nailed the Maryland bar his first time out. Ya know, in fiction.
Be that as it may, I was somewhat relieved to find that while the overall passage rate in PA is a relatively palatable 81%, that figure didn't really tell the whole story. Let's got to the numbers.
1,998 applicants sat for the Bar exam last summer. 373 failed. 1,625 passed
But of those who failed, only 230 were first-time test takers. And check out the declining passage rate:
1st Attempt Passage Rate: 1,581/1,811=87.3%
2nd Attempt Passage Rate: 21/61=34.4%
3rd Attempt Passage Rate: 12/44=27.3%
4th or More Attempts Passage Rate: 11/82=13.4%
2007 and 2008 show similar results. Talk about dedicating yourself to a losing effort! Are you listening, Lebron? The only person I know that tried for the Bar more than twice before finally passing is my cousin Vinny. (6 times). That dude is alright.
But from now on, I'm not counting these first-time-failure loser stores against the Pass Rate. Even if HRC counts herself among them.
