William & Mary Law Graduates Achieve Highest Bar Passage Rate on Virginia's July 2010 Bar Exam

The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners announced in October that 92.6 percent of  William & Mary Law School graduates who took the bar for the first time passed the July 2010 exam, the highest passage rate among first-time test takers from the eight law schools  in the Commonwealth.  The passage rate for all first-time takers of the state's July bar was 79.8 percent.

Passage rates reported for first-time bar exam takers from other law schools in the state include the University of Virginia (90.6 percent), Regent University (85.7 percent), George Mason (85.3 percent), the University of Richmond (83.5 percent), Liberty University (73.7 percent), Washington and Lee (72.7 percent), and Appalachian (65.4 percent).

"Our students worked hard, carefully preparing for the bar exam," said Law School Dean Davison M. Douglas. "We are extraordinarily proud of their success in this endeavor."

This is the second highest passage rate achieved by William & Mary law graduates on the Virginia bar exam. The previous record was set in 1996 with a 93 percent passage rate for the summer bar.

In addition, of those William & Mary law graduates who took the bar exam in July 2010 in a state other than Virginia and whose results are known, 94.2 percent passed.