Tuesday, July 03, 2007

On law schools and the bar exam

In this widely-cited article from the Norfolk paper about the "real" face of the law school at Regent, there is this quote:

"At that hearing, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., asked [Monica] Goodling: "Are you aware of the fact that in your graduating class, 50 to 60 percent of the students failed the bar the first time?"

"I know it wasn't good," said Goodling, who originally claimed Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination in refusing to testify."

The article includes this chart comparing Virginia law schools:



A committee of the ABA, in the exercise of its much-maligned role as the overseer of accreditation for the nation's law schools, has propounded a new scheme to nail fledgling law schools with low bar passage rates. The proposal can be found here, with a cover letter signed by Roanoke lawyer Bill Rakes, the committee chairman. The gist is if your graduates pass the bar at a rate of ten points less than average, then you can get the boot.

I'd like to see a chart on which law schools don't meet the new standard.

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