The University of Toledo College of Law graduates saw a marked improvement on the most recent Ohio bar exam.
The passage rate for first-time UT students taking the exam increased 10 percentage points — from 74 percent last year to 84 percent this July with 16 out of 19 students passing. The passage rate for all exam-takers is also the highest since 2014 — at 64 percent — with 18 out of 28 students passing.
With UT’s first-time passage rate improvement, the school rates as the third highest among Ohio’s nine law schools. UT’s number of total test-takers is the second fewest in the state.
This year marks the first time UT’s overall pass rate has increased in a five-year period for those taking the bar exam in July as the number of exam- takers has steadily decreased each of those years — from 71 in 2014 to 28 this year. First-time test takers have decreased from 59 in 2014 to 19 this year.
The 64 percent passage rate among all UT law exam-takers ranks in the bottom half of Ohio law schools, although not the lowest. Every school in the state had a lower passage rate for total exam-takers compared to first-time takers.
Statewide, roughly 603 — or 69.9 percent —of the 863 applicants who took the July exam passed, while 79 percent of those who took it for the first time passed, according to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Cleveland State University posted the highest first-time passage rate at 93 percent and Ohio State University was the highest among all test takers at 86 percent.
D. Benjamin Barros, dean of UT’s law school, said he partly attributes the university’s improvements to recent programs implemented that are designed to help students pass the bar.
Mr. Barros, who took over as dean in 2015, appointed legal writing professor Lesa Byrnes as the college’s director of bar preparation and academic success, whose primary job is to assist UT law students with the bar exam.
The law school also bolstered support for graduates. Each student is now paired with a faculty member in the 12 weeks between when they graduate and when they sit for the bar exam.
In the past two years, Mr. Barros has implemented new initiatives to combat the low bar passage rates, both for first-time test takers and for those who take it multiple times, and he’s hopeful the improvements will translate to more graduates finding better employment.
The college also added a new third-year course exclusively dedicated to helping students prepare for the exam before they graduate.
“The number one thing is the graduating class put in the work,” Mr. Barros said. “At the end of the day, they're the ones who took the test, they're the ones who studied, they did a great job.”
Mr. Barros said he is pleased with the improved test results but acknowledged there is still work to do.
“We’re not saying we've solved our bar issues,” he said. “We're always going to try and do better and do whatever we can to help all of our students pass the bar.”
Successful applicants who have also satisfied all The Supreme Court of Ohio’s other admission requirements will be sworn in during a special session of the Supreme Court at 10:30 a.m. or 2 p.m. Nov. 13 at the Palace Theatre in Columbus.
First Published October 31, 2018, 2:55 p.m.
