Another 'First' for Baylor Law Students on Texas Bar Exam

by Julie Carlson, director of communications, Baylor Law School, (254) 710-6681

Baylor law students claimed the top pass rate on the Texas State Bar Exam with 97.85 percent success rate, which was the highest pass rate for students from the nine Texas law schools. Of the 93 Baylor students who took the three-day exam in July, 91 passed on their first try.

The overall state pass rate was 89.07 percent, with 1,540 successful candidates out of 1,729 who took the exam for the first time.

Baylor Law School has an unsurpassed record of success on the State Bar Exam, which is given twice a year and qualifies a candidate to practice law in Texas. The law school had a 100 percent pass rate on the February 2007 exam and also the highest pass rate for the exams given in 2006. In fact, Baylor Law School has had the highest pass rate nine times since 2002.

"Yet again, this accomplishment - the latest among so many recent successes - is a testament to the wisdom and effectiveness of our distinctiveness among leading law schools," said Baylor Law Dean Brad Toben. "Our success on the bar exam springs from a program that holds our students to exacting standards of accomplishment and thereby prepares them well for a serving and honorable profession.

"Baylor Law School is a success because everyone on the team - the faculty, the staff, our alumni and our many friends - work together to assure a superlative program for the benefit of our students and the public that they will serve. So many are genuinely invested in our program. That investment results in our students and our program consistently shining," Toben said.

In the 2008 edition of "170 Best Law Schools," published by the Princeton Review, editors praised Baylor Law School's practical approach to legal education. Baylor Law School is described as one that "embraces a practical approach and is thorough in teaching students all the essentials of practicing law."

During the spring, a Baylor mock trial team won the national championship at the prestigious American Association for Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association) national finals, and two weeks ago, a Baylor team captured first place at the Texas Administrative Law Moot Court Competition in Austin.