Bar tabs

Starting this morning, more than 5,000 would-be lawyers begin taking the three-day California Bar Exam. Many will see their career hopes crash and burn. If you must gawk, the locals are at the Pasadena Convention Center and the Ontario Convention Center.

Minimum fee to take the February 2006 exam: $464
Optional laptop fee: $104
Days of agony before results posted: 81
First-time takers who passed July 2005 exam: 62.7%
Repeaters who passed: 13.0%
Takers who didn't graduate law school: 12
Non-grads who passed: 1
UCLA Law grads who passed July 2005 exam: 88.7%
Rank among California law schools: #1
USC Law grads who passed: 81.7%
Rank in state: #5
Loyola grads pass rate: 75.0% (#7)
Pepperdine pass rate: 72.6% (#10)
Southwestern pass rate: 66.4% (#11)
San Fernando Valley College of Law pass rate: 33%
Best pass rate for non-California school: 95% (Yale)
Second-best: 94% (Brigham Young)
People's College of Law repeaters tested July 2005: 12
Passed: 0
Times that People's grad Antonio Villaraigosa took the Bar: 4
Times he passed: 0

Sources:
State Bar of California
Tax Prof blog
LAT story: "California's Bar Exam is Highest of Hurdles"

Past LA Observed Indexes