Florida Bar results in: 58 percent pass

Fifty-eight percent of those persons taking the Florida Bar for the first time in February passed, according to the Florida Supreme Court.

This compares to the 69 percent passing the bar exam last July.

Of the 21 Florida State University College of Law graduates taking the February exam, 15 passed, or 71.4 percent. Thirteen of the 23 graduates of the Florida A&M University College of Law passed, or 56.5 percent, according to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners report.

“We are disappointed that we are only in third place on this most recent test,” said Don Weidner, dean of the FSU College of Law. “However, we are optimistic going forward because of new programs we have put in place.”

Last July, 151 of the 188 FSU law grads passed, or 80.3 percent. The FAMU law school’s passing percentage was 68 percent, with 57 of the 84 graduates taking the exam.

Felecia Epps, newly appointed dean of the FAMU College of Law, was upbeat over the school's pass percentage.

"Being ranked fourth in the state for the first time ever is phenomenal,” Epps said. “We remain dedicated to continuing our progress toward improving the passage rate for our first-time takers.”

A news release from the college said the overall February Florida bar exam results reflect an expected “downward trend” across the country, according to the ABA Journal in a recently released article titled, “Multistate Bar Exam average score falls to 33-year low.” The article noted that the score on the February administration of the Multistate Bar Examination dropped to 135, down 1.2 points from the previous year and the lowest average score on a February administration of the test since 1983. The multistate bar exam is administered as part of the bar exam in every state except Louisiana.

Based on the February results, Florida International University College of Law had the highest passing percentage, or 85 percent, with 22 of its 26 students passing the exam.

Of the 193 graduates of schools outside Florida taking the exam, 93 passed, or 48.2 percent.

Here is the ranking of bar exam results for February:

Florida International University:  85 percent; (22/26)

Nova Southeastern University: 75 percent; (24/32)

Florida State University: 71.4 percent; (15/21)

Florida A&M University: 56.5 percent; (13/23)

University of Florida: 56.3 percent; (9/16)

Stetson University: 53.3 percent; (24/45)

University of Miami: 53.1 percent; (17/32)

Ava Maria School of Law: 52.9 percent; (9/17)

St. Thomas University: 42.3 percent; (11/26)

Barry University: 35.9 percent; (23/64)

Florida Coastal School of Law: 32.7 percent.

Contact senior writer Byron Dobson at bdobson@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @byrondobson.