Tristan Wood
The Supreme Court of Florida approved 443 candidates for admission to the Florida Bar Monday following February’s General Bar Examination in Tampa.
Of the 1,348 applicants who took both the Florida and multistate bar examination from February 22-23, 599 passed, about 44% of the total. The number of current bar admissions for that class could grow higher in the future, as character and fitness investigations for some applicants who passed are still ongoing.
With the announcement, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners included a statistical breakdown of the pass and fail rates for those who took the bar examination in Florida for the first time.
More applicants from the University of Miami School of Law passed than any other Florida law school, with 23 passing the examination. About 60.5% of UM Law students taking the test for the first time passed, a middle-of-the-pack percentage for Florida law students.
Florida State University College of Law had 15 students pass the examination on their first attempt, but paced all Florida law schools with a 78.9% pass rate. Stetson University College of Law came in a close second with a 77.8% pass rate and 21 passing students.
Florida Coastal School of Law had the smallest number of passing students and the lowest first-time passing rate, with four passing students and a 28.6% pass rate. St. Thomas University College of Law also had a sub-30% percent pass rate, with five students out of 17 passing the examination.
Florida law school students outperformed students from out-of-state schools taking the Florida Bar. Overall, 58.3% Florida student first-time takers passed, compared to 39.8% of out-of-state students.
Formal induction ceremonies to swear in the new attorneys will be held at the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal on May 2.
