The Michigan State Board of Law Examiners (BLE) recently released the February 2018 bar exam results, which show that University of Detroit Mercy School of Law graduates earned the school a second-place bar passage ranking among Michigan law schools for this cycle.
According to the official BLE report, both first-time takers and repeaters from Detroit Mercy Law outperformed graduates from the following competitor schools: Michigan State University College of Law, Wayne State University Law School and Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. Detroit Mercy finished second only to University of Michigan Law School. Forty-five Detroit Mercy Law graduate examinees sat for the test this winter: 21 first-time takers and 24 repeaters. Of those examinees, 76 percent of first-time and 58 percent of repeat takers passed the Michigan bar exam, with an average of seven percentage points above the next competitor school.
Additionally, Detroit Mercy Law graduates passed at rates well above the state average on both the February 2018 and July 2017 bar exams. For the February 2018 exam, the overall pass rate for Detroit Mercy Law graduates was 67 percent, compared to the 54 percent state average. First-time takers exceeded the state’s average pass rate on the July 2017 exam with 82 percent, well over the 78 percent state average (after appeals).
“I am so proud of our graduates’ excellent performance on the February bar exam. Our faculty and administrators provide important support in our students’ success, from developing bar preparation resources to giving pep talks to providing lunch for graduates as they take the exam. The steady progress we’ve seen in bar passage rates is a result of a community effort,” said Dean Phyllis L. Crocker.
Bar Preparation Director Sarah Garrison agreed.
“We are very excited about the recent success of our graduates,” Garrison said. “We have been fortunate to see positive results from the increased assessments in the classrooms and bar exam skills workshops implemented over the last two years. Emotional and academic support are paramount to the success of our students and we try to lift up our graduates anyway we can, and the results show that.”
Detroit Mercy Law administrators have consistently prioritized increasing bar preparation resources and support for students. During the last several years, they have ensured that bar prep materials were available to students throughout the year and covered the costs of bar exam skills workshops. In addition, faculty members have developed more assessments in their courses to help students sharpen their exam taking skills and track their progress throughout law school. As recent numbers indicate, such efforts and community support have been beneficial to Detroit Mercy Law graduates as they begin their legal careers.
