Congratulations to Nevada's newest attorneys (July '08 bar pass list available here). Looks like the pass rate was 69%. Passing the bar seems to be getting a little easier. Don't tell the New Yorkers or we'll be flooded with east coast assholes/attorneys.
Or, just maybe, the majority of those taking the NV Bar - UNLV Boyd Law grads - consist of grads that are smarter than prior years and the exam is just staying the same.
ReplyDeleteI know that the pass rate stats for first time takers from Boyd has gone up a lot. For the Feb 2008 exam it was 81% pass rate for Boyd first time takers. It's usually announced on the Boyd website a few days to a week after the results come out.
I'm a Boyd graduate who took the bar exam in July 2008 and passed it on my first attempt. Let me set the record straight: this exam was NOT easy! In fact, the essay questions on this exam were way more difficult than the ones that had been on the NV bar in the past: it seemed like more than half of them were crossover questions, and let's not even discuss the horrendous Secured Transactions/Contracts/etc. crossover question that caused most of us to audibly groan! Further, most people stated that the MBE was ridiculously difficult and that BarBri didn't adequately prepare us for it (I agree with this assessment).
ReplyDeleteI think the passage rate has gone up because of the intelligent Boyd graduates pulling their weight, as well as Boyd's increased efforts to boost passing scores on the exam, which can be seen in their requiring students to take practice MPT's (performance tests) in every Legal Writing class that they take - many people failed the NV bar because their MPT scores, and the MPT is worth 1.5 essays,were very low.
Further, Boyd has as one of its elective courses an excellent course known as Nevada Civil Practice. This course gives students for their final exam an exam that roughly simulates the NV bar exam in that it covers more than one subject and students are not told which subject is being tested on any given question. The subjects tested are NV and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, NV and Federal Rules of Evidence, and NV and Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Amazingly, according to the professor who teaches the course, 100% of the people who have taken this class thus far - and I count myself among one of those people - have passed the NV bar on their first attempt. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.
Therefore, the MPT requirement that must be met by Boyd students -as well as the NV Civil Practice elective course and the free Bar lectures that are held during the Spring semester - has most likely been the reason behind the higher bar-passage rates over the past few years.
Hey, it's me. One of the New Yorkers that you so lovingly refer to as an east coast asshole. Jealous much? FYI, I passed the NV bar this time. Also, it was much easier in July than it was in February despite what the Boyd grad who has only taken one exam might think.
ReplyDeletePS. The reason the pass rate is higher is because the number of applicants has gone down a little. The Supreme Court picks the number of new admittees they want before each exam and then that number is put into the formula so they can cap the number of new admittees. It doesn't have anything to do with classes getting smarter or being better prepared.
Did you ever stop to think that you thought it was easier because you were better prepared for it this time than you were in February?
ReplyDeleteYes, the applicant pool may have gone down a tad, but that doesn't change the fact that the percentage of Boyd graduates, and the number of such graduates taking the exam, has gone up every year since Boyd has implemented the courses/programs I had previously mentioned.
So, despite what *you* think, it's not as cut and dry as your conspiracy theory re: the NV Supreme Court lets on. Where's your evidence that the Court purposely caps the number of applicants *before* the exam is taken?
BTW: During the various breaks from taking the bar, I talked to several attorneys from California *and* New York, all of whom had failed the NV bar more than one time but had passed either the CA or NY bar exam the first time, and they unequivocally expressed that the NV bar was definitely the more difficult bar. When I asked them what they thought of July's bar exam thus far, they said that it was "difficult" - I never heard the word "easier" come up, and yes we talked about their failing the exam in February.
I am also a Boyd grad (Dec 2007) who took and passed the February 2008 Nevada Bar exam and did not think it was easy either. We had multiple crossovers, a really screwed up property/community property/family law crossover, and one completely on corporations. We did not, though, have a constitutional law or secured transactions one though (the latter I was prepared for, the former I was very happy we didn't get one!)
ReplyDeleteI was unable to make much benefit of Boyd's free bar classes because they're mostly aimed at May grads. We only had 14 law grads in December, 11 took the Bar in NV (2 did Utah, 1 did CA) and 9 passed for an 81.8% first-time taker pass rate, a bit lower than the Boyd 85% pass rate from the July 2007 bar.
to east cost new yorker @ 10:39p
Regardless of when the exam is, or how difficult it is, I have a hard time believing that the NV Supreme Court sets the number of attorneys they want to admit and then directs the NV Bar to grade accordingly. I also don't believe we have aliens walking among us, so I might just not put enough belief in the conspiracy thing. I have been to the black mailbox and Lil Ale'inn which was interesting, but I digress.
To 'anonymous' at 8:29pm - you're still writing like you're taking an essay exam (summarizing your points in the last paragraph) :-)
I agree with you 100%.
Doesn't Boyd now kick out the bottom 20% of the class after 1L which would probably also contribute to increase pass rates?
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has taken both, NV is tough, but it is not more difficult than CA.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 10:43
ReplyDeleteThe whole time I was at Boyd, the school did not kick out anyone unless their grades were below the level to advance to the next year (which before 2007 was a 2.0).
In 2007 they bumped that up to requiring a 2.3 to advance from 1L to 2L, but they increased the forced curve from a B- (2.7) to a B (3.0) which basically bumped everyone up .3 GPA equalizing the whole thing (i.e. no true change).
In fact, I knew a few people who had a 2.00 GPA and went on to the 2L year. I don't know a single person in my 1L class (before 2007) that did not advance from 1L to 2L without voluntarily withdrawing (mostly before the end of the first semester, one guy got up in the middle of finals the first semester, walked out, and did not return the 2nd 1L semester)
Anyway, I don't know where you heard that Boyd dumped the bottom 20%.
To 'anonymous' at 9:17 a.m.: LOL, you're right, I *was* writing that last paragraph as if I were still writing a bar-exam essay shudder). I shant do that again, and thanks for agreeing with me: Boyd graduates rock! ;)
ReplyDeleteanonymous 7:13:
ReplyDeleteMy evidence that the court caps the number of applicants--SCR 65(3) which states, "At least 30 days before each examination, or within such further time as the court may permit, the board of bar examiners shall file with the supreme court for approval a proposed formula upon which the Multistate Bar Examination results will be applied with the other portions of the total examination results. In addition, at least 30 days before each examination, or within such further time as the court may permit, the board of bar examiners shall file with the supreme court for approval a proposed formula for grading the entire examination."
If you failed, you would get a copy of the scores along with the formula. If you examine the formula you will find that one number is a variable that changes according to the percentage of people that they want to pass each year. Plus, the Director of NV Bar explained this to me after I failed the Feb. exam.
As for the ease of the exams--yes, I agree that it is all relative. Having taken three bar exams in a row does make me a little more prepared, but it also gives me a little more perspective as to the difficulty of the questions. The essays in July were much more straightforward than the ones in February. And, of the three exams I've taken, NY was definitely the most difficult. There is more material that can be tested. I will give you that the NV bar exam is physically more difficult because you have to sit in those damn chairs for three days in a row.
That said, no bad blood here for those who pass or fail. I have nothing but sympathy for those who fail. I don't think the system is fair and I'm going to make a point of trying to revise the process to make it possible so that theoretically, everyone who takes the test can pass if they know their stuff.
I took 2 bar exams - NV, then Calif. Calf. was way easier than NV - the MPTs count equally with the MBE and essays (1/3 each). In other words, you don't need to know anything for 1/3 of your score. Unless you are a crappy writer, the exam is a breeze.
ReplyDeleteAs for the NV 70% pass rate - the last thing we need in a down economy is a bunch of new unemployed lawyers running around.
Anyone who fails because of a low MPT score is mentally retarded. When studying for the bar, I say to each his own, I passed the first try but what worked for me may not work for others, but I can't say enough about how worthless the MPT is. Your answer doesn't matter, you just have to follow instructions. Analyze both sides of the argument, move on.
ReplyDeleteI'm not trying to take anything away from Boyd grads either, they're doing great. However, if there is not an objective score that one must reach to pass the bar, how can anyone say why a higher percentage of takers passed?
To me, it does make sense that the NV Supreme Court, or the Nevada Bar Association, would say, we'll either admit this (arbitrary) percent or this many people, rather than saying "if you get above this you pass."
Until the bar examination is more transparent, conspiracy theories and guess work will continue.