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Does Bar Exam Failure Presage Career Failure?

By Carolyn Elefant

Law student blog The Shark takes issue with a UCLA law school researcher's study (first reported at the ABA Journal) which concluded that people who fail the bar exam fare worse than even college graduates in the first five years after graduation but spring back later in their careers. Still, the study showed that those who failed the bar lagged behind other earners, with those between the ages of 40 and 49 earning $54,000 compared to the average of $83,600 for all lawyers. Jane Yakowitz, who conducted the study, concluded that: Legal education may be a disservice for the significant group of students that never pass a bar exam -- a group whose composition can be predicted fairly accurately before they?ve even begun law school,? she says. ?At the very least, law schools owe it to their prospective students to provide candid information about the risks of attending law school. The Shark objects to the implication that those who fail the bar were never cut out for law school, noting that law school provides a good education no matter what happens afterward. In addition, The Shark lists a bunch of highly successful public figures -- including Hillary Clinton, John F....

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on September 16, 2009 (boomark / email).