USC alumni pass state bar at highest rate of CA schools

The Gould School of Law had the highest pass rate for graduates taking the July California Bar Exam for the first time out of all law schools in the  state, according to statistics posted this week.

Of alumni taking the test for the first time, 91 percent passed. This compares with an 89 percent pass rate for graduates of Stanford Law School and an 87 percent pass rate for U.C. Berkeley’s Law School graduates.

Of all first-time takers, 69.4 percent passed the bar exam.

“For the last three or four years the top three schools have been us, Stanford and Berkeley,” Gould Dean Robert K. Rasmussen said. “This year was just our turn to lead the pack.”

Students do not specifically prepare to pass the California Bar Exam in the vast majority of their classes, Rasmussen said.

“Our goal is to encourage our students to think rigorously, be innovative and effectively communicate,” Rasmussen  said. “It turns out that those skills translate very well toward excelling on the California Bar Exam.”

Rasmussen said the class of 2011 represented its alma mater well.

“I’m very proud of the accomplishments of our students,” Rasmussen said. “They were a great group of students and are a great group of alumni.”