Ohio State has once again proven its excellence in the field of law.

For the second year in a row, the Moritz College of Law at OSU has maintained a 90 percent first-time passage rate on the July 2002 Ohio Bar exam.

Overall, seven of the nine Ohio schools dropped in their average from last year’s results. Only one school increased and OSU maintained its previous score.

After finding itself in second place last year behind the University of Cincinnati, OSU’s 2002 score placed it first among Ohio law schools.

“We are extremely pleased,” said Nancy Rogers, dean of the Moritz College of Law. “Ohio State has done very well this year and in the past, and I think it’s a trend that will stay.”

Of the Ohio schools, the only one to increase its passage rate was the Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University.

Last year it scored the lowest of the nine schools with a 74 percent first-time passage rate but tied for second this year with Case Western Reserve University, both posting 81 percent.

Dave Crago, dean of the Pettit College of Law, said he was not too surprised with the outcome of the test.  

“We are very happy and very pleased with the results,” he said. “We have really beefed up our advising program for the students and have increased the subjectivity in our admissions process. We have really put an emphasis on the traditional courses that all students have to take in preparation, and a lot of students worked very hard to accomplish what they did.”

The University of Cincinnati dropped 11 points from a 91 percent first-time passage rate last July to 80 percent in the most recent test.  

Another school to score surprisingly low was the University of Akron. In February 2002 it had the highest passage rate of all Ohio schools with 86 percent. It dropped from 85 percent in July 2001 to 78 percent in July 2002.

“We were not extremely disappointed with the results,” said Bill Rickett, the assistant to the dean at the University of Akron School of Law.

“We would always like to get a No. 1 ranking, of course, but we’re still satisfied to be in the top tier. The students were generally happy that three-fourths passed on their first attempt, and we are just happy to see that we could get some more lawyers out in the public,” he said.

Rickett also said he doesn’t see Akron’s low scores becoming a continued trend.

“You always wish you could have done a little better, and I really expect that we will raise the scores the next time around,” Rickett said.  

The bar exam covers information about 14 different areas of Ohio law and is given biannually at the end of February and July. It takes two and a half days to complete the exam.