February bar exam pass rate is lowest in five years

Four in 10 would-be lawyers passed the California Bar Exam in February, the lowest rate in five years. State Bar officials announced Sunday that 39.5 percent of test takers passed the test. That’s down from 45.3 percent in 2014 and the lowest rate since 37.1 percent of bar applicants passed the test in February 2010. The number of test takers is up, however. A total of 4,763 applicants took the exam, an increase from 4,578 in 2014 and the highest since 5,167 took the February exam in 2007. This…