Illinois Bar Exam Statistics


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Illinois Bar Exam Statistics 2023: Facts about Bar Exam in Illinois reflect the current socio-economic condition of the state.

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LLCBuddy editorial team did hours of research, collected all important statistics on Illinois Bar Exam, and shared those on this page. Our editorial team proofread these to make the data as accurate as possible. We believe you don’t need to check any other resources on the web for the same. You should get everything here only 🙂

Are you planning to start an Illinois LLC business in 2023? Maybe for educational purposes, business research, or personal curiosity, whatever it is – it’s always a good idea to gather more information.

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Top Illinois Bar Exam Statistics 2023

☰ Use “CTRL+F” to quickly find statistics. There are total 21 Illinois Bar Exam Statistics on this page 🙂

Illinois Bar Exam “Latest” Statistics

  • Illinois test takers passed the July bar test at an 80.9% rate, down 4.3 percentage-points from the prior year.[1]
  • According to Superior Court Rule 304(f), each candidate must pass the written bar examination with a minimum combined score of 70% or higher on the MBE and essay sections, and a minimum scaled score of 75 on the MPRE in order to pass.[2]
  • The Illinois bar exam pass rates for total takers falls between 69% – 89%. First-time takers have the higher pass rates of 81% – 93%. Repeat takers have lower pass rates of 30% – 58%.[2]
  • Illinois had a remote bar in October 2020 with 75% pass rate, Nancy Vincent, administrative director of the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar, wrote in a February 2021 web post.[4]
  • Statistics jurisdictions stated that 68,305 people took the bar exam in 2019, with a 58% pass percentage as a whole.[5]
  • In the Illinois bar exam last February 2019, the pass rate was 52% while in July 2019, the pass rate increased to 71%.[5]
  • In the July 2022 Illinois bar exam, the overall pass rate was 68% with first time pass rate of 77% and repeater pass rate of 20%. The results were released last September 30, 2022.[4]
  • Illinois requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 80 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in Illinois.[4]
  • In order to pass the Illinois bar exam, an examinee must score at least 266. This is equal to 133, based on the MBE’s 200-point scale.[4]

Illinois Bar Exam “Exam” Statistics

  • 21,935 people took the test in February 2019, and jurisdictions reported that 46% of them passed. The overall pass rate for the 46,370 July 2019 exam takers reported by jurisdictions was 64% .[5]

Illinois Bar Exam “Test” Statistics

  • The passing percentage for the New York Bar test, which serves as a decent middle ground standard, is 61% while Illinois has a passing rate of 68.80%[3]
  • The Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar announced in August that results would be delayed, because candidates experienced technical issues during the test. Results were released Oct. 7, and the pass rate was 67%, according to the NCBE website.[4]
  • 162 out of 378 Maryland test takers in February 2021 had a total pass percentage of 42.9% while Illinois had an overall passing rate of 42%.[2]
  • The Board of Bar Examiners automatically analyzes and regrades the top 15% of the failed applicants’ essay responses after the tests have been assessed but before the dissemination of the grading results.[2]
  • According to Hale, several students who took the July 2021 remote test had technical difficulties, such as displays turning black for a brief period of time during the essay component.[4]

Illinois Bar Exam “Other” Statistics

  • The Illinois State Bar Association was created in 1877. The voluntary organization has about 28,000 members. There are about 65,000 lawyers living in Illinois. About 38% of lawyers in Illinois are female.[4]
  • The National Conference of Bar Examiners recently published statistics showing that the national mean scaled score for the July 2021 Multistate Bar Exam was 140.4.[4]
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in the legal industry is expected to increase by 10% between 2012 and 2022, which is a typical growth rate when compared to other employment sectors.[6]
  • Illinois gives equal weight to the essay and multiple choice portions of the Multistate Bar Examination.[1]
  • The Nationwide Conference of Bar Examiners reported that the national MBE score decreased to 141.5, a 28 point decrease from 2013, a decrease that is regarded as substantial.[1]
  • First time applicants to the Illinois Bar Exam from the College of Law passed with an 89% passing percentage during the July 2021 administration.[7]

Also Read

How Useful is Illinois Bar Exam

One criticism of the Illinois Bar Exam is that it tests an outdated and narrow set of legal knowledge and skills. The exam focuses primarily on black-letter law and legal theory, requiring candidates to memorize and regurgitate information rather than demonstrate practical legal skills. In today’s fast-paced legal environment, where legal technology and online resources have revolutionized the way lawyers practice, this traditional approach to testing may not effectively prepare new lawyers for the real-world challenges they will face.

Another criticism of the Illinois Bar Exam is that it creates unnecessary barriers to entry into the legal profession. The high stakes nature of the exam, which determines whether or not a candidate can become licensed to practice law in Illinois, places immense pressure on aspiring lawyers. This pressure can be particularly burdensome for candidates who come from underrepresented backgrounds or who have historically been marginalized in the legal profession. The exam’s narrow focus on traditional legal topics may also disadvantage candidates who have followed non-traditional paths to the law, such as those with practical legal experience or who have expertise in specialized areas of law.

Despite these criticisms, supporters of the Illinois Bar Exam argue that it serves as a necessary safeguard to protect the public and uphold the standards of the legal profession. The exam is viewed as a key component of the licensing process, ensuring that only those who have demonstrated a basic level of competence and knowledge are allowed to practice law. Proponents also argue that the exam helps to maintain the integrity and credibility of the legal profession, as lawyers who have successfully passed the bar exam are held to a higher standard of ethics and professionalism.

Ultimately, the question of how useful the Illinois Bar Exam is in today’s legal landscape is a complex and multifaceted one. While the exam undoubtedly serves an important function in ensuring the competence of new lawyers, it is also important to consider whether the current format and content of the exam align with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in modern legal practice. As the legal profession continues to evolve, it may be necessary to reevaluate and adapt the bar exam to better reflect the realities of today’s legal world and to ensure that it continues to serve its intended purpose of protecting the public and upholding the standards of the legal profession.

Reference

  1. chicagolawbulletin – https://www.chicagolawbulletin.com/archives/2014/11/12/illinois-bar-exam-scores-11-12.aspx
  2. jdadvising – https://jdadvising.com/february-2022-bar-exam-results-release-dates-by-state/
  3. lawschooli – https://lawschooli.com/bar-exam-pass-rate-by-state/
  4. abajournal – https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/remote-learning-and-burnout-could-be-reason-for-declining-bar-pass-rates
  5. ncbex – https://thebarexaminer.ncbex.org/article/fall-2020/2019-statistics/
  6. wbaillinois – https://wbaillinois.org/bar-passage-score-increase/
  7. illinois – https://law.illinois.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics/
  8. ameribar – https://ameribar.com/illinois-bar-exam/
  9. adaptibar – https://blog.adaptibar.com/february-2020-bar-exam-results/
  10. crushendo – https://crushendo.com/illinois-bar-exam-prep/
  11. ibarexam – https://ibarexam.com/illinois-bar-exam/
  12. ncbex – https://www.ncbex.org/statistics-and-research/bar-exam-results/
  13. quimbee – https://www.quimbee.com/resources/bar-exam-pass-rates-by-state-for-2020

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