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Inaugural Class Tallies Impressive Bar Pass Rate

The Class of 2009 logged a cumulative bar pass rate of 93.4 percent, based on results from 12 states.

Members of the inaugural class took the exam in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Tennessee and Virginia, as well as Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

In Pennsylvania, 89.84 percent passed the exam, while in New Jersey, 92 percent passed. In New York, there was a 100 percent pass rate.

Of the 151 members of the inaugural class who took bar exams in 2009, 141 passed in at least one jurisdiction.

Faculty and administrators joined students and their families for a swearing-in ceremony in November at City Hall, where Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe administered the oath for 61 of the 115 graduates who passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam.

"You took a chance on a new law school, and it's obviously worked out quite splendidly," Dembe said. "You're bringing a lot of brains and a lot of energy to our legal system."