State bar exam tough for local law school grads

Graduates of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, taking the 2016 California Bar exam for the first time, were tied for second worst in the state, according to the publication Above the Law. Only 31 percent of Jefferson grads passed the bar exam, half the overall state average of 62 percent.

Tied with Jefferson in penultimate position were Golden Gate Law School and University of La Verne College of Law. In last place was Whittier Law School with 22 percent.

Jefferson has been consistently low in percentage of graduates taking the exam for the first time. Grads of the financially troubled law school were dead last in 2012 and 2013, for example.

In first place this year was Stanford Law School with 91 percent. Above the Law says the overall results this year are "shocking" — consistently lower from previous years, except for top schools such as Stanford.

In December of last year, Jefferson was placed on the United States Department of Education's "heightened cash monitoring" list. These are colleges or universities that face increased financial monitoring. Jefferson got into financial trouble when it built a new building.

In this year's exam, the University of San Diego came in eighth among 21 state law schools, with 71 percent. California Western School of Law was 11th with 61 percent, a hair below the state average.