EDUCATION

Arizona Summit Law School has nation's lowest bar passage rate for '15 graduates

Sixty percent of Arizona Summit Law School graduates passed the bar exam within two years, according to data from American Bar Association.

The Republic | azcentral.com

The main entrance of the Arizona Summit Law School at 1 North Central in downtown Phoenix.

A private Phoenix law school placed on probation by the American Bar Association had the lowest passage rate on the bar exam in the country for its 2015 graduates, according to data released by the ABA.

The accrediting body for law schools on Thursday released for the first time "ultimate" bar passage rates, showing the percentage of graduates who passed the bar within two years of graduation, either on their first try or subsequent attempts. Previously, the ABA only published rates of those passing the test on their first attempt.

Arizona Summit Law School ranked last among the 202 ABA-approved law schools, with 60 percent of 2015 graduates passing the bar exam within two years. The average for all schools was 88 percent.

Barry Currier, the ABA's managing director of accreditation and legal education, said in a statement that the data provides a snapshot of how each school's students are doing over a two-year span.

The ABA won't use the two-year rates in evaluating whether law school are complying with its standards because that formula uses a longer period of time.

"But these reports provide important consumer information for students considering whether and where to attend law school and for others with an interest in legal education," he said.

Ultimate bar passage rates are considered important because they include students who don't pass the exam on the first try but go onto pass at some point. A majority of states requires graduates to pass the exam in order to practice law.

Students in a Criminal Practice and Writing II class at Arizona Summit Law School in February 2017.

The two other law schools in Arizona posted passage rates above or near the national average. Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law had a 93 percent passage rate over two years while the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law was at 86 percent.

Don Lively, president of Arizona Summit Law School, said the school's ultimate bar passage rate for all graduates is 75 percent. This percentage covers a longer time span than the two-year data released by ABA this week.

"We do bring in people who are in catch-up mode due to either economic or historical disadvantages. So it’s not surprising they need more than one opportunity to pass the bar examination, and ABA standards accommodate that," he said.

Arizona Summit Law School in downtown Phoenix was put on probation in March 2017 for being out of compliance with ABA standards for bar exam passage rates and remains on probation after the ABA notified the school in January that it was out of compliance concerning its finances.

The ABA warned the school last year that it could take additional sanctions "up to and including withdrawal of (ABA) approval," if conditions didn't improve.

If Arizona Summit were to lose its accreditation, its graduates wouldn't be able to sit for the bar exam in Arizona and many other states.

The school once boasted high passage rates on the bar. But the rates have dropped in the last few years. Only one out of four Arizona Summit graduates passed the test on the first attempt, according to the most recent test results released in October. By comparison, three out of four passed the exam at ASU and UA law schools.

School officials have said they are making every effort to comply with ABA standards.

Arizona Summit Interim Dean Penny Willrich said in an October interview with The Arizona Republic that the school has raised its admission standards for incoming students, requiring higher grade-point averages and higher scores on the Law School Admission Test.

Students work in a Criminal Practice and Writing II class at Arizona Summit Law School in February 2017.

GPA and LSAT scores are two factors that can influence how well students do in law school and whether they pass the bar exam after graduation.

Willrich said the school has increased rigor in the classroom and in grading, and adjusted curriculum to make it more like traditional law schools. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in bar-preparation programs, she said.

"My goal is to take us back to a time when we were very successful on the bar and had 75 and 80 percent (pass) range," she said in October. "I think we can get there with all the changes that have taken place. But of course, it’s going to take a little bit of time."

Arizona Summit is one of three schools started by InfiLaw Corp., a for-profit company.

The InfiLaw schools were founded more than a decade ago with the mission of diversifying the legal profession. Arizona Summit has won awards for its diverse student population, which is about 41 percent minority — higher than either ASU's or UA's law schools.

But law-school watchdogs have criticized the school for admitting too many students with lower LSAT scores over the years.

The school started in 2005 with 27 students in its inaugural class but added hundreds more over time. Enrollment reached the 700s by 2011 and peaked at around 1,000 by 2013. Student enrollment has since declined to around 200.

InfiLaw's other two schools have recently run into problems.

InfiLaw's Charlotte School of Law closed in August 2017 after being put on probation by the ABA the previous year and after the U.S. Department of Education pulled its federal student-loan funding.

Former students have filed three federal lawsuits, accusing the Charlotte school and its corporate owners of fraud and breach of contract.

Visiting Professor of Law Julie Gunnigle helps first-year law student Timothy Rosini, 32, in the Criminal Practice and Writing II class at Arizona Summit Law School in downtown Phoenix on Feb. 28, 2017.

In October, the ABA notified InfiLaw's Florida Coastal School of Law that it was “significantly out of compliance” with the ABA’s standards.

Standards cited by the ABA include maintaining a rigorous program of legal education that prepares students for passing the bar, providing academic support and following sound admissions practices.

These were the similar concerns that prompted the ABA to put Arizona Summit on probation last year.

Here are the 10 schools with highest passage rates, according to data released Thursday from the ABA. The data includes students who graduated from law school in 2015 and who passed the bar exam within two years of graduation.

10 schools with highest passage rates

Baylor Law School, Waco Texas: 100%.
University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison: 100%. *
University of Pennsylvania Law School: 99%.
Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 99%. *
University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville: 99%.
Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut: 99%.
University of Chicago Law School: 99%.
University of Washington School of Law, Seattle: 99%.
Stanford Law School, California: 99%.
University of Iowa College of Law, Iowa City: 98%.

* Wisconsin has what's called "diploma privilege," which allows graduates to practice law without taking the bar exam.

St. Mary's University School of Law, San Antonio was originally listed as having a 65% passage rate by the ABA. The ABA has since updated the school's passage rate to 90%.

Source: American Bar Association, Students who graduated from law school in 2015 who passed the bar exam within two years of graduation.

Reach the reporter at 602-444-8072 or anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com.