Capital Graduates Place Third in State for Ohio Bar Passage

November 2, 2006

Congratulations to Capital University Law School graduates! Capital graduates taking the July 2006 Ohio bar exam for the first time passed at a rate of 87 percent. Capital’s pass rate was the third highest in the state and was two percentage points above the state-wide average for first-time takers.

“This success is due to the incredible hard work of our graduates, as well as the efforts of our faculty and staff,” says Dean Jack A. Guttenberg. “The Law School faculty has implemented a number of changes and created a number of programs for our students to be successful and well-prepared as they enter the legal profession. Our strong bar performance this year is one indication that these programs do positively impact the success of our students.”

Since 2004, the Law School has:

• Created small section courses for all first-year students, providing each student with one-to-one faculty interaction;

• Scheduled all first-year and bar-tested courses three days per week, providing students with more frequent contact with faculty;

• Mark Hatch, L’06, Professor of Bar Services Yvonne Twiss, L’'98, and Mick Twiss at the October 27, 2006 Bar Success reception.

  Enhanced our legal writing and research program by requiring every third- and fourth-year student to enroll in Legal Drafting, a course that focuses on document drafting;

• Enhanced our academic support programs by retaining a full-time Professor of Academic Support, H. Macy Favor Jr., L’93, T’97, and required academic support and second-year Legal Analysis for students who are at risk of not succeeding in law school;

• Retained Yvonne L. Twiss, L’98, as Professor of Bar Services, and under her direction, created one of the first in the country for-credit bar courses – Advanced Bar Studies, a course that provides students with an intensive, substantive review of selected legal material routinely tested on the Ohio bar exam and uses problems and exercises in a bar exam format to familiarize students with techniques for answering multiple choice questions and analyzing, organizing, and writing essay and multi-state performance questions;

• Under Twiss’ direction, provided our students with an array of services focusing on the successful completion of the bar exam; and,

• Hired a full-time Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Jennifer T. DiSanza, and a full-time Director of Multi-Cultural Affairs, Shakeer Abdulla, to provide non-academic support and to enhance the educational experiences of our students.

“The practice of law is rigorous and so is the legal education at Capital,” says Guttenberg. “We have excellent students and excellent faculty, and they worked hard to achieve this success. I congratulate each and every one of them.”