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Results of the February 2008 Bar Examination and Swearing-In Ceremony
The results of the February 2008 Bar Examination have been posted. Additionally, a letter notifying each bar applicant of the results will be mailed on Friday, April 25, 2008. Telephonic requests for information about these results will not be accepted until 9:00 a.m. on Monday, April 28, 2008.
The swearing-in ceremony for applicants who have passed the examination and have completed all other requirements for admission will be held at the Koger Center in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday, May 27, 2008, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Applicants who are eligible to be sworn in during this ceremony will receive detailed instructions regarding this ceremony in the letter notifying them of the results of the bar examination.
South Carolina February 2008 Bar Examination Results
Overall Pass Rates
Total |
Pass |
Pass Rates |
|
| Charleston School of Law | 48 |
23 |
47.9% |
| University of South Carolina | 34 |
22 |
64.7% |
| Other Law Schools | 133 |
103 |
77.4% |
| Total | 215 |
148 |
68.8% |
Announcement Concerning Computer-based Testing
July 2008 Bar Examination
Due to the number of expected applications, space limitations, and the short period of time in which to evaluate the pilot computer-based testing program from the February 2008 Bar Examination, the Supreme Court of South Carolina will not be offering the use of laptop computers during the July 2008 Bar Examination.
ANNOUNCEMENT CONCERNING
COMPUTER-BASED TESTING
The Supreme Court of South Carolina will be conducting a computer-based testing (CBT) pilot program for the February 2008 Bar Examination. The pilot program will permit no more than seventy-five (75) applicants to complete their answers to the essay sections of the examination on laptop computers. The seventy-five (75) applicants will be randomly selected from those applicants who complete and return the attached form by the date provided on the form.
Click here for a printer friendly version of the form.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Request to be Considered in
Computer-Based Testing
Pilot Program
I am interested in participating in the computer-based testing (CBT) pilot program for the February 2008 Bar Examination. If chosen to participate in the program, I will provide my own laptop for the examination. In addition, I will timely complete the registration process, including the payment of the $100.50 registration fee, and all other procedures required by ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc., the software provider which has been selected for the pilot program. I am aware that the software which will be used is not compatible with any Macintosh operating system and may not be used with a personal computer (PC) emulation software. The minimum recommended system requirements are as follows:
CPU = 450 MHz Pentium III or industry equivalent RAM = 256 Drives = 50 MB of free space Operating System = English versions of Microsofts Windows 2000,XP, or Vista Software = Internet Explorer 6.0 or greater Internet Connection = An Internet connection is required to download the CBT software (AOL users must have AOL 6.0 or higher) Minimum Screen Resolution = 1024 x 768 USB port
I understand that if I encounter hardware or software failures or other technical difficulties while taking the bar examination, no additional time will be given. If the technical difficulties cannot be resolved or are not resolved, I will continue the essay examination by handwriting. I understand that, in such cases, the Board of Law Examiners will use reasonable efforts to recover what had been saved on the laptop, but will not give credit or make accommodations for any portion of the answer(s) that cannot be recovered regardless of the reason for the technical difficulty. I accept all risk of loss of my examination answers saved on the computer.
I accept the conditions the Supreme Court of South Carolina has specified for use of laptop computers. I will hold harmless the Board of Law Examiners, the Supreme Court of South Carolina, and ExamSoft Worldwide, Inc., and each of their employees, agents, and contract assistants (including the proctors and all technical assistants) for any and all computer and software malfunctions or other technical difficulties, regardless of the reason, relating to my use or attempted use of a laptop computer in connection with the South Carolina Bar Examination and will indemnify these entities against any and all costs, damages, and fees resulting from any claim filed by me against third parties.
Name __________________________
Signature ________________________
Date __________________
Address[1] __________________________
City/State/Zip ________________________
Telephone __________________________
E-mail Address ______________________
This completed form must be RECEIVED by the Office of Bar Admissions by DECEMBER 20, 2007, in order for the applicant to be considered for participation in the CBT pilot program.
By mail: Supreme Court of South Carolina
Office of Bar Admissions
P.O. Box 11330
Columbia, South Carolina 29211By hand-delivery:
Supreme Court of South Carolina
Office of Bar Admissions
1231 Gervais Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29201
[1] This is the address at which I wish to be notified of selection or non-selection for participation in the CBT program.
Supreme Court Issues Additional Statement
Regarding the July 2007 Bar Examination
Actions of this Court relating to the July, 2007, South Carolina Bar Examination have been the subject of public discussion.
On November 2, 2007, the Court released a statement on the South Carolina Judicial Department's website seeking to explain its decision that the Wills, Trusts, and Estates Section (WTE) of the examination would not be considered in determining the examinees' success or failure. Notwithstanding this effort to address our actions, the media, the public, and the bar continue to express understandable concerns. In an effort to address these concerns, we issue this additional statement.
The South Carolina Board of Law Examiners administered the examination to 552 examinees during the period July 23- July 25, 2007.
The examination consisted as usual of seven sections: the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) and six essay sections. Each essay section included three or four questions formulated by examiners; the subjects tested in the essay sections were as follows: Commercial Transactions and the Uniform Commercial Code; Domestic Relations and Equitable Remedies; Insurance; Wills, Trusts, and Estates; Federal and State Procedure; and Corporations, Agency, and Partnership. In order to receive an overall passing score, an examinee is required to achieve a passing score on six of the seven sections.[1]
Grading of the examinations is strictly anonymous. Exam scores are recorded and catalogued by a number assigned to each examinee prior to the exam. The Court does not furnish examiners with the list matching examinee names and examinee numbers.
At the end of the grading period, the results are transmitted to the Clerk of Court, whose office matches the number assigned to an examinee to his/her name.
This process was followed in the grading of the July 2007 examination. The scores of the examination were received from the examiners, and compiled by the Supreme Court Clerk's Office. Names of the successful examinees were posted on the Judicial Department's website on October 26, 2007, at 4 pm. As is common practice, only the confidential numbers of the unsuccessful examinees were posted.
On October 31, 2007, the examiner of the WTE section reported to the Clerk's Office that he had made a scoring error in his report of the examinees' scores. This was not a "re-grade," but merely an error in transcription that was discovered as the examiner prepared to transmit the examination books to the Court. The error was that an examinee who had previously been reported as having passed the WTE section, had in fact failed the section. The Clerk of Court then reviewed the examinee's other essay section scores and discovered that the examinee's WTE failure, coupled with the examinee's failure on one other essay section resulted in the examinee not receiving an overall passing score. The examiner's initial report of a passing score was a scrivener's mistake. The scoring error and its consequence was reported to the full Court at its conference on November 1, 2007, at which time the Court was faced with determining what action, if any, to take with regard to the error.
After deliberation, the decision was made to eliminate the entire WTE section from consideration. In making this decision the Court determined that it would be inappropriate to reverse the affected examinee's[2] previous notification of successful completion of the examination. See Rule 402(i)(5) ("The results reported by the Board of Law Examiners is final..."). This decision then raised the question of fair and equitable treatment for those examinees, who, like the examinee affected by the reporting error, had failed the WTE section and only one other section, thus resulting in an overall failing score. It was against this backdrop that the Court made the decision to eliminate the WTE section from consideration so as to provide equal treatment to those in exactly the same position as the affected examinee. The Clerk advised the Court that this action would result in an additional twenty examinees receiving overall passing scores on the examination.
No consideration was given to the identity of any examinee who would stand to benefit from this action. Moreover, the action was not influenced by any appeal, campaign, or public or private outcry. It was simply deemed the best choice among several problematic alternatives.
The Court regrets that this scoring error occurred and will seek to insure that there will be no recurrence of this problem.
We take this opportunity to express our complete confidence in all members of the Board of Law Examiners and its Chair, George M. Hearn, Jr., and reiterate that the scoring error was simply a scrivener's mistake. We accept full responsibility for our actions in seeking in good faith to rectify the error.
We recognize that even this detailed statement may not satisfy those who have voiced honest and thoughtful criticism of our actions, and we further accept that legitimate debate may be had whether our decision was the best among all competing alternatives. But we assure the public and the bar that the Court's actions were not the product of pressure, favoritism or discrimination in any form.
We further pledge to the public, the bar, and to future examinees that we are committed to maintaining the integrity of the bar admissions process.
[1] Of the 552 examinees, 428 initially received passing scores, which number rose to 448 following the Court's action of November 2, 2007. The section failure totals were:
| Section | # Failed |
| Equitable Remedies & Domestic Relations | 52 |
| Wills, Trusts, & Estates | 107 |
| Insurance | 58 |
| Federal & State Procedure | 58 |
| Commercial Transactions & UCC | 77 |
| Corporations, Agency, & Partnership | 76 |
| Multistate Bar Examination | 99 |
By way of comparison, the February, 2007, bar examination was administered to 203 examinees, of whom 152 received overall passing scores. The section failure totals were:
| Section | # Failed |
| Equitable Remedies & Domestic Relations | 22 |
| Wills, Trusts, & Estates | 21 |
| Insurance | 15 |
| Federal & State Procedure | 18 |
| Commercial Transactions & UCC | 23 |
| Corporations, Agency, & Partnership | 32 |
| Multistate Bar Examination | 49 |
[2] This person's name was not known to the Court at the time of this decision.
Supreme Court Issues Statement Regarding July 2007 Bar Examination
The results of the July 2007, South Carolina
Bar examination were released on the Judicial Department website at 4 pm,
October 26, 2007.
On October 31, 2007, a scoring error reported by the examiner of the Wills,
Trusts, and Estates Section, was communicated to the Clerk of Court.
On November 1, 2007, the full Court was advised of the examiner’s communication
and determined that owing to this error the results of the affected section
would not be considered. This action, which was posted on this website on
November 2, 2007, resulted in twenty additional examinees receiving overall
passing scores.
Law School Pass Rates for the July 2007
Examination
The Supreme Court has authorized the release of the following information regarding law school pass rates for the July 2007 Examination:
| Total Number of Graduates Taking Examination |
Number Passing Examination |
Number Failing Examination |
Pass Percentage |
|
| University of South Carolina | 211 | 193 | 18 | 91.5 |
| Charleston School of Law | 166 | 116 | 50 | 69.9 |
| All Other Law Schools | 175 | 139 | 36 | 79.4 |
| Total | 552 | 448 | 104 | 81.1 |
Consolidated Listing of Applicants
Passing the July 2007 Bar Examination
Change to the Results
of the July 2007 Bar Examination
After considering the results of the 2007 Bar Examination, the Supreme Court of South Carolina has determined that the Wills, Trusts and Estates section of the examination will not be considered. Instead, the results of the examination will be based on the scores received in the other essay sections and the Multistate Bar Examination. As a result of this change, the applicants with the following examination numbers have now passed the examination:
4
12
54
66
92
152
314
344
462
474
492
568
592
668
934
938
966
1086
1114
1128
These applicants will receive a letter advising them that they have passed the examination. Further, the swearing-in ceremony for applicants who have passed the examination and have completed all other requirements for admission will be held at the Koger Center in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Applicants who are eligible to be sworn in during this ceremony will receive detailed instructions regarding this ceremony in the letter notifying them of the results of the examination.
Results of the July 2007 Bar Examination and Swearing-In Ceremony
The results of the July 2007 Bar Examination have been posted. Additionally, a letter notifying each bar applicant of the results will be mailed on Friday, October 26, 2007. Telephonic requests for information about these results will not be accepted until 9:00 a.m. on Monday, October 29, 2007.
The swearing-in ceremony for applicants who have passed the examination and have completed all other requirements for admission will be held at the Koger Center in Columbia, South Carolina, on Tuesday, November 13, 2007, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Applicants who are eligible to be sworn in during this ceremony will receive detailed instructions regarding this ceremony in the letter notifying them of the results of the bar examination.
Court Clarifies Rule 403, SCACR
By order dated September 6, 2007, the Supreme Court clarified Rule 403 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules regarding the trial experiences an attorney must complete before he or she may appear alone in a hearing, trial, or deposition. Additionally, the Court has approved a revised certificate for use with Rule 403. The Office of Bar Admissions will, however, accept older versions of the certificate.
Supreme Court Amends Rule 402, SCACR
The Supreme Court of South Carolina has amended Rule 402, SCACR, to delete the provisions allowing applicants to review and seek re-grading of their examinations. This change is effective June 1, 2007, and applies to all bar examinations conducted after that date.
A downloadable Word version of the South Carolina Bar Application is now available for applicants seeking to take the South Carolina Bar Examination. The file is password protected, but if you have Word 2000, you can open the file, fill in the blanks, and save it using a new filename. It is important to use the "Tab" key to navigate between the fields and not the "Enter" key. Once completed, the application must be printed, signed and mailed to the Bar Admissions Office along with all supporting documentation.
A new user-friendly version of the Bar Application is now available. This version will wrap text and stretch to accommodate your entries. The other instructions above remain applicable. Please note there is only one character affidavit in the form - you can instruct your references to access the character affidavit for ease of completion or simply print out the affidavits from the printable version for them to fill out on a typewriter. If you place the mouse on the highlighted text you will see instructions.
*If you are uncertain about which application to file,
please contact the Office of Bar Admissions.
The Bar Admissions Office is responsible for processing applications to be admitted to practice law in South Carolina to include supervising the administration of the South Carolina Bar Examination. Additionally, it provides administrative support for the Board of Law Examiners and the Committee on Character and Fitness.
Except for certain law professors and applicants for limited certificates to practice law, all applicants for admission must take and pass the South Carolina Bar Examination. Further, only persons who have received a JD or LLB degree from law school which was approved by the Council of Legal Education of the American Bar Association at the time the degree was conferred are eligible to sit for the Bar Examination.
The South Carolina Bar Examination is given twice a year on the last consecutive Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in February and July. On Monday and Tuesday, applicants must answer essay questions prepared by the Board of Law Examiners. These questions are given in 6 sections with each section lasting two hours. An applicant must receive a score of 70 out of 100 points to pass an essay section. On Wednesday, applicants complete the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The examination involves two examination periods of 3 hours, each containing100 multiple choice questions. The MBE counts as one section of the Bar Examination and an applicant must receive a scaled score of 125 or higher to pass this section. To pass the Bar Examination, an applicant must receive a passing score on at least six of the seven sections. Beginning with the July 2002 Bar Examination, an applicant who receives a scaled score of 110 or less on the Mutistate Bar Examination will fail the entire Bar Examination without any grading of the essay sections.
The filing period for the July Examination is December 1 until January 31, and the filing period for the February Examination is August 1 until September 30. The application fee varies as shown below:
| July Applications Filed Between: | February Applications Filed Between: | Filing Fee |
| December 1 to January 10 | August 1 to August 31 | $400 |
| January 11 to January 31 | September 1 to September 30 | $750 |
Additionally, an applicant who has been admitted in another state or the District of Columbia for one year or more must file one (1) additional copy of the application along with an additional fee of $500. A portion of this fee will be used to obtain a character report from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Rule 402 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR) contains additional information about the requirements for admission in South Carolina. An application packet may be obtained from the Bar Admissions Office.
In addition to regular admissions, the Bar Admissions Office also processes applications for limited certificates to practice law in South Carolina. Additional information on these limited certificates to practice law is contained in Rules 405 (corporate or business counsel), 414 (clinical law program teachers) and 415 (retired attorney pro bono participation program). Application packets may be obtained from the Bar Admissions Office.
Rule 403, SCACR, establishes trial experiences which must be completed before a lawyer may appear alone in any matter pending before a court in South Carolina. The certificate (Word version/Acrobat version) or affidavit showing compliance with this rule should be submitted in duplicate to the Bar Admissions Office.
For information about the Bridge the Gap Program, to include an application form for that Program, please go to the South Carolina Bar Website, www.scbar.org and click on the link CLE. On the CLE page, there is a link to material about the Bridge the Gap Program.
For information about the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), including registration, fees and test dates, please go to the National Conference of Bar Examiners Website, www.ncbex.org.
Office Location:
Supreme Court Building
1231 Gervais Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Office Hours:
Monday through Friday
8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Excluding state holidays
Mailing Address:
Office of Bar Admissions
Supreme Court of South Carolina
P.O. Box 11330
Columbia, SC 29211
| Voice: | (803) 734-1080 * |
| FAX: | (803) 734-0394 |
| TTY: | (803) 734-6365 |
* The Office of Bar Admissions accepts telephone calls between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.