Duquesne Law Grads Place Sixth, Outperform Peers in Bar-Passage Metrics

The School of Law was recently recognized among the top law schools in the country whose graduates outperform peer schools in terms of bar-passage metrics. Bar-passage rates are “the single best outcome measure…in assessing whether a law school is maintaining a ‘rigorous program of legal education,” according to the American Bar Association.

Duquesne was placed sixth among 187 law schools assessed over a five-year period (2015-2019) based on a recent study conducted by Jeffry S. Kinsler, founding dean of Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, Tenn.

“Our alumni, faculty-scholars, staff and students all engage in a coordinated and systematic effort to deliver on our promise to produce prepared and professionally confident lawyers who will go on to become ethical leaders in our justice system,” said Law Dean April Barton. “This public recognition of our hard work is appreciated, but we know these results are emblematic of our commitment to fulfill our mission of serving God by serving our students.”

Kinsler’s study was featured in both the winter 2021 edition of Pre-Law Magazine and the TaxProfBlog. “This study contains five years’ worth of data, so we know the numbers do hold up,” said Kinsler to Pre-Law Magazine.

The law school is known for its commitment to providing students comprehensive preparation for the bar examination, and graduates regularly achieve an overall pass rate that exceeds Pennsylvania’s overall pass rate.

“Supporting and promoting student and graduate success stories is at the heart of our mission as a Spiritan law school,” said Professor Ashley London, director of bar studies at Duquesne. “We are privileged to work side-by-side with our students on their individual journeys from becoming law students to licensed practitioners. We are proud to serve graduates successfully sitting for the bar examination in every jurisdiction from Maryland to California.”

Others law schools identified by Kinsler among the top 15 include Florida International University, Texas A&M, Georgia State, Texas Tech and the University of South Carolina, among others.

Students attending the School of Law may take advantage of academic-excellence programs as early as their first year in addition to the programming offered by its nationally ranked legal writing program. These early courses are followed by practical hands-on experiences learning lawyering through the school’s robust clinical courses, and the law school experience is capped by comprehensive bar preparation courses in the third and fourth years of study of full-time evening program.