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February 2017 Michigan Bar Exam Results Reveal Passage Rate is Lowest it has been in Decades. Why is it so Low? And What Does It Mean For July’s Exam?

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Why Is The February 2017 Michigan Bar Exam Passage Rate So Low? And What Does It Mean For July’s Exam?

Official statistics for the February 2017 Michigan bar exam have not yet been released. However, doing basic math with the numbers we have available, it appears as though the February 2017 Michigan bar exam passage rate was 46%.

(How did we get this number? It looks like, based on the seat number list, there were approximately 390 bar exam takers without accommodations. There were also approximately 15 bar exam takers with accommodations in the 600’s and 15 attorneys licensed in other jurisdictions in the 700’s. So the total number of bar exam takers appears to be around 420. There are about 194 seat numbers on the list. That makes for a 46 – 47% passage rate.)

Why Is The February 2017 Michigan Bar Exam Passage Rate So Low? And What Does It Mean For July’s Exam?

This Michigan bar exam passage rate is the lowest it has been since at least 2000. In February 2005, the passage rate was 55%. That is the closest the passage rate has come to 46%.

Why Was the February 2017 Michigan Bar Exam Passage Rate so Low?

Students are quick to blame the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) and the change in scoring. (As of now, only 175 questions are scored instead of the traditional 190.) However, the national MBE score did not lower much (it was one point lower than it used to be). Further, many states have not seen such a dramatic decrease in passage rates, as they would if the MBE was solely to blame.

We tend to be the last people to complain about Michigan bar exam essay questions. However, we truly think it was the essay portion that was the cause of the problem. The Michigan essays are getting more and more nuanced and ridiculous.

Of course, you may expect to see one or two “weird” questions on a typical Michigan bar exam, there were several challenging questions on this bar exam, including:

  • A bizarre Torts question on malicious prosecution. (I have not heard one student say they wrote about malicious prosecution, which is what the graders were looking for. This is not taught in law school nor is it taught by bar review courses. Nor has it ever been tested on Michigan essays before.)
  • A Creditors’ Rights question testing the nuances of Garnishments. (JD Advising is, to my knowledge, the only course that teaches about garnishments. And even we did not cover the super-nuanced questions they were asking in our class. Not to mention this was the first time garnishments has ever been tested.)
  • A Criminal Procedure question about a good faith mistake of law based on a recent case in a different jurisdiction that even my friends who have been prosecutors for 5 years did not know the answer to (and was something that had never been asked before).
  • A Partnership question which expected examinees to know a “clear and convincing” evidence standard if family members were partners (something that has never been asked before)
  • A Domestic Relations 100-mile rule question that asked about change in parenting time (something that has never been asked on the Michigan bar exam and is not covered by courses)
  • A Workers’ Compensation question that asked about an intentional tort lawsuit against a third party (something that has never been asked before on the Michigan bar exam)
  • A Criminal Law question that was standard in some ways but also asked about “binding over for trial” (something most examinees are unfamiliar with absent experience working in Criminal Law)
  • Not to mention: a very difficult Contracts question, and a lengthy page-and-a-half, bizarre Evidence question.

This type of exam led to subpar answers, even among students who worked hard, studied hard, and were prepared. This also led to the BLE members scratching their heads, having to go back and add points to questions, and having a lot of “rereads” (that is, those who scored between 130 and 134). And it ultimately led to results being released later than expected at 4:00 PM on May 9.

We think the type of essay exam caused the very low passage rate.

What does this mean for those who appeal February 2017 Michigan bar exam results?

First of all, we think it could mean good news for those who appeal. The BLE has been passing ridiculously low amounts of appeals (6 last administration and 5 the administration before). We suspect the reason they have been passing low amounts is because they do not want the passage rate to get too high. That should not be a concern for them this round, so maybe they will be a bit more fair in terms of how they grade appeals.

What does this mean for July 2017 takers?

When the Michigan bar exam passage rate is low, especially due to crappy essay answers, it is more work for the BLE. They have to go back, reread essays, add points, figure out what kind of scale they want to have…and then deal with the headache of listening to people complain about it. (Which I’m sure, though annoying, is much less annoying than having to sit through another bar exam even though you deserved to be licensed after February’s because of a bunch of wild-card essay questions the BLE decided to experiment with…)

So, I think the BLE will step up their game a bit and not administer as ridiculous of an essay portion in July.

Note: I think July takers will still see unusual subjects tested. So, study up on Commercial Paper, Secured Transactions, Equity, etc. However, overall, I think the topics tested will be ones that they have tested in the past or ones that are actually taught by courses.

Will there still be some unusual questions or topics you cannot prepare for? Of course! It is the bar exam! But, we hope to see one or two of these. Not eight.

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