Nine of New York state’s 15 law schools saw a decrease in performance among first-time candidates for the July 2009 bar examination over last year, when 10 of the 15 campuses saw increases.

At the two campuses registering the greatest decreases — New York Law School and Hofstra University School of Law — the question being asked, among others, is whether a poor economy was a factor in reduced scores that followed upward trends at both campuses.

The overall decline in this year’s bar pass rates involved dips of only a few points at most campuses, pushing the statewide average down to 88 percent from an all-time high of 90 percent in 2008.

The more substantial declines at New York Law and Hofstra Law, 10 points and 9 points, respectively, put their placements at the middle and bottom ranks of the schools.

Only two campuses saw improvements this year, Syracuse University College of Law, up 5 points to 87 percent over last year’s 82 percent, and Pace Law School at 86 percent, up 1 point over last year’s pass rate.

A record 11,532 candidates sat for the exam, which was held simultaneously in New York City, Buffalo and Albany on July 28 and 29.

The usual top three performers — Columbia Law School, New York University School of Law and Cornell Law School — remained in place, but in a different order from last year. This time, Columbia Law and NYU Law scored within fractions of each other at 97 percent, displacing Cornell Law from the No. 1 position. Cornell scored 94 percent this year, compared to 99 percent last year.

[Law.com]