The July 2017 Ohio Bar Exam produced 85 newly minted attorneys from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, the second highest number from any of Ohio’s nine law schools. C|M|LAW also improved its bar passage rate from last year for first-time test takers to 80%, placing it fifth in Ohio for first-time test takers and exceeding the state average.

“The career milestone of passing the bar examination reinforces the hard work and determination that define our students’ commitment,” said Cleveland-Marshall Dean Lee Fisher.  “We are proud of their accomplishment and confident that they are prepared to become outstanding lawyers and leaders.”

Cleveland-Marshall has partnered with BARBRI, a nationally known provider of bar exam preparation courses to provide students with a no-cost bar preparation course.  In addition to the primary BARBRI course, C|M|LAW offers several complimentary programs, including a new faculty mentor series in which each student is paired with a faculty member who keeps in contact with a student throughout their final two years of law school to ensure they are planning and preparing for the exam, and serves as a sounding board during the final weeks of bar preparation. 

Wickens Law’s Carmen Verhosek, a 2017 graduate who passed the July exam, feels well-prepared to enter the legal profession.  “The professors at C|M|LAW are dedicated and extremely passionate about teaching their students and going the extra mile to help,” she said.  “My professors’ accessibility was paramount to my success during law school and when preparing for the bar exam.”

Bar preparation efforts at C|M|LAW are in lockstep with the school’s focus on preparing students for practice.  Every C|M|LAW student is guaranteed to participate in an externship, clinic, or one of the school’s new Pop-up Practicums, short-term, practice-based experiences that provide the flexibility for students to learn and engage with current legal issues by undertaking projects for private, public, and/or non-profit entities.  Innovative centers, including the Center for Health Law and Policy, Center for Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection, and the recently announced Global Space Law Center offer specialized educational and certificate opportunities for students in these growing fields.

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