623 Candidates Pass Washington State Bar Examination

Seattle, Washington, October16, 2000 - The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that 623 candidates passed the Bar Examination that was administered in August 2000. Of the 828 candidates who took the examination, 75.2 percent passed the test.

The examination is given in two parts over a three-day period, including a substantive law exam and an exam on the Rules of Professional Conduct. Candidates must successfully pass both parts in order to qualify for admission to the State Bar. If a candidate passes one part of the examination and fails the other, the candidate may sit for the next examination without having to retake the portion previously passed.

On September 21, 1999, the Washington State Supreme Court approved Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 18, which provides a procedure for the reciprocal admission of lawyers without requiring that those lawyers pass the Washington State Bar Examination. Lawyers from other states, U.S. territories or the District of Columbia will be admitted to the Washington State Bar Association on the same terms and conditions that a Washington lawyer could be admitted in the other state. This new rule also enables Washington lawyers to seek admission in those states which provide for some form of reciprocal admission. Additional information about APR 18 can be found on the WSBA website ( www.wsba.org/lawyers/licensing/faq-reciprocity.htm ).

Statistical information and the list of those who passed the examination is available on the WSBA website at

Pass list: http://www.wsba.org/lic/barexam/200008/pass-list.htm

Statistical information: http://www.wsba.org/lic/barexam/200008/stats.htm

The Washington State Bar Association is a nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 26,000 lawyers. It both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association - all without public funding. As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar examination, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. As a professional association, it provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.