644 Candidates Pass Summer 2004 Washington State Bar Examination

Seattle, Washington, October 13, 2004 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announce that 644 candidates passed the Bar Examination administered July 27-29, 2004, at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Of the 884 candidates who took the exam, 72.9 percent passed, which is close to the average pass rate for the semiannual exam.

View the statistical information and a list of those who passed the exam.

Administered in two parts over a three-day period, the Bar Examination includes 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 WSBA. If a candidate passes one part of the examination and fails the other, that candidate may sit for the next examination without having to retake the portion previously passed.

In 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. Under APR 18, lawyers from other states, U.S. territories, or the District of Columbia are admitted to the WSBA on the same terms and conditions that a Washington lawyer could be admitted in the other state. This rule also enables Washington lawyers to seek admission in those states that provide for some form of reciprocal admission. More information about reciprocity.

About the WSBA
The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state’s 28,400 lawyers. The WSBA 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 exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, and numerous other educational and member-service activities.

The governance of the WSBA is vested in its 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Ronald R. Ward of Seattle. The board meets every six weeks at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the WSBA is carried out through its 23 standing committees, 23 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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