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Of Counsel
Campus News
 UF law students hit the books at the school's law library. The university saw a 9.3% drop in law school applicants this fall. |
Waning Interest
Following a national trend, applications were down at the University of Florida's Frederic G. Levin College of Law this fall. UF had the greatest decline in applicants among 10 top-tier schools surveyed by the National Law Journal. UF reported that 2,711 aspiring lawyers applied this year, compared with 2,989 last year -- a 9.3% drop.
According to the Law School Admission Council, nationwide applications began to drop in 2004, for the first time since 1997. All law schools received 4.8% fewer applications in 2004 and 6.3% fewer in 2005. The Journal suggests a solid economy is to blame: More college graduates are taking jobs instead of heading to law school.
UF dean Robert Jerry says he's not too concerned about the decline because the quality of UF's applicants is increasing all the time, as is the diversity. Jerry also got more students than he bargained for this year: UF sent out 1,044 acceptance letters expecting 400 would come to Gainesville. Instead, 447 showed up. "I would prefer to have more applicants," Jerry says, "but I couldn't be more pleased with the quality of the students."
Attracting Hispanics
Three Florida law schools made Hispanic Business magazine's top 10 law schools for Hispanics in 2006. The University of Miami School of Law is No. 2, behind the University of New Mexico's law school. Florida State University ranks sixth on the annual list, and UF is seventh.
Clearing the Bar
FSU College of Law grads had the highest pass rate on the latest Florida Bar exam, at 88.1%. UM grads followed with an 85.7% pass rate; UF's pass rate was 81.2% and Stetson's, 81%, according to the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. The overall pass rate for first-time test takers statewide was 75.1%.
In Dispute
St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami continues to improve its Bar pass rate, from 57% in 2004 to 61% in 2005 to 63% in the latest exam. Improving the rate was one of former Attorney General Bob Butterworth's goals for the Catholic university's law school when he became dean in 2003. A federal suit filed in New Jersey claims the school is unfairly dismissing students to help boost its rate. The complaint alleges the school accepts large numbers of students -- and their $25,800 tuition -- and weeds them out in the first and second years. St. Thomas associate dean George Sheldon says the school likely will seek to have the case dismissed. "It's an illogical lawsuit," he says. "If we accepted all these huge numbers of students for their tuition, why would we dismiss them?" The school dismissed 40 students from the freshman class of 2005, Sheldon says, and not the 80 alleged in the suit.
