November 5, 1999
Success on the New York Bar Examination!

NEW YORK, NY. On Friday, November 5, 1999, Jelani Eddington learned that he had passed the New York state bar examination on his first attempt. The names of all the successful candidates were posted on the official website for the New York State Board of Law Examiners at 12:01am on November 5th.

Of the 8,541 candidates who took the July 27-28, 1999 New York bar examination, 5,846 -- or 68.4 percent -- passed the test. That is down from the 70.1 percent who passed the July test in 1998, and down significantly from 1994's record rate of 78.7 percent. The total number of candidates was down from last year's 8,788 test takers.

The pass rate for first-time applicants, as is typical, was significantly higher, with 75.3 percent -- or 5,421 of the 7,197 novice candidates -- passing. This was down somewhat from last year's first-time pass rate of 77.9 percent. By way of comparison, graduates from Yale Law School enjoy an overall pass rate of 98.2% for the New York bar examination.

Having successfully completed the bar examination, Jelani Eddington has been certified for admission to the New York bar in the First Department of the Appellate Division. His official swearing in as an attorney should take place sometime within the next few months.