Ateneo Law School - Performance in The Bar Examinations

Performance in The Bar Examinations

The school has been successful in its education of lawyers since its foundation, as measured by the performance of Ateneo graduates in the bar examinations. Ever since the institution of the JD program, the Ateneo has managed to produce most of the examinees who make it to the top 10. It has also managed to maintain the highest average passing percentage in this period.

In 2004, 112 out of 117 Ateneo law graduates passed the Bar Exam with the school attaining a passing average of 95.72%. The national passing average is 31.61%, with the reported passing rates of the next best two law schools are 90.8% of San Beda College and 86% of University of the Philippines respectively. In 2006, the law school achieved a 93.22% passing percentage for first timers, and an overall passing percentage of 90.16% for the entire ALS contingent, with 3 of the top 10 exam takers coming from the law school. In 2010, the law school achieved a passing rate of 88% for first timers, and 86.63% overall, the highest among all Philippine law schools and beyond the 20.26% national passing rate, aside from clinching 4 out of the top 10 spots among the examinees including the first and second places.

In the 2011 Bar Examinations, three Ateneo graduates topped the exam: Raoul Angelo Atadero, who also graduated as valedictorian of his batch, placed 1st, Luz Danielle Bolong placed 2nd, and Irene Marie Qua, who placed 8th. Ateneo had the second-highest passing rate next to the University of Philippines, with 92.73% of its examinees passing the bar.