Lex Mentis™Attorney Check

July 2026 New York Bar Exam Results: 67% Pass Rate, and Where February 2026 Passers Work Now

By Lex Mentis · Published · Updated

6,688 of the 9,936 candidates who took the July 2026 New York bar exam passed, a 67% pass rate, down from 70% in July 2025. The New York State Board of Law Examiners released the results on October 23, 2026, and posted the public pass list on October 26. Six months after their own results, 304 of the 1,567 February 2026 passers are admitted and registered with the Office of Court Administration. Below: pass rates by group, the pass list, and where the February 2026 class is working now, by employer, sector, city and law school.

Corrected October 28, 2026. An earlier version of this post said 307 February 2026 passers had been admitted; three of those matches were attorneys admitted earlier who share a name with a passer. It also said no employer had hired more than two of them and counted 29 large-firm hires at 23 firms. Different spellings of the same employer had been counted separately, and the large-firm list was incomplete. The figures, charts and lists below are corrected. The July 2026 pass list count is also corrected, from 6,672 to 6,682, to include every name the Board published.

July 2026 New York bar exam results at a glance

6,688passedof 9,936 who took the exam
67%overall pass rate70% in July 2025
84%first-time takers from ABA-approved law schools89% in July 2025
44%foreign-educated candidates35% of all takers

Source: NYS Board of Law Examiners, July 2026 results

Every group the Board reports passed at a lower rate than in July 2025. The biggest drop was among repeat takers, from 32% to 25%. Graduates of out-of-state ABA-approved law schools had the highest pass rate, 86%, followed by graduates of New York law schools at 83%.

July bar exam pass rates by group, 2025 vs. 2026Share of each group that passed. First-time takers unless noted.

July 2025July 2026

All candidatesJuly 2025 70%July 2026 67%
ABA-approved law school graduatesJuly 2025 89%July 2026 84%
New York law school graduatesJuly 2025 87%July 2026 83%
Out-of-state ABA law school graduatesJuly 2025 91%July 2026 86%
Foreign-educated (all)July 2025 46%July 2026 44%
Repeat takers (all)July 2025 32%July 2026 25%

Source: NYS Board of Law Examiners, July 2026 results; July 2025 results

GroupTook the July 2026 examJuly 2026 pass rateJuly 2025 pass rate
All candidates9,93667%70%
Graduates of ABA-approved law schools, first time5,94184%89%
Graduates of New York law schools, first time3,37783%87%
Graduates of out-of-state ABA law schools, first time2,56486%91%
Foreign-educated candidates3,43544%46%
Repeat takers1,62425%32%
Overall pass rate, last six New York bar examsFebruary exams have more repeat and foreign-educated takers, groups that pass at lower rates.
February 20241,667 passed42%
July 20247,158 passed69%
February 20251,583 passed39%
July 20256,976 passed70%
February 20261,567 passed41%
July 20266,688 passed67%

Source: NYS Board of Law Examiners press releases

The July 2026 pass list

The Board posted its public list of passing candidates on October 26. It has 6,682 names, six fewer than the 6,688 passers in the Board's count. Seven names appear twice: different people who share a name. You can browse and search the whole list on our July 2026 New York bar exam results page, next to every New York exam since 2008.

No name on the July 2026 list links to an attorney page yet, because no July 2026 passer has been admitted. A name becomes a link once that person is sworn in and appears in the state's attorney registry. Before that, each passer goes through these steps:

From passing the bar exam to the attorney registry
  1. 1Pass the exam and the other tests

    The bar exam (the UBE), the New York Law Exam and the MPRE ethics exam.

  2. 2Certification

    The Board of Law Examiners certifies the candidate to one of the four Appellate Division departments. Candidates who live outside New York go to the Third Department unless they work full time in the state.

  3. 3Application and character and fitness

    The candidate applies to the Appellate Division, which reviews character and fitness. The 50 hours of pro bono work come before the application, which must also meet the skills competency requirement. The application is due within three years of the exam.

  4. 4Swearing-in

    The Appellate Division admits the candidate at a swearing-in ceremony.

  5. 5Registration

    The new attorney registers with the Office of Court Administration and appears in the public registry and on Lex Mentis.

Source: NYS Board of Law Examiners: admission

Where the February 2026 bar passers are six months later

The February 2026 exam had 1,567 passers out of 3,855 takers (41%). As of the registry's October 28, 2026 update, 304 of them (19%) are admitted and registered, and 162 of those list an employer.

1,567passed in February 202641% of 3,855 takers
304admitted and registered so far19% of passers
162list an employerat 150 different employers
23list an address abroadall admitted in the Third Department

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

A class keeps filling in for years. With the same matching method, 81% of the February 2024 passers and 85% of the July 2024 passers are in the registry today. February classes include more foreign-educated candidates (56% of February 2026 takers) and repeat takers (66%), according to the Board.

Share of each class in the attorney registry todayPassers matched to a registered attorney, by exam. Months since results in brackets.
February 2024 (30 months)1,355 of 1,66781.3%
July 2024 (24 months)6,118 of 7,15885.5%
February 2025 (18 months)1,111 of 1,58370.2%
July 2025 (12 months)4,487 of 6,97664.3%
February 2026 (6 months)304 of 1,56719.4%

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov); Board of Law Examiners pass lists

Which Appellate Division department admitted them

The Third Department admitted 190 of the 304 (62%), the Second 57 (19%), the First 37 (12%) and the Fourth 20 (7%). The Third Department is where candidates who live outside New York are certified, and it admitted all 23 with an address abroad and 44 of the 46 in other states.

February 2026 passers by department and location

New York addressOther U.S. stateAbroadNo address yet

Third Department190 admitted39442384
Second Department57 admitted3027
First Department37 admitted23212
Fourth Department20 admitted119

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

Where they work: employers by sector

Of the 162 who list an employer, 92 work at law firms (37 of them at large firms). 31 work in government, including 10 at district attorneys' offices and 7 at courts. 6 work in public defense and 12 at nonprofits and legal services organizations.

February 2026 passers by type of employer162 admitted passers who list an employer.
Large law firms37
Other law firms55
Companies and other employers21
Other government14
Nonprofits and legal services12
Prosecutors10
Courts7
Public defense6

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

The employers that hired the most

No employer hired more than three. The Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney's Office and the New York City Law Department hired three each. The registry lists the Brooklyn DA's office under several spellings, including "KCDA", and we counted them together. Eight other employers hired two each.

Employers with two or more February 2026 passers
Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney's Office3
New York City Law Department3
Albany County District Attorney's Office2
Brooklyn Defender Services2
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton2
Davis Polk & Wardwell2
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson2
Montgomery County (N.Y.) District Attorney's Office2
Proskauer Rose2
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett2

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

Which large law firms hired February 2026 passers

37 February 2026 passers work at 32 large law firms. We count a firm as large if it has at least 100 New York-registered attorneys across its Lex Mentis listings. That makes it 23% of those with an employer. Five firms hired two each: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Fried Frank and Proskauer Rose.

FirmFebruary 2026 passersNew York-registered attorneys
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett21,288
Davis Polk & Wardwell21,131
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton2660
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson2536
Proskauer Rose2529
Kirkland & Ellis11,480
Latham & Watkins11,435
Sidley Austin1813
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom1811
Sullivan & Cromwell1791
Debevoise & Plimpton1784
DLA Piper1694
Milbank1683
Weil, Gotshal & Manges1677
Willkie Farr & Gallagher1673
Ropes & Gray1621
Paul Hastings1604
Cravath, Swaine & Moore1556
Clifford Chance1538
Holland & Knight1459
King & Spalding1434
Norton Rose Fulbright1398
Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker1381
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer1306
O'Melveny & Myers1253
Barclay Damon1251
Kelley Drye & Warren1209
Crowell & Moring1182
Fenwick & West1181
Eversheds Sutherland1157
Day Pitney1132
Kasowitz1123

Where they are located

103 list a New York address: 62 in New York City (45 in Manhattan, 8 in Brooklyn, 5 in Queens, 2 in the Bronx and 2 on Staten Island) and 41 elsewhere in the state, led by Albany County. 46 are in other states, led by Florida (9), the District of Columbia (6) and Illinois (5). 23 are abroad, and 132 have not listed an address yet.

Where admitted February 2026 passers are
New York CityManhattan 4562
Rest of New York State41
Other U.S. states46
AbroadJapan 4, Canada 4, United Kingdom 423
No address listed yet132

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

Law schools of the February 2026 class

Albany Law School has the most graduates among the 304 admitted passers, followed by Fordham, Brooklyn Law School and Cornell.

Law schools with the most admitted February 2026 passers
Albany Law School27
Fordham University School of Law17
Brooklyn Law School13
Cornell Law School11
Columbia Law School10
Hofstra University Maurice A. Deane School of Law10
New York Law School10
Pace Law School9
St. John's University School of Law9
Syracuse University College of Law8

Source: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov)

Frequently asked questions

What was the July 2026 New York bar exam pass rate?

67%. 6,688 of the 9,936 candidates passed, according to the Board of Law Examiners. In July 2025 the rate was 70%.

When was the July 2026 bar exam pass list released?

Candidates received their results on October 23, 2026, and the Board posted the public list on October 26, 2026. It has 6,682 names, and you can search it on our July 2026 results page.

How many February 2026 passers have been admitted?

304 of the 1,567 passers are admitted and registered as of October 28, 2026, by our count. Some passers may be registered under a different form of their name, so this number is a minimum.

How we counted

  • Passers: the names on the Board's published pass lists. Pass rates and totals come from the Board's press releases.
  • Admitted: a name on the February 2026 list counts when it matches exactly one registered attorney admitted in 2026, by last name, first name and middle initial (the initials must not conflict).
  • Same-name check: registration numbers are issued in order, and each class's numbers begin soon after its results. We drop a match whose number was issued months before that class's numbers begin, because it belongs to an earlier attorney with the same name. That removed three matches.
  • Employers and addresses are what attorneys report to the Office of Court Administration and can lag behind job changes. Different spellings of the same employer are counted together.
  • Large law firm: at least 100 New York-registered attorneys across the firm's Lex Mentis listings, counting its offices and name variations together.
  • Data: NYS attorney registry (data.ny.gov), update of October 28, 2026; NYS Board of Law Examiners, July 2026 results; NYS Board of Law Examiners, February 2026 results.

All 304 February 2026 passers admitted so far

Each name links to the attorney's Lex Mentis page, and each employer links to its firm page.

Large law firms (37)

Other law firms (55)

Prosecutors and public defense (16)

Government and courts (21)

Companies and other employers (21)

No employer listed yet (142)

From NYS Office of Court Administration registration records, the NYS Board of Law Examiners and published news. Names link to Lex Mentis™ profiles.

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