Jennifer Nelson for wwww.theindianalawyer.com
The inaugural graduating class of Indiana Tech Law School in Fort Wayne set a goal of a 100 percent bar passage rate, but a review of the names of successful July applicants reveals only one Indiana Tech student passed the Indiana Bar Exam.
Twenty students graduated from Indiana Tech in May, the first to do so from the law school that opened in its doors to students 2013. The students wanted to prove to the legal community and doubters that the state needed another law school and that Indiana Tech will be around for many years, according to one student who spoke with Indiana Lawyer shortly after graduation.
An Indiana Lawyer review of the names of successful applicants for the July 2016 Indiana Bar Exam released Monday only includes one student from Indiana Tech. A spokesman for Indiana Tech would not confirm or deny that student was the only one who passed the test, but did clarify that a dozen graduates sat for the exam.
“We had 12 graduates sit for the July bar exam. As is the case everywhere, we had a mixture of passage, failure, and those within appeal range. So we won’t know our pass number until that process is done,†wrote Brian Engelhart, vice president of university relations for Indiana Tech, in an email.
Engelhart did not respond to a follow-up email asking why only 12 graduates sat for the July exam and if some planned on waiting until February to take the test.
Messages left for comment from law school Dean Charles Cercone, Associate Dean andré douglas pond cummings, and members of the board of trustees, were not returned by IL deadline.
Under Indiana Admission and Discipline Rule 14, those who want to appeal must make a written request to the Board of Law Examiners within 14 days of the issuance by the board of the eligible examinee’s results.
