PARSIPPANY — Parsippany-Troy Hills Council Vice President Diya Patel has passed the July Uniform Bar Examination in New York, according to a Notice of Certification from the New York State Board of Law Examiners dated Friday, October 23.
The Board congratulated Patel on passing the July 28 and 29 examination and confirmed that she also completed the New York Law Course, the New York Law Exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. The Board certified her to the Appellate Division, Third Department, the next step toward admission to the New York bar.
Patel, a lifelong Parsippany resident, attended Parsippany-Troy Hills public schools before earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and criminal justice from the University of Scranton. There she served as a Student Government class senator, founded the university’s Student Diversity Council, and was active in the Pre-Law Society, the Criminal Justice Club, the Royals of Color Kickoff (ROCK) mentoring program and as an orientation assistant. She earned her Juris Doctor in May from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University through its January Accelerated Program, where she studied trial advocacy and was a member of the Environmental Law Society and the South Asian Law Student Association.
While in law school, Patel served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Robert J. Prisco with the New York State Unified Court System in Westchester County, focusing on legal research and writing, and as a legal summer intern with the Bronx County District Attorney’s Office. Earlier, she interned with the Law Offices of Edward J. Cuccia in New York City and completed a campaign fellowship with Team Soriano in Parsippany.
Patel was elected to the Township Council last November at age 23, making her one of the youngest elected officials in New Jersey, and her council colleagues chose her as Vice President when she was sworn in this January. InsiderNJ recently ranked her No. 22 on its “Rising Generations” list of emerging leaders across the state.
Patel passed in a year when fewer first-time test takers passed the July New York bar examination than a year ago, according to results released Friday, October 23, by the New York State Board of Law Examiners.
Of the 3,377 graduates of New York law schools who took the exam for the first time, 83 percent passed, down 4 percentage points from last year. Graduates of out-of-state American Bar Association-approved law schools fared slightly better, with 86 percent of the 2,564 first-time takers passing, a decline of 5 percentage points.
Among all 5,941 first-time takers from American Bar Association-approved schools, including New York schools, the passing rate was 84 percent, also down 5 percentage points.
The Board tested 9,936 examinees in all, including domestic-educated and foreign-educated candidates and first-time and repeat takers. Of those, 6,688 passed, for an overall rate of 67 percent, down 3 percentage points from last July.
Foreign-educated examinees, who made up 35 percent of all test takers, passed at a rate of 44 percent among the 3,435 who sat for the exam, a drop of 2 percentage points. Repeat takers, 16 percent of the field, had the lowest passing rate at 25 percent among 1,624 examinees, down 7 percentage points.
| New York Bar Examination Pass Rates | July |
|---|---|
| All American Bar Association Graduates – First-Time Takers | 84% |
| New York American Bar Association Schools – First-Time Takers | 83% |
| Out-of-State American Bar Association Schools – First-Time Takers | 86% |
| Foreign-Educated – First-Time Takers | 54% |
| All First-Time Takers | 76% |
| All American Bar Association Graduates (first-time takers and repeaters) | 79% |
| All Foreign-Educated (first-time takers and repeaters) | 44% |
| All Examinees (first-time takers and repeaters) | 67% |
| All Repeaters | 25% |
The list of passing examinees has been posted on the Board’s website, www.nybarexam.org, since Monday, October 26.
Successful examinees who have also completed the New York Law Course and passed both the New York Law Exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination will be certified by the Board to the Appellate Division for admission. Each must then appear before the Committee on Character and Fitness before being admitted to the bar.
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