<p>I can’t answer specifically about Liberty…but…</p>
<p>The bar passage rate varies from state to state. When USNews ranks a law school, it lists the passage rate in the state where the largest number of students from that school take the bar. That may not be the state in which the law school is located. </p>
<p>Liberty is located in Virginia. The bar passage rate there for 2009 is a smidge above 75%. For first time takers, it’s a bit above 80%. So, you need to compare Liberty’s pass rate with that rate–or the rate of the state where the largest group takes the bar. There are states which have higher and lower pass rates than Virginia. Indeed, there are states in which over 95% of those who take the bar pass it. Knowing the bar passage rate tells you almost nothing about the law school if you don’t know which bar exam is involved. It is one heck of a lot harder to pass the California bar than it is to pass Virginia’s, for example. </p>
<p>Second, the national law schools don’t teach the law of a particular state. Thus, when a graduate of Columbia Law School takes the bar exam in New York, (s)he will take a bar review course and cram things like the statute of limitations for various civil actions in New York; the legal requirements to write a valid will in the state of New York; the grounds for divorce in New York, the rules of civil procedure in New York, etc. None of these subjects will have been covered in courses taken at Columbia Law School. </p>
<p>A student who goes to New York Law (not NYU) is more likely to have taken a course in New York Civil Procedure. Even in more general courses like Evidence or Criminal Law, NY law will be studied because that’s the bar exam most students will take. Schools like this tend to teach what lawyers call “black letter law.” In a very real sense, law students at such schools are better prepared to pass the bar exam when they finish law school. That doesn’t mean that they are better trained lawyers. National law schools do not focus on preparing their grads to pass the bar exam in a particular state; local law schools do. </p>
<p>I hope that helps. </p>
<p>I assume you know that Liberty is a fundamentalist Protestant University. Ave Maria, which was also on your list, is a conservative Catholic school. I personally would not advise anyone who is not of the faith involved to attend either of them.</p>