The New York State Board of Law Examiners released the results of the February bar examination and reported increases in passing rates among what is believed to be a record number of test-takers for a February examination.

The board examined 4,031 candidates during the two-day testing conducted on Feb. 23 and 24. First time test-takers who are graduates of ABA Approved law schools passed at the rate of 80.5 percent, an increase of 7.2 percent over the results from Feb. 2009.

The overall passing rate, which includes U.S. domestic-educated and foreign-educated students, both first-time and repeat test-takers, was 50 percent, 8.3 percent up from the Feb. 2009 results.

Successful candidates are certified for admission to the Appellate division and must appear before the committee on character and fitness to be examined as to their character and fitness before being admitted to the bar.

The complete list of candidate's who passed the exam is available on the BLE Web site, www.nybarexam.org.