Ah, the most agonizing time of the year for a certain group of local lawyers is upon us -- the annual releasing of the results from the February California state bar exam. The February bar exam is traditionally the one that people who failed the bar their first go-around (the more popular July sitting) take for round two.

Why we bringing up obscure lawyer stuff? Well, because one of the folks who were waiting on pins and needles for this weekend's results was Kathleen Sullivan, former dean of the Stanford Law School and one of the nation's top constitutional law scholars. Sullivan took a job with a law firm and needed to pass the California bar so she could work there (she had passed New York and Massachusetts but not California) -- and to her chagrin, she failed. A wave of schadenfreunde () promptly showered over all California attorneys who passed the bar, a wave of consolation-taking (even the DEAN can't pass!) showered over those who failed, and a wave of total and abject fear (she's the DEAN!) swept over those who haven't taken it yet.

Well, haters, get a new game -- Dean Sullivan passed this time around. For those of you looking to check up on friends, the State Bar pass list for February is online. For those of you with newly-minted JD acquaintances, bar review classes started this week too.

the DEAN didn't pass?