44 IEers pass State Bar

Forty-four of the 1,483 people who passed the February 2026 California Bar exam are from the Inland Empire. The February exam had a 30% pass rate, a decline from the February 2024 bar exam's 33% and the February 2025 exam's 64% pass rate. Thirty-seven percent of the applicants were first-time exam takers. First-time exam takers had a 44% pass rate. Inland Empire Law Weekly extends its congratulations to those who passed: * Jasmine Marchbanks-Owens of Rancho Cucamonga. Marchbanks-Owens is currently employed at Hawkins Legal, P.C. Her interest is in civil rights law. * Kimberly Burke of Rancho Cucamonga * Ayesha Patel of Rancho Cucamonga * Kelly Chu of Chino Hills * Onyinye Chukwu of Chino Hills * Jihae Kim of Chino Hills * Muntaha Qadri of Chino Hills * Gabrielle Eshiet of Chino. * Xiayi Li of Chino * Jaymeson Sumilong of Rancho Cucamonga. Sumilong is a Deputy Public Defender for San Bernardino County. * Laura Li of Ontario * Mehak Verma of Ontario * Aliyar Banihashemi of Upland * Victoria Hernandez of Upland * Jessica Scott of Upland * Murooj Tahir of Upland * Ashley Aceves of Apple Valley * Jessica Johnson of Apple Valley * Kory Layton of Apple Valley * Casey Weber of Apple Valley * JoAnne Wicki of Grand Terrace * Fuchsia Dulan of Colton * Matthew Essien of Fontana * Liezl Gabrielle Ludan of Fontana * Esther Esho of Highland * Ambika Davis of Loma Linda * Sara Robinson of Redlands * Aditi Poonia of Redlands * Shijie Xu of San Bernardino * Anthony Jones of San Bernardino * Aishata Bah of Riverside * Steven Alexander of Riverside * Maria Ibrahim of Riverside * Faten Jubran of Riverside * Gabrielle Alvarez of Riverside * Christopher Fults of Riverside * David Weissman of Washington * Makayla Woods of Hemet * Emmanuel Okharedia of Moreno Valley * Paige Walker of Moreno Valley * John Rankin of Murrieta * Fereshta Rashidi of Murrieta * Lawrence Oberemok of Temecula * Melika Taheri of Temecula