The California Bar Examination was passed by 3,888 applicants in July—including 68 from the Inland Empire. The State Bar of California announced Nov. 9 that 51.5% of the 7,555 applicants passed the examination, a slight decrease from last year’s rate of 52.4%.
One of those who passed was Christy Dresch, a law clerk at the Inland Counties Legal Services. Dresch has been working on the ICLS’ public benefits team, helping people who are denied Social Security benefits and food stamps. She said she was drawn to the position to help others—and wants to continue that kind of work as an attorney.
“Growing up in the ministry, I was always taught about the importance of serving my community, especially those who are marginalized,” Dresch said by phone.
She had determination, too. This was the third time she took the Bar Exam, putting her among the 36.7% of repeated test takers who passed this time.
“When I got the results I was sobbing hysterically. Usually I’m not an emotional person, but I couldn’t believe it. It was such a relief,” Dresch said.
Cassie Sands of Redlands was another of the 68. She currently works at Joyce Holcomb’s family law office, and wants to continue practicing family law. She said by phone that her undergraduate degree in psychology caused her to realize that all of human productivity is caused by a person’s family experience, and that to really help people, you have to work on their home life.
“The practice of law is meant to be a better world making endeavor,” Sands said. “The ability to be a force for good is so large here (in family law).”
Congratulations to those who passed:
- Nyla Edwards of Apple Valley
- Evelyn Blanco of Apple Valley
- Sydney Young of Apple Valley
- Cameron Dekens of Chino Hills
- Christy Dresch of Chino Hills
- Daniel Higuera of Chino Hills
- Sarah Lazzaro of Chino Hills
- Manisha Malhotra of Chino Hills
- Hilary Ming of Chino Hills
- Omar Newhide of Chino Hills
- Christopher Prieto of Chino Hills
- Alyssa Rogan of Chino Hills
- Kenneth Tea of Chino Hills
- Angie Chang of Chino
- Celina Estrada of Chino
- Theresa Luk of Chino
- Fnu Rameet of Chino
- Kaitlyn Bradshaw of Colton
- Michael Pappas of Colton
- Carey Durbin of Fontana
- Kirthi Kolli of Fontana
- Zach Mejia of Fontana
- Michele Russell of Fontana
- Jenisha Sabaratnam of Fontana
- Marisa Uribe of Ontario
- Krystal Campos of Ontario
- Richard Guzman of Ontario
- Colin McGrath of Ontario
- Victoria Ramirez of Ontario
- Adam Coria of Phelan
- Andrew De Lay of Rancho Cucamonga
- Mariane Gantino of Rancho Cucamonga
- Christina Lares of Rancho Cucamonga
- Alex Jeong of Rancho Cucamonga
- Daniel Kanaan of Rancho Cucamonga
- Anushka Silva of Rancho Cucamonga
- Joey Mendoza of Rancho Cucamonga
- Lauren Guggisberg of Redlands
- Alena Hernandez of Redlands
- Niyati Patel of Redlands
- Samson Blankenship of Redlands
- Annie Gorden of Redlands
- Mallorie Jones of Redlands
- Arianna Lopez of Redlands
- Alexander Nicholson of Redlands
- Cassie Sands of Redlands
- Claudia Alvarado of Riverside
- Michelle Kim of Riverside
- Briana Roberson of Riverside
- Judith Kang of Riverside
- Julian Turner of Riverside
- Jacob Ruvalcaba of Riverside
- Edwin Shiluli of Riverside
- Kevin Castellanos of Riverside
- Amir Sadeghian of Riverside
- Alejandro Chavez of Riverside
- Ty Stamen of Riverside
- Diana Cazares of Yucaipa
- Jeffrey Torres of San Bernardino
- Latanya Greer of San Bernardino
- Abimelec Vargas Reyes of San Bernardino
- Harshvir Buttar of Upland
- Andrew Im of Upland
- Ramchandra Reddy of Upland
- James Dunlop of Upland
- Noah Green of Upland
- Vivian Kim of Upland
