Kei Komuro, husband of the Japanese princess Mako, walks past a New York bar on his third try.



Reuters

Third time charm New York bar exam for Kei Komuro, clerk at Lowenstein Sandler law firm and husband Princess Mako of Japan.

Komuro’s name appeared on a list of those who passed the July New York bar exam, released on October 20, after the Japanese press drew attention to his failure to pass the bar’s license tests in July 2021 and February 2022.

He beat the odds as a re-barber—only 23% of the more than 1,600 people who took the July exam after failing at least once passed it, according to statistics from the New York Judiciary Inspectorate. The percentage of those who passed the exam for the first time in July was 75%.

Komuro has been the object of admiration and scrutiny in his native Japan for many years, due in part to his status as a commoner. Princess Mako, Emperor Naruhito’s niece, now known as Mako Komuro, is no longer a member of the imperial family following the couple’s wedding in October 2021.

Komuro received his Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Fordham University School of Law in May 2021 and last year worked as a clerk at Lowenstein Sandler’s New York headquarters — firms tend to reward new hires who haven’t yet passed the bar exam.

His success in his latest bar exam paves the way for him to be promoted to junior associate at Lowenstein, though the firm did not respond to requests for clarification on his current status on Monday. Komuro, who works on the firm’s corporate and technology teams, also did not respond to requests for comment.

With more than 300 attorneys, Lowenstein Sandler is the 140th largest law firm in the country and 103rd in US law firm revenue with $392 million in 2021, according to American Lawyer.

Bar exam instructors say the test is especially difficult for non-English speakers. The passing rate for foreign-trained lawyers, or LL.M, was 44% in July. Komuro began his legal education in the United States with a master’s degree from Fordham. program in 2017 before switching to the JD program. The first-time bar exam pass rate among JD Fordham in 2021 was 94%.

Those who pass the July bar exams must be officially admitted to the New York bar on January 11th.