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Category: Bar Exam



New York

Albany vs. Buffalo: How to choose a site for the NY bar exam

July 02, 2019

Should you take the bar exam in Albany or in Buffalo? The answer to this question depends on a number of factors. Because costs for ride-share companies and meals do not differ substantially from one location to another, we will focus here on the differences in travel, housing, and testing rooms each

Bar Exam

Empire Prep: Tips for choosing between handwriting and typing the bar exam

June 06, 2019

Should you handwrite or type the Multistate Performance Tests (MPTs) and Multistate Essay Exams (MEEs) portions of the bar exam? Do the bar examiners grade the handwritten essays differently from typed essays? Maybe I can’t answer that second question for you, since grading can be

Uniform Bar Exam

It's official—Texas adopts the Uniform Bar Exam

February 05, 2019

A short time ago, we provisionally put Texas on the map of Uniform Bar Exam states after their supreme court accepted the recommendations of their UBE task force. Today, we can say for sure that Texas will administer the Uniform Bar Exam beginning in 2021.

Uniform Bar Exam Michigan

The Uniform Bar Exam: Is it coming to Michigan anytime soon?

January 23, 2019

Student Lawyer has done a great job keeping the law student universe aware of progress among states in adopting the Uniform Bar Examination.  An August 15, 2018 post reporting Ohio’s adoption, “What’s round on the end and high in the middle? The UBE

The fight-or-flight plight: Staying calm during bar exam prep (podcast)

June 22, 2018

Take 15 minutes to learn how to suppress your fight-or-flight response in times of extreme stress – like the bar exam. The ABA Section of Litigation podcast, as part of its Sound Advice series, talked with Matt McCusker, an expert in witness preparation with a background in industrial-organizational psychology, offers essential test-taking and stress-management strategies for bar-takers.

Bar Exam

Need help with bar exam prep? Give us 30 Minutes.

May 31, 2018

Studying for the bar exam is a marathon, not a sprint. To get you into condition to achieve your best performance, new lawyers who successfully prepared for and passed their bar exams will share tips on: • Study Schedule • Mindset and Attitude • Practice Tests • Exam Week • Exam Day https://youtu.be/ibON7QpQfoc   Note for

Study Break

Prepping for the bar exam: It's more than just learning the law

May 30, 2018

Many recent law school graduates have just started studying for the bar exam. As someone who was in your shoes last year, I thought I’d share what I wish I’d done differently when studying for the bar exam and a couple things that I think I did well that I think everyone could benefit from knowing.

New York Bar Exam

Empire prep: Tips for taking the New York bar exam

April 05, 2018

Three years of blood, sweat, and tears in law school have led you this point – preparing to sit for the New York bar exam. Approximately 10,000 individuals brave the New York bar exam in July, and approximately 4,000 individual brave it in February. Once you know your location but before you start planning your post-bar vacation, get the following tips on your checklist.

California holds steady on bar cut score

January 01, 2018

In “A Bar to the Bar” in the September/October issue of Student Lawyer, we reported on the fact that the California Supreme Court was about to receive a report on the validity of the California bar and decide on whether to lower the California cut score, which is the second-highest in the country. A month after that issue rolled off the presses, on October 18, the California Supreme Court declined to lower the bar cut score.

Benjamin Cardozo

Did Benjamin Cardozo really fail the bar exam five times?

July 20, 2017

Editor's Note: This post first appeared on the RIPS Law Librarian Blog with the title, "If You Come at the Justice, You Best Have Sources". And trust us, Christine has 'em. It started out, as most catastrophic events do, with a simple tweet. https://twitter.com/abalsd/status/877269200024330240 Should be easy

Second Time Around

Second time’s a charm: A day in the life of a bar exam failer

July 13, 2017

For years, I’ve worked with what you might call a secret society. It’s a society that law schools, and many others, often pretend doesn’t exist. Indeed, it’s a society that most of us wish did not exist. That’s because this is the society of bar failers – made up of

Kamala Harris

Nobody wants to fail the bar exam, but it happens – even to Kamala Harris

June 20, 2017

This week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia and possible ties to the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Some of the more memorable exchanges came between Sessions and Sen. Kamala Harris of California. I won't go into the

Samuel Chang

How the decline of bar exam passage rates impacts law students

March 07, 2017

Samuel M. Chang, the outgoing 14th Circuit Governor for the ABA Law Student Division, spoke at an event titled "Declining Passage Rates on the California Bar Exam: Possible Explanations and Impacts," an informational hearing of the California State Assembly Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14. Chang spoke during a panel titled "Possible Impacts of

Uniform Bar Exam

Watch: Could Illinois be next for the Uniform Bar Exam?

November 23, 2016

Last month, the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar invited the state's legal community to provide input on whether or not the state should adopt the Uniform Bar Exam. The board hosted three hearings – the first two were in Springfield and Carbondale. The third was in Chicago last Friday,

Chris Jennison

Ex poste facto: The case for the UBE from a recent bar taker

September 13, 2016

After three years of law school, ten weeks of bar prep and two grueling days in the Baltimore Convention Center, I was relieved – to have the bar behind me (for now, at least- fingers crossed!). But the next emotion was one of frustration. Not at how I did, because I felt

Fabiani Duarte

Running for my life! How I survived bar prep and the bar exam

August 06, 2016

Visit the ABA's Bar Prep Program page for exclusive offers discounts exclusive content bar review providers.  After twelve hours of essay and memo writing, 200 tricky multiple choice, and the company of about five hundred fellow law school graduates who took the Alabama

Josephine Bahn

School bar passage: When 75% is enough

August 04, 2016

The ABA and the Section on Legal Education may soon be generating much discussion and debate as they weigh a significant tightening of Standard 316, which relates to bar passage rates.

Multistate Performance Test

Advice for the Multistate Performance Test

July 22, 2016

Recent law grads sit down next week to take the bar exam, and nearly every state uses a Multistate Performance Test or two. It’s the only part of the bar where an applicant doesn’t regurgitate memorized information – rather, the MPT already contains all the law you need

Bar Exam Failure

The last lesson you learn in law school: The Bar Exam

June 09, 2016

Not to scare you, but the reality is if you study and work hard, and are in law school, you can pass the bar, no matter how you did in law school. But remember if you did really well in law school, you can fail too.