Strategies | Page 5 of 13 | Make This Your Last Time

June 9, 2022March 28, 2023 - No Comments

What to Do in the Weeks Leading up to the Bar Exam

Not really sure what’s working in the weeks leading up to the bar exam? Or what you should be doing?

If you’re taking a bar review course like Barbri, Themis, or Kaplan, then first make sure that you’ve been using it correctly (and that it hasn’t been using you to fill up its completion meter). Sometimes they don’t make clear what you should be doing to be prepared by the end of it all, other than the endless lectures and review sessions they make you sit through.

It’s like you aren’t feeling as confident or ready as you feel you should be after all that time spent. Studying for the bar exam can be a grueling process, so it’s important to have strategies in place to help you stay focused and motivated — and most important — make progress.

What should you be doing to make sure you’re really preparing enough for the big day? Here’s a framework to help you in the weeks leading up to the test:

June 1, 2022July 1, 2022 - No Comments

How to Study for the Bar Exam While Working Full Time

Studying for the bar exam is no easy feat. It takes a lot of time, energy, and focus to make it happen. But if you’re juggling work on top of all that studying, it can feel even more overwhelming.

Preparing for the bar exam is costly not just in time but also financially (and mentally, and emotionally, and…). If no one else is supporting you or your family, then you’re probably working and cramming your studies, if you even have the energy left. Yikes, even the thought of that is dreadful.

But other bar takers have done it. And they were able to blow the exam out of the water. How did they balance a job and studying for the bar exam? It’s not impossible to do both at the same time, but it does require some creativity and discipline.

The first thing to keep in mind is that constraints force you to get creative and focus on what moves the needle. You’re not going to have much time or attention to waste on stuff like sitting still like a statue while the lecturer rambles for 4 hours. So you gotta make the most of your time.

This can be a blessing in disguise because you won’t be wasting time. Let me share some tactics for studying efficiently while working full time, with examples from past bar passers.

May 24, 2022June 14, 2023 - No Comments

How to Study for the Bar Exam as a First Timer

So you’ve decided to take the bar exam. What exactly is it, and what have you gotten yourself into?

The bar exam is a rite of passage to becoming an attorney-at-law (or simply an attorney).

BTW, Black’s Law Dictionary defines a “lawyer” as a “person learned in the law,” and an “attorney” as “one who is appointed and authorized to act in the place or stead of another.”

So if you’ve gone to law school or graduated, you’re technically a lawyer already! For many law students, though, the bar exam is their final hurdle before becoming an attorney. Your journey through law school and passing the bar exam is so you can call yourself an attorney.

But the bar exam is a grueling test that takes days to complete, months (sometimes years) to prepare for, and covers a variety of topics. The pass rate for the bar exam can be less than 50% in some states like California. It’s not uncommon for someone to repeat the exam at least once. Often, bar takers make common mistakes and come back to me, and the real work begins.

Some states have their own jurisdiction-drafted bar exam, like California, Nevada, Louisiana, and Florida. Most states administer the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which includes the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). This map shows which states have adopted the UBE as of 2022:

Which states have adopted the UBE states, UBE jurisdictions

Despite the differences in format and passing scores, the concept of the bar exam and how to study for it are similar across states.

Let’s go over the basics of what the bar exam is about.

May 16, 2022February 9, 2024 - 1 Comment

How do Magicsheets and Approsheets fit into your other bar exam study materials?

There are a LOT of study supplements, resources, and outlines for bar prep. As time passes, more and more get added to your potential repertoire.

Sometimes, the sheer overwhelm causes bar takers to load up on all sorts of materials, attend every workshop, DM everyone offering something — spreading themselves so thin that they end up not using any of it!

The materials collect digital dust, and bar takers end up restarting at square one, exhausted. But “the great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” (Herbert Spencer)

I, too, offer study materials for the California Bar Exam and the Uniform Bar Exam. Here’s my answer to questions about them, including HOW to use them. This will be useful whether or not you use my material.

May 7, 2022April 24, 2023 - No Comments

What to Do for the July Bar Exam as a First Timer

Now that everyone’s here, maybe we stand a chance against the final boss.

You got your books, you announced on social media that you’re going to be super busy for the next 2-3 weeks, and you got your favorite pens and highlighters ready. How hard can it be, right?

But as a first-timer, it’s unclear what to even expect from bar prep. Let me show you a vision of the future and how you can change it, using 20/20 FORESIGHT.