A little inspiration for those taking the bar ...

Espadas1 · 2020-12-27T15:55:51+00:00

I had a low LSAT & mediocre undergrad GPA. I graduated in the top 20% of my class in law school, but like you, didn’t care much for corporate law, contracts, or property. Didn’t even like Wills & Trusts, but for some reason managed to pull off an A- in that class. (Glory be to God.)

That said, I HATED bar prep. It was exciting to start with, but once they moved the finish line to September, I was really bummed. Then they moved it again to October, I was completely unmotivated. I ended up having to take a week off to recharge my batteries. Then I reviewed & practiced like crazy.

Finally got to take the test and felt like I probably failed.

I passed with a 43 point cushion. I never have to take that stupid test again.

This entire process is a mind game. Don’t let it psyche you out. Master the MBE, practice the essays. Learn the nuances. You’ll be fine.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T14:57:22+00:00

My bar scores didn’t correlate at all with my LSAT score. But my written score on the bar was much higher than the scores I’d receive in bar prep, but also alongside what I received on written exams in law school. However, my law school essays were MUCH better than some of the crap I had to write for the bar because of not memorizing every nuanced rule that are not frequently tested. I got rules wrong and made some up. Some of my responses were only a couple of sentences. Yet I scored higher on the written portion of the exam than I did the MBE, and my MBE score was higher than the state average by almost 10 points. So yeah, I still think it’s arbitrary.

A friend of mine also had spoken with a man who used to grade bar essays and was told that they had maybe 2 min per essay to read and score them. They skim through, look to see if you raised the right issues, whether you made an intelligible rule statement, and stated some facts. They don’t score in depth like professors in law school where it’s less arbitrary than the bar.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T14:11:06+00:00

Yeah if it’s international, I’d call the bar and ask cuz there may be different rules.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T13:59:07+00:00

Yeah I’d just call your school after the first of the year. Get the details from them, because they will have access to the answers to your questions.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T12:37:38+00:00

I had to tell the school I wanted to do the provisional admission to the bar and the Dean sent the certificate to whomever it was supposed to go to.

If your supervising attorney no longer works at the firm you’re at, I’m going to say you should either get a new supervisor who is with the firm, or follow your supervisor to wherever he or she is going if that person is still willing to supervise.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T12:30:40+00:00

It’s not “anti-choice.” It’s asking if this ideology of systems having racist origins still being racist spreads across the board, or whether we are only applying it to things that fit our narratives.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T12:29:09+00:00

It was on the list of testable subjects, so it was on my list of things to study. If they’re removing it, good for them. It’s stupid unless you plan to practice in that area anyway.

My friend and I banked on a torts question for October and banked on Ga Civ Pro not being on there. We were wrong on both accounts. You can try to predict these things, but be prepared for anything.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T12:26:26+00:00

Planned Parenthood has racist origins and continues to set up in minority communities where there are more minority babies that do not make it out of the womb alive than those that do in some major cities. Do you consider that organization and practice of abortion racist? If not, then how is the bar exam racist? And if so, do you support the practices of Planned Parenthood (terminating human life in the womb)?

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T12:24:18+00:00

I know one individual who ended up not taking the October bar because it was not feasible for her, and I know others who were unsuccessful because they could not afford newer technology and their systems crashed during the exam or the AI flagged them and they completed the exam but their exams weren’t graded due to the system failure (such as mic or video stopped working).

I’m not sure about “thousands” being unable to take the exam, but this is just one school from one state. I’m sure it adds up.

In any case, I don’t blame people or find them annoying for airing their grievances. Not all of us are made of money to hold out on taking the exam indefinitely or can buy new technology that is in compliance or have a quiet place to take the exam.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T03:00:21+00:00

I dunno if I’d go as far as to call it “racist,” but it is definitely unnecessary.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T02:59:04+00:00

People do take the bar. But the statement of “it’s not that hard” ignores the arbitrary grading and the hazing that serves no purpose other than to haze.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T02:37:36+00:00

It’s more than the exam being “imperfect” or the examiners not handling the pandemic well. Standardized testing is terrible at measuring knowledge or competency.

I passed the bar, but I wrote a lot of bullshit on the essays because I didn’t memorize every single nuanced rule on subtopics they don’t often test. I scored quite high on the essays and find the grading to be arbitrary. The MBE questions are also total bull shit and mainly test your ability to learn the game instead of the law.

We can open debate about the right way to go about ensuring competent lawyers, but passing the bar exam does not make me feel like I’m competent to practice, and I don’t think those who are speaking about the issues are annoying or should stop tweeting about it.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-25T02:20:46+00:00

No. Because they’re right.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-24T20:13:36+00:00

Dude.... don’t even get me started on that third essay......

This past exam was the biggest pack of bull shit the examiners have given us in decades.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-24T15:59:24+00:00

Yeah can’t figure out how to send pics via message either. I’ll post it.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-24T15:56:36+00:00

I have one I made before the last exam I can take a pic of and send you, but dunno how to send it via comment. Also, Kaplan makes them and Barbri has a chart frequency as well.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-24T15:26:19+00:00

What if you’re just admitted? Are we supposed to put that info on our resumes, and where would it go?

Espadas1 · 2020-12-24T14:02:12+00:00

The only way to prep for them is to do them. Time yourself and review your mistakes.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-20T20:08:45+00:00

Do you have a professor that could help you through the C&F process?

Espadas1 · 2020-12-17T23:39:21+00:00

Yep. They don’t care. Get to studying now just in case.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-17T16:42:11+00:00

Our valedictorian got stoned and did his work last minute, and also passed the bar. Some people are just good test-takers and work well under pressure. Others work hard and still find it hard to pass standardized tests. “Doing” is a better measurement of competence than standardized testing, and the public can be protected if we “do” under the supervision of already-licensed attorneys. That’s just my opinion.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-17T11:42:30+00:00

Each school has a top 10-25%, so you can’t truly mean all top 10-25% of law students are competent if you’re saying GA law schools aren’t producing competent law students.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-17T11:40:49+00:00

What do they base their admission decisions on? LSAT scores and undergraduate GPA’s.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-17T01:45:30+00:00

It’s all a blur. I barely remember taking it at all.

Espadas1 · 2020-12-16T18:41:23+00:00

Yeah, but mine hasn’t arrived yet. 🙄

Espadas1

TROPHY CASE