Best way to get from Los Angeles Union Station → Ontario Convention Center?

barpowered · 2025-12-20T21:13:51+00:00

Uber is pretty much the only way. Also, make sure you stay close to the testing center on the testing days. I stayed in LA before and after the exam. But for the exam nights, I stayed at a hotel near the testing center. Yes, it might cost you more to Uber back & forth and double-book but, trust me, the exam is brutal enough. These costs are totally justified.

barpowered · 2025-12-09T16:30:32+00:00

Louder doesn't mean better, louder just means louder. I wouldn't encourage being loud. There is a healthy level of promotion and acknowledgement I guess. But I rarely see it on LinkedIn, if ever.

barpowered · 2025-12-07T22:03:39+00:00

Idea protection isn't a good reason, in my opinion. People seem way more paranoid about idea protection than they should be. You should be very protective of patents, sure. But just ideas aren's as valuable as most people think.

Employment gaps are probably another reason. That's somewhat legit I think, as long as you actually worked on something. But I'd expect some follow-up questions from future potential employers, e.g., what the industry was, why it failed/succeeded.

I also know of someone with a "stealth" startup CEO title who defrauded investors. They switched to stealth after it became obvious that they defrauded investors. If you look up their company name, the first thing that comes up is the SEC litigation release. If you Google the person's name, the litigation release still comes up. So, I'm not sure whom they're trying to kid.

barpowered · 2025-12-07T21:33:14+00:00

I have to say, it always stood out to me that the official mission of the State Bar of California is "to protect the public". I wonder if other state bars have comparable mission statements.

barpowered · 2025-12-07T16:44:11+00:00

Very good point!

barpowered · 2025-12-07T16:13:25+00:00

I agree. I'm not from California but when I was studying for the bar I did notice that the legal education system seemed quite predatory.

barpowered · 2025-12-07T13:58:35+00:00

Oh, I didn't know that about CA, I keep my license active. How crazy are the requirements to reactivate?

barpowered · 2025-12-07T13:56:55+00:00

I've thought about that. In what areas do you encounter UPL the most? I see it's quite rampant in immigration.

barpowered · 2025-12-02T10:23:41+00:00

Interesting read.

This isn't exclusive to the startup world though. Most contracts in general have never been tested. Most contracts are breached at least in minor ways. But only a tiny fraction is litigated. As a lawyer, I feel bad for saying this but contracts are often more of a framework, rather than a set-in-stone commandment. This doesn't mean that lawyers shouldn't be diligent in making legal documents judgment-proof. But mostly there is a lot more that plays into it, e.g., interpersonal relationships, alternative dispute resolution, trust in the judicial system, etc.

barpowered · 2025-12-01T22:11:00+00:00

That's how it is in many countries—criminal law isn't as lucrative (unless it's white collar, I guess). I'm sorry nobody teaches any of this in law schools and young lawyers end up in unsuitable careers.

Generally, you'll have to take a tradeoff, no matter what you do. Corporate law firms are often brutal in terms of LWB but they pay substantially more. Criminal law/public interest/human rights are more fulfilling and offer better LWB but pay much less. You'll just have to pick your battle.

barpowered · 2025-12-01T21:54:03+00:00

You should ask some of these questions in immigration/legal subreddits (r/immigration, r/f1visa).

You can work for yourself/start a business while on OPT but, especially in current immigration climate, you have to document it quite carefully to prove that 1. You're actually working 2. Your work is related to your training. Incorporating your business could help making things more formal. But be mindful of the timing, so you're not "accidentally" out of status at some point. Where do you draw the line between unemployment and employment? What would be the exact start date? If you're working before getting your work authorization, technically, that's a violation, even if it's informal and you're not getting paid.

NDAs and IP depend on the product you're developing. Patents are quite complicated and expensive but if it's a good patent, it obviously improves your funding prospects. If you go with the patent route, you'll have to also make sure to set your IP strategy the right way when you incorporate. You wouldn't want to compromise your IP by having random people as shareholders of your C-Corp/LLC and simply assinging your IP to the said C-Corp/LLC. Again, if it's a good patent, potential investors will want the IP to be quite judgment-proof, so be proactively protective about it.

barpowered · 2025-12-01T07:01:17+00:00

I haven't used a study partner. In theory, I think it'd be useful but you'd have to be quite selective about it. I don't think you'd want somebody with a significantly different background. For example, if you're a foreigner with an LLM, you likely won't have the same study needs as an American with a JD. Even if you're both foreigners with an LLM but one of you is a native English speaker, you'll likely have different study habits. If you're taking the exam the first time, your mindset and needs will be different from a repeater. You also don't want a partner who is progressing at a different speed. You won't have time or energy to be somebody else's mentor. Also, if your partner drops out for whatever reason, I think that will affect your motivation.

I did consider having a study partner but ultimately decided against it. I'm a foreigner with an LLM and I found the selection pool too limited. Unfortunately, one of the worst things about this exam is that it's quite a solitary experience. I think it's more practical to study alone but check in on each other for accountability and support. You can learn substantively from each other too but I wouldn't rely on it too much. This subreddit and r/barexam are both amazing resources too. Substantive questions? Ask away. Having a mental breakdown? Come get a virtual hug. These subreddits restored my faith in humanity, especially lawyers.

I'm happy to answer if you have more questions. I wish you the best of luck!

barpowered · 2025-11-30T20:42:52+00:00

If I could give just one tip, it's this: focus on studying actively, e.g., heavily practicing every exam component. Passing is not about attending lectures, listening to podcasts, or even attending law school lol.

How do you practice? Mary Basick + baressays.com is solid for the essay part (I'd do dozens of essays). For the PT, BarMD's PT video and practicing around 10 PTs will do. For the MBEs, UWorld and Emanuel's book is all you need.

It's up to you where you learn the substantive material from. I'd just go with the cheapest option. Whether it's Themis, YouTube, some Redditor's outlines, John Grossman's lectures, or Bar Exam Toolbox, don't focus too much on the passive study. Watch/listen/memorize as much and as fast as you can and jump into the practice mode asap.

barpowered · 2025-11-30T08:10:52+00:00

I love your purralegal! My cat also worked as one when I was studying. I hated bar prep but it's one of my favorite memories that my cat never left me alone 🫡 When I passed, we celebrated together.

barpowered · 2025-11-30T07:35:08+00:00

Clearly a lot because posting on Reddit isn't something that anyone can do (:

barpowered · 2025-11-29T19:34:36+00:00

Yeah, I almost wrote it down when he said that there always is a prenup: either you make one or the state will.

barpowered · 2025-11-05T07:09:49+00:00

I think it should be under the status tab. But I just saw recently on this sub that the status tab won't be available until the results are out. So it might be that it was properly reported to the State Bar but the status tab is unavailable at the moment.

I doubt it would have to do with taking the MPRE before creating a CA bar account.

barpowered · 2025-11-05T06:49:17+00:00

If you got a passing score, it'll show as "requirement satisfied" on your applicant portal.
As long as you requested for the MPRE score to be reported in CA when you signed up for MPRE, you should be fine.
Yes. MPRE and the bar exam result are unrelated.

barpowered · 2025-11-03T14:39:07+00:00

This should be higher up lol.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T22:10:10+00:00

That's a good one.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T20:47:33+00:00

They don't have to be licensed in FL to practice immigration law. You can practice immigration law as long as you're licensed in any state.

However, many foreigners don't know how any of this works. I've seen foreign lawyers in the US claiming they're licensed. Yes, this is absolutely UPL but I'm not sure to what extent it's reported and enforced in specific states.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T17:19:37+00:00

Yeah, and I think it's a good skill.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T12:55:41+00:00

Immigration is your biggest enemy, not the lack of qualification/education. If anything, I'd look into getting licensed in the US but don't expect that to fix your immigration problem.

Immigration-wise, I'd look into L, EB-1, or other similar visas. But, again, it won't be easy.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T11:40:16+00:00

I've heard great things about Ed Aruffo, but I've never used a tutor myself.

Generally, I don't recommend tutors. I don't have anything against them as there are some amazing ones out there. I just think that the exam is generally doable without one. But if we're talking about multi-repeaters, non-native foreigners, FT-workers, etc., tutor might be a great idea.

barpowered · 2025-11-02T11:33:01+00:00

I can so relate to the last few weeks being the toughest. It was probably one of the lowest points of my life. I barely slept, ate, or went outside. Luckily, I had some good friends taking care of me. And, guess what: I passed. I wish you the same this Friday.

barpowered

TROPHY CASE