Bar Exam

Unpaid Student Loans Derail Law Grad’s Quest for NY Bar Admission

Robert Bowman managed to pass the New York bar exam after the fourth try, but there is one more obstacle keeping him from getting a license to practice law: about $430,000 in student debt and penalties. A New York appeals court ruled (PDF) in March that Bowman had not established…

Jul 2, 2009 1:00 PM CDT

Repeat After Me

Stress, says Paulina Bandy, figures prominently in bar exam failures.

She should know. Bandy passed the California bar exam in 2007—on her 14th try.

Jul 2, 2009 3:00 AM CDT

Out of a Job, But Not Off the Hook

Dissolved firm won’t forgive bar exam loans

Jul 2, 2009 1:10 AM CDT

BigLaw Aided ‘March of Dunces’ That Destroyed Economy, Yale Law Grad Says

Amidst all the fingerpointing over the dismal state of the economy, excessive executive bonuses and the billable hour, the obvious hasn’t yet been stated, a well-known Yale law grad writes. “The whole system is warped,” says Elizabeth Wurtzel in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal. In addition to…

Apr 9, 2009 9:14 PM CDT

Little, Green Bar-Pass Machines

Talk about psyching up for a test. When Whittier Law School grads sit for the bar exam, most of them don T-shirts that read: “Do it once. Do it right. Never do it again.” But Paula Manning, the school’s associate dean, says the kelly green shirts weren’t intended to send a message to non-Whittier grads. Instead, they’re a reminder to recent graduates that the school has their back.

Apr 2, 2009 2:10 AM CDT

Will Calif. Supreme Court Provide Bar Data for Controversial Study?

Seeking to pursue a controversial study about the effectiveness of law school affirmative action programs, researchers have sued the State Bar of California for access to 30 years of examination records. They are now asking the state supreme court to compel the bar association to turn over the bar exam…

Sep 8, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

ABA OKs Bar Exam Courses for Graduation

The ABA’s policy-making House of Delegates this afternoon concurred in Resolution 112B (PDF) of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar that law schools may now require students to take and pass bar exam prep courses given by the schools prior to graduation. House rules require it…

Aug 11, 2008 8:03 PM CDT

Kaplan Offers ‘Full-Service Bar Review’ in Three States

A company that provides bar review courses for the multistate exam will offer state-specific bar review courses in three states. Kaplan PMBR announced it will offer “full-service bar review” courses in New York, New Jersey and Florida, according to a press release. The Florida program will be available for the…

Aug 6, 2008 6:01 PM CDT

More Stress for Calif. Bar Takers: An Earthquake

This question wasn’t on the California bar exam. But it was on the mind of many Los Angeles area test-takers yesterday, after a magnitude 5.4 earthquake centered about 30 miles south of the city rattled the area, just as they were finishing up the morning portion of the exam. If…

Jul 30, 2008 6:31 PM CDT

Laptop Woes Last Year in N.Y., Bar Exam Legalese This Year

Last summer’s New York bar exam debacle, in which some test-takers who used laptop computers lost their answers because of a software problem, appears to have had a significant impact on those who administer the test as well as those who are taking it today and tomorrow. In this year’s…

Jul 29, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Judge Certifies Non-Wisconsin Law Grads, Axes Bar Admission Class Action

Not law graduates for nothing, a small group of juris doctor degree holders have successfully sought federal class action status over Wisconsin’s policy of allowing only graduates of in-state law schools to practice without passing the bar exam. But, at least for now, they have lost their U.S. commerce-clause case…

Jun 18, 2008 6:22 PM CDT

McCarter & English Chairman is Tough on Typos

The chairman of McCarter & English is apparently a stickler for good grammar. Chairman Drew Berry tells the Wall Street Journal Law Blog that every first-year lawyer at his firm gets a copy of The Elements of Style by Strunk & White. And he expects the rules to be followed.…

May 30, 2008 4:30 PM CDT

U of C Law Grad Accused of Submitting Phony Grades to Sidley Austin

Updated: A lawyer who attended the University of Chicago Law School has been accused in an ethics complaint of lying about his grades when he applied for a summer position at Sidley Austin. Loren Elliotte Friedman is accused in a complaint filed May 6 by the Illinois Attorney Registration and…

May 20, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

Big Firms Often Pay Bar Exam Costs, Sometimes Pay Signing Bonuses

Most of the big law firms help their lawyers pick up the costs of bar exam fees and bar review courses, according to an informal survey of readers by the blog Above the Law. Fewer readers were paid a graduation bonus, a salary advance or a “stub bonus” for the…

Apr 28, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

Boalt Beefs Up Calif. Bar Prep After 2007 Pass Rate Dips to 82 Percent

Rattled by a pass rate on the California bar exam among its graduates in July 2007 that dipped to 82 percent, one of the state’s most prestigious law schools is focusing on better preparing its students to succeed on the ticket-punching test. In particular, graduates’ ability to pass the bar…

Apr 25, 2008 4:44 PM CDT