Only one third of law students take BarBri?

The most recent Ambivalent Question asked: “Which bar review course will you (or did you) take?” After two weeks of voting, the final results were:

• Impeach Bush: 36.4%
• Bar/Bri: 34.8%
• Bar/Bri *and* PMBR: 19.7%
• PMBR: 3.0%
• BarPlus: 1.5%
• Other: 1.5%
• None; who needs 'em?: 1.5%
• Micro Mash Bar Review: 1.5%
• MyBarPrep: 0%
• The Study Group Personal Bar Review: 0%

Total votes: 66.

I can make little of this. At my school (GW), my impression is very much that everyone takes BarBri, but perhaps that's just because they've got our school brainwashed that it's necessary. I've heard faculty simply assume that we'll all take BarBri, and it's in the school's interest that we do if they think it will increase our bar passage rates, so that definitely contributes to more people signing up. Still, I have to think this little poll is not very accurate. Shock.

The bar exam is such a very stupid thing. As I've said before, I agree w/Professor Solove that the damn things should be abolished:

It prevents mobility among lawyers, making it cumbersome and time consuming to move to different states. It does not test on actual law used in legal practice, but on esoteric legal rules, many of which are obsolete, and most of which are of absolutely no value to a practicing attorney or to anyone for that matter. In short, the Bar Exam is an unproductive waste of time.

That first problem—the exam as a barrier to mobility—is a huge one for me and the most important reason to get rid of the whole charade. But rather than repeat what Professor Solove and the comments to his posts have said, I propose the following three changes to how people become lawyers in this country:

First, the only even slightly credible reason people offer for having a bar exam is as a barrier to entry to ensure some minimum level of competence in the legal profession. I agree this is a lame reason, but most people in the legal profession have been brainwashed to believe it's horribly important. Therefore, rather than abolish the bar exam, we should simply abolish all but one iteration of it. By this I mean that, rather than each state having its own exam, the ABA should offer one bar exam that qualifies those who pass to practice law anywhere in the country. The Multistate Bar Exam is already in place; tweak that however you like, but please, just make one test count for all 50 states.

Second, put BarBri out of freaking business by making the last semester of law school into a bar review course. Many people already agree that the 3rd year of law school is largely a waste; make it meaningful by making sure it prepares students for entry into their profession.

Third, convince the rest of the states to join Wisconsin in allowing graduates of state law schools automatic admission to the bar in that state.

That's it. Very simple. What do you think?

Another suggestion that would leave the current abominable system in place but eliminate the biggest problem for me would be for states to allow people to take their bar exams whenever they want. Why must every bar exam be given during the same 2-3 days each year? That's stupid and unnecessary. If I want to take an exam, I should be able to schedule it with a state bar examiner a few weeks in advance at the most, show up, and take it. If they want to keep it simple, they can offer the exam only on thursdays and fridays, or they could offer it only once a month if they want to be jerks about it, but this twice/year business (and the fact that all states do it in the same weeks as each other) creates a ridiculous and completely unnecessary barrier to mobility.

Please! Stop the madness!

Other interesting bits about the bar exam:

• Someone named Ryan Walters owns abolishthebarexam.com. I wonder if this is him.
• Professor Solove's first post about abolishing the bar exam.
• Solove's followup post.
• Another followup and summary on de novo.
• A Girl Walks Into a Bar (Exam)...: Last year's popular blog about preparing for the bar exam, including some “potentially useful posts.”
• Jeremy Blachman on studying for the bar exam and especially on paying for Bar/Bri: “But unless a firm is paying, it's kind of expensive - I believe the going rate is $2400 if you sign up the morning you arrive at law school, $2600 if you wait until lunchtime, $3000 plus your left leg as collateral if you wait a week, $4000 if they don't like you, and $500,000 anytime after the first day of classes.”

Posted 01:02 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

Notes on applying for bar exams*

Dear bar exam application designers (aka Brilliant Ones):

Thank you for the many wonderful hours of fun you've provided in designing your bar exam application processes. At first I found some of the questions you asked a little insulting. For example, what business is it of yours whether I have ever had a divorce or had a marriage annulled or set aside? That affects my “character and fitness” to practice law precisely how? But then I realized that I had an entirely wrong attitude so I just put on a happy face found it much easier to understand and appreciate the brilliance of this process you have designed. Let me count just a few of the ways you have made my life much better.

First, I'm glad you want to know every address at which I've lived since I was 18. There have been 17 of them and it was fun to track them all down. Thanks also for making it so stupidly difficult to enter all that information into your webforms. That was fun.

You've actually made the joy of filling out poorly-designed webforms nearly infinite, thanks to the fact that you provide so very many such forms for my entertainment. While I appreciate being able to submit a copy of my application online, it easily takes five times as long to fill out these web forms as it would to simply write out all the information by hand. Thanks for that pleasure. I really had nothing better to do with my whole damn day than fill out webforms. And if you doubt my sincerity, just look at the fact that I'm actually paying hundreds of dollars for the privilege of this pleasure and you will doubt no more!

Speaking of web forms, thanks for requiring me to submit my application electronically and requiring that I print out multiple copies and mail them to you. I like doing the very same thing multiple times in multiple ways. Redundancy is such a joy!

Oh, and speaking of redundancy, the fact that you require me to apply for the right to apply for the bar exam is a stroke of genius. I just worry that perhaps you're missing a step there; wouldn't the process be much easier for you and applicants to manage if you required us to apply to apply to apply? It's just a suggestion. I figure if one redundancy is good, two is better!

Of all the pleasures you provide with this application, I think the multiple forms requiring notarization are among the most exquisite. I especially like that you want me to get two barred attorneys to vouch for my character and to do so in front of a notary. It's really not enough to ask them to sign the form and mail it in; it's much better to ask them to find a notary and pay to help me apply for the bar exam. Very thoughtful of you, really.

Thanks for asking if I have any outstanding parking tickets. The answer is no, but I can totally see how that would be crucial data in determining whether I'm fit to practice law in your great state.

Also, I hope you have fun with the fingerprint cards I had to pay a surly “law enforcement officer” to help me create. It's nice to know you don't believe me when I say in answer to your many questions that I have no criminal record. I mean, we all like to be distrusted and second-guessed, and you're doing an excellent job of that!

Finally, thanks for asking for so much information about all of my current creditors (e.g. mortgage, credit cards, auto loans, student loans, etc.), including the balance on each, as well as wether any are delinquent or disputed. I didn't even know all of that information and you know, I was sort of thinking I was happier in my ignorance. But now that I know for sure that I owe more than $170,000 to various large corporations to whom I've granted the right to charge me exorbitant interest for probably the rest of my life, I realize that knowledge is power—and all thanks to you!

In short, jumping through the many hoops required to sit for the bar in your state and then being able to pay so dearly for the privilege—well, I just don't know how to thank you for allowing me to have this experience. I'm definitely looking forward to the exam and to working with people smart enough to develop such brilliant ways to welcome new recruits into their profession.

Sincerely,

The Imbroglio

*Not all of these great ideas were found within the same bar application process. Instead, I've assembled here a collection of some of the most brilliant requirements from a couple of applications. If you've ever applied for a bar exam or looked over an application, what were the most brilliant parts for you?

Posted 08:14 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

Ambivalent Question: Preparing for the Bar Exam

This week's Ambivalent Question® (at top right) asks: “Which bar review course will you (or did you) take?”

The poll lists various options, many of which I know nothing about. Those options include:

• Bar/Bri, an all-around bar review course available for every state. Offers video-taped lectures or self-study via recorded lectures on iPod. I believe in some places you can attend a lecture from a real-live person, too. Cost varies by state; I believe Montana is about the cheapest at $800, while NY, IL, and CA are among the most expensive at something like $2400.
• PMBR, a three or six day review focused only on the MBE (Multi-state Bar Exam). The MBE is “a six-hour, two-hundred question multiple-choice examination covering contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, and real property.” PMBR claims it complements or supplements other review courses b/c they are focused on the law of a specific state, rather than on the larger legal principles tested on the MBE. Cost: $795 for the 6-day course, $395 for the 3-day (discounts for ABA/LSD members).
• BarPlus, which doesn't look like a review course after all; more like just a bunch of information about the bar exam? I'm not sure.
• MyBarPrep, an online review course for the MBE. Appears to be in direct competition with PMBR but it's online-only. Cost: $160.
• MicroMash MBE & Bar Review, a computer-based self-study course, this time from West Publishing. The cost for the MBE review is $795, and the cost for the Bar Review part varies from $1195 to $1495, depending on state. Only about 23 states are available. (And look! A free podcast about opening a law office!)
• The Study Group Personal Bar Review, offers a variety of study-at-home courses that focus on writing state essays, the MBE, and more. It looks like bar review courses start at about $1395 and go up from there.

As the poll mentions, if you are aware of or taking other options, please leave a comment below.

This poll question came circuitously via a link at Divine Angst from which I wandered over to unblague to catch up on “the other Kristine's” odyssey from evening law student, to law school graduate, to studying for the Feb. sitting of the MD bar, and finally taking the bar exam. She's now waiting for May 5th to learn that she passed so keep your fingers crossed for her!

Somewhere along the way, unblague linked to Brazen: Passing the MD Bar, a blog by and about a graduating 3L who is preparing for the bar exam w/out the assistance of Bar/Bri or any other commercial review course. I completely agree with and admire brazen's desire to defy the conventional wisdom and prove that the bar exam can be beat without shelling out another several thousand dollars in “education” after your education (law school). However, bar review courses have a pretty compelling argument, which is always like this: You've spent tens of thousands of dollars on your legal education, but all of that will be for naught if you don't pass the bar exam. Don't you think it would be smart to maximize your chances of passing the bar by taking our course?

Well, do you?

Related: The Bar Review Choice

Posted 09:31 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack