Even if you’re attending Zoom University, the calendar is still the same. The first couple of months in the semester are about survival. The third month is about outlining. The last weeks are about practice exams.

And at some point, your mind starts turning over the daunting task of memorizing all that material.

The problem? In law school, there’s a LOT of material.

1. Don’t Panic

First off, don’t panic about having to memorize the material for four classes.

Remember, when the bar exam rolls around, you’ll be memorizing for 15 finals on the same day. You don’t have to do that yet, so keep it all in perspective. You’re only memorizing for four finals. Here, we call that a down payment!

2. Don’t Memorize Too Early

Anything you memorize in August or September (or January and February) is worthless. There’s still a lot more material to cover and, by the time you get there, the stuff you memorized at the beginning of the semester will be long forgotten.

Another method that’s just as dangerous? Trying to memorize the material before you take a practice exam. With this method, you won’t end up taking any practice exams until Question 1 on exam day, and that’s a disastrous strategy. (Don’t be that guy!)

I recommend that you wait until the reading period to do your memorization.

If it’s done properly with the appropriately-sized outlines, you can memorize one subject in 4-8 hours the day before the exam.

3. Learn How Not to Memorize

There’s a right way—and a wrong way—to memorize material for your law final.

Drafting flashcards? That’s the wrong way. It takes up so much time that you won’t have any time left to actually memorize anything.

I once saw a student peel off a label (with a law she typed on it the night before) and place it on a hole-punched flash card that eventually went onto a gigantic ring. She wasn’t studying, just making these perfect flashcards.

What about a cram session? That stuff is out of your head the next day. Same goes for dictating your notes into the tape recorder.

So what’s the right way to memorize?

4. Summarize the Material

The key concept is synthesis.

Humans learn best in short-term memory through synthesis. Don’t just jam material into your head. It won’t stay there. Synthesizing larger and larger material into smaller and smaller parts is what will help you retain that which you are memorizing.

The process is something akin to what I learned in a History of the Vietnam War class I took at Cal in the spring of 1992 (I was a History major). One day, Professor Douglas Pike, America’s foremost expert on North Vietnam, suddenly started riffing about (of all things) memorization.

Professor Pike said, “How do you really know something?” I was immediately bewildered. This was a History class, not a Philosophy class!

Then he said, “Say you write a 100-page paper. Then you write it again in 50 pages. Then 25 pages. 10 pages. 5 pages. 3 pages. And then you synthesize that 100 page paper into 1 page. If you can do that, you know what you’re talking about.”

Fast forward seven years later, nine days before the February 2000 Bar Exam, and I’m thinking about my experience with Professor Pike. How do I put all of this material together? Fourteen subjects, seven days to memorize, then a day off, and then into the exam. How do I memorize fourteen subjects in seven days?

I utilized the synthesizing idea that Professor Pike talked about. I combined the biggest subjects with the smallest subjects. Memorization is about synthesizing, yes. But it’s also about volume. You don’t want to memorize Con Law and Property in one day—too much stuff! But when properly compiled, you can memorize 1-2 subjects a day and be ready to go for the Bar Exam.

But as 1L’s you don’t have to worry about that! Just one subject. How do you do it? Synthesizing.

How My Program Works

What about carpal tunnel? Aren’t you worried about carpal tunnel?

Nope. This memorization process I teach in my program is oral. You can write letters of mnemonics if you want. But no need to write entire subjects out.

Does it work? Remember I teach Big League memorization—15 finals on the same day. And students of all stripes have done it. 1st timers, 12th timers. 25-year-old recent grads up to students in their 60s. Learning disabled students? Check. Autistic student? Yes.

It can be done and has been done for over two decades.

My memorization plan has a mechanism to help you bring the information forward to the next day (actually the next 7-11 days) so you can recall the material when you need it most. Memorization is a temporal notion, my friends. You can’t memorize it all right before the test. You have to start early.

But whatever you memorize early, you need to bring forward. I’ve got you covered. I have done what you are trying to do and under more trying circumstances (your next final is 5-6 days later, while I was memorizing for 14 finals on the same day). And I’ve helped students like you memorize when it mattered the most.

What if you’re a universalist and you’re a top 10% student, and you’re convinced that the only way you will get through the Bar Exam is to memorize everything in sight, just like you did for your 1L finals? That can work for one final five days from now. But it won’t help you when you are memorizing for 15 finals on the same day. I have a plan for it, and you can learn how to do it too.

Or… you could learn how to practice perfectly now, for semesters on end, so doing that Big League memorizing for the Bar Exam won’t be nearly as hard.

Let’s talk about it and help you generate some points!

If you’re finding this helpful (but a little too late), don’t worry. My books, lectures, and free webinars can come in clutch when you don’t have much time left before the exam.

Friends:

The NCBE is only going to provide in-person materials for the February 2022 exam.  That means hardcopy materials.  This is a strong leverage play.  “OK, state bar licensing entities, you can do what you want, so long as you do what I say.”  You want Uniform Bar Exam materials?  Enjoy our hardcopy exams, people:  you really didn’t want to think about having another remote exam, did you.

What does this mean for California?  You want those MBE materials for 50% of your test, don’t you?  Welcome back to in-person testing, people.  California has about 60 days to decide right after the July 2021 Cal Bar Exam that, hey, it really was our idea, it really was!  But we’re doing in-person testing for February 2022… and now you know.

NCBE’s press release from June 1 appears below.

NCBE Anticipates Return to In-Person Testing for February 2022 Bar Exam

Hello y’all!

You might have found the key to a products liability essay.  Or the cluster to use in a negligence exam.  Or a multiple permutations issue that is the difference to passing or failing a Civ Pro essay.

But none of that is going to matter if you aren’t registered to take the next exam!

That’s right, sports fans.  The first ability is availability.  If you’re not registered, you ain’t available.  And as the ancient philosopher Harris once noted, “You can’t pass that which you don’t attempt.”

So, please, I beseech you, go to the applicant portal.  Check your account.  Make sure one last time that you’ve registered to take the exam AND that you’ve completed the Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Testing Conditions form.

And… if you’re thinking about applying for accommodations, today is the deadline as well.  Make sure to submit all relevant paperwork.

Once you’ve done that, then get back to work.  When in doubt, do another set of MBEs, or go write an essay.  Don’t memorize!  Too early!

Per ncbex.org

National Mean of 134.0 for February 2021 MBE

As per the Cal Bar.  Press release below.

Takeaways:

General Bar pass rate is 37.2%, highest for a February exam since February 2015.

Attorneys’ Exam pass rate is 57.2%, highest for a February exam since February 2003!

Today the State Bar released results of the February 2021 California Bar Exam and announced that 1,151 people (37.2 percent of applicants) passed the General Bar Exam. This pass rate represents an increase of 10.4 percentage points, or nearly 39 percent, from the February 2020 General Bar Exam pass rate of 26.8 percent. If those who passed the exam satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California.

“We heartily congratulate the 1,151 applicants who passed the General Bar Exam and the 247 candidates who passed the Attorneys’ Exam, particularly after facing and overcoming the many challenges of 2020. We hope to welcome all those who passed to California’s legal profession very soon,” said Donna Hershkowitz, Interim Executive Director of the State Bar.

This year’s February exam was the second administered remotely, after the near-record cohort who took the exam in October. It was also the second graded under the reduced cut score of 1390, directed by the California Supreme Court in July 2020. If the cut score remained at 1440, approximately 734 General Bar Exam takers (23.7 percent) would have passed this examination.

The February exam cohort was approximately 3,100 for the February exam (approximately 3,100 compared to 4,000–5,000 on average), likely attributable to the increased number of test takers for the October 2020 exam cohort, the availability of the new provisional licensure program, and the higher pass rate on the October exam. As is typical, a majority of the February exam cohort were repeat takers, although at a lower percentage than average (approximately 60 percent compared to the typical 70 percent).

February 2021 General Bar Exam preliminary statistics

• Completed the exam: 3,098 applicants
• First-time applicants: 1,227 (39.6 percent of total)
• Pass rate for first-time applicants: 53.0 percent overall
• Repeat applicants: 1,871 (60.4 percent of total)
• Pass rate for repeat applicants: 27.0 percent overall

Pass rate for the General Bar Exam (rounded to whole numbers) by law school type:

General information about the structure and content of the General Bar Exam.

The Attorneys’ Examination is open to those who have been admitted to the active practice of law and are in good standing for at least four years in another U.S. jurisdiction. Of the 432 attorneys who completed the Attorneys’ Examination, 247 (57.2 percent) passed.

A pass list from the exam will be published on the State Bar website on May 9, 2021, at 6:00 a.m. More detailed statistics about exam results will be available in four to six weeks on the State Bar website.

Successful applicants who satisfy all requirements for admission may take the Attorney’s Oath individually or participate in admissions ceremonies held by their law school or others. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions, the State Bar’s Office of Admissions will not hold its admissions ceremonies and has posted instructions for individuals to be sworn in remotely.

If they have satisfied all other requirements, applicants are eligible to practice law in California after taking the Attorney’s Oath and submitting their oath card to the State Bar. Approximately two weeks after forwarding the oath card to the State Bar, their names will appear on the agency’s roll of licensed attorneys accessible on the State Bar website.

Don’t give up!

Failed the California bar exam? Here’s what to do next.

You’ve been nervous for weeks, but the day is finally here. It’s Results Day.

6 p.m. arrives. You enter your information on the screen, cross your fingers, and wait. Your heart sinks. You failed the California Bar Exam.

Where can you go from here?

It might not feel like it now, but it’s possible to come back from a failed bar exam and still have a successful legal career. Plenty of extremely smart people have failed the bar exam on their first (or second, or third…) try.

I should know. After I failed the notoriously difficult California bar exam, I poured my efforts into figuring out why. Then, I developed a method unlike any other to help students pass with flying colors.

If you just received the bad news that you failed the California bar exam, don’t feel bad. It’s one of the most difficult bar exams in the country with a high rate of failure. But it does mean you have some more work to do.

Follow these five steps and get ready to try again.

1. Mourn the Exam Result

As with anything that involves years of hard work, there are bound to be some strong emotions around failing the bar exam.

Take 30 minutes (seriously, set a timer) to vent those feelings. You might feel anger, sadness, guilt, denial, or everything at once. It’s natural to want to beat yourself up…but not healthy, so that’s why I suggest a hard time limit.

The same goes if you had a major distraction that prevented you from putting forth your best effort on the exam. Maybe you went through a bad breakup or a close relative died shortly before the test. Perhaps you got sick. These things happen.

If that’s the case, comfort yourself with the knowledge that nobody could have passed the exam under those circumstances.

Once that 30 minutes have gone by, it’s time for the next step.

2. Contact Me

If you failed the California bar exam, chances are you don’t know why (much less how to fix it).

The good news? That’s where a bar exam tutor like me can help prepare you for your next attempt. The bad news? You have to act fast. (Which is why I have you set a 30-minute limit on your pity party.)

There are very few high-quality, 1-on-1 tutors that focus on all three phases of the California bar exam. And the ones that exist tend to book up extremely quickly.

The real tragedy is when a student failed the California bar exam and took a month to process their feelings. By the time they’re ready to look for help, I have to say, “I wish you called me three weeks ago. My program is full.”

The good news is that I do have some additional options for you if my program does fill up!

First, get your hands on a copy of my books, WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List. I’ve packed these titles full of the essential information you need to crush your bar exam and get the most out of very little time.

Second, make sure you sign up for my next webinar. They’re completely free and will give you the best chance at knocking your next bar exam results out of the park!

3. Seek Out Love and Support

As tempting as it is to drown your sorrows at the local pub, the love and support of your friends and family will serve you much better.

Contact a few trusted loved ones and let them know what happened. This is what friends and family are for: helping you through the tough times.

And if you did the right thing and called me first, you can let them know you’re already on a path to get yourself back in the game.

4. Tell Your Boss

If you have a job, let your boss know as soon as possible. As embarrassed as you are, this is a necessary step. First of all, they already know you failed the California bar exam (the pass list is public as of Sunday, 6 am). Second, honesty is the best policy.

But the most important reason to tell them is to get some time off so you can prepare for a second crack at the exam, if possible. How much time?

I strongly recommend asking for at least four weeks off before the exam. So for July 2021, for example, I’d suggest you are off of work no later than July 8. So that means 15 weekdays off (July 8-9, 12-16, 19-23, and 26-28) and of course you’ll have the relevant weekends off too.

Whatever time off you are taking, get it in writing. Bosses have a funny way of forgetting that they agreed to your time off request. I’ve had students fight with bosses for months about a date that was agreed to a long time ago.

Firms that do let you take time off also have a funny way of extracting as much as they can from you in the days before your final date, so remind everyone a few weeks in advance to keep your plate clear.

You have an obligation to clean up your files and make sure whoever takes over a case has a clear roadmap of next steps. Otherwise they’ll keep hounding you with questions during one of the most important months of your life.

5. Manage the Fact That You Failed

Failure is never an easy thing to manage. You did all of that work, and now you have to do it all over again. It’s enough to demoralize even the most upbeat people.

But you can’t afford to carry that baggage with you.

Your job is to generate points. And focusing on the consequences of failing the exam a second time and losing your job NEVER generates points. In fact, it will likely help you lose points, since you’re not focusing on the task at hand.

I’ve walked through the Valley of the Shadow of California Bar Exam Failure and come out the other side. I’ll show you how to manage it and thrive.

Conclusion

You’re not the first person who has failed the California bar exam, and you certainly won’t be the last. You can’t change that, but you can do something about the future.

Call me about my 1-on-1 tutoring program. If that’s not an option, buckle down and read my books, WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List. Both my books and my program have been painstakingly crafted from years of experience as a law student and tutor.

For what it’s worth: I failed the bar exam once upon a time. In fact, I had so much fun doing it, I failed it twice. But on May 26, 2000, I passed.

The Status of Failure was gone. I met my glorious wife (recently celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary!), I have two wonderful kids, and my student loans are paid off. I have thrived professionally and found my passion in my work life.

Yes, failing the California Bar Exam sucks. But, while you’re in professional purgatory, enjoy the visit. You’ll learn more about yourself, find out who your real friends are, and you’ll learn how to conquer this test. You failed the exam (for now), but it won’t define you if you follow the correct path.

For whatever reason, sometimes bar prep gets away from you.

Here’s how to study for the bar exam with only a week or two left.

It happens to the best of us.

Perhaps you celebrated a bit too long after graduation. Or maybe you were so stressed out during law school that you couldn’t seem to get back in gear once it was over. Then again, maybe life or work obligations just got in the way.

Whatever the reason, all of the time you set aside for bar prep has elapsed…and you’ve got almost nothing to show for it.

Now—with only two weeks left—you have no idea how to study for the bar exam and still pass. Is it even still possible?

Actually, yes!

You’re Not Alone

Before we talk about anything else, I want to make it clear you are not the first student (nor will you be the last) to fall behind on bar prep.

It’s very tempting to think that everyone else you know is organized, on point, and on top of their calendar from their cookie cutter program. But I’m here to tell you that it’s a sham! There’s a TON of busy work on those calendars and it tends to get ignored. And many will tell you that your chances of passing are highest if you do 80% or 90% of those calendars…which means everyone is behind.

I’ve been teaching and tutoring for more than 20 years and I can tell you that a high percentage of my clientele has found themselves in the same boat you’re in right now. They may show up to class with color coordinated binders and three different kinds of paper clips, but at the end of the day, they don’t know how to study for the bar exam either.

And, if it’s any consolation, it’s not (always) their fault. Or yours, for that matter.

We’ll go over some of the reasons your bar prep fell apart (and what to do about it), but for right now, you can rest assured that it is possible to crawl your way out of the hole you’re in—if you’re willing to do the work.

5 Reasons Your Bar Prep Fell Apart

In a perfect world, exam applicants would be able to set aside all obligations and distractions for two or three months to focus on studying, memorizing, and taking practice exams. They’d have an expert coaching them on how to study for the bar exam so they could approach exam day feeling completely prepared.

But we don’t live in a perfect world.

And when bar prep goes wrong, it tends to fall into one of five categories.

1. Your program moved too fast.

The biggest challenge that first-timers have with bar prep is the rhythm and speed that most courses follow.

They might be covering a subject you haven’t thought about in two years. You probably need 10 days to really come to grips with the subject, but after just three days, they’re on to a new topic. And just when you’re starting to get your head around that topic? That’s right, time for a new one.

The longer the program goes on, the more behind you get.

2. You have limitations.

Do you have a job? A family? A disability (physical or otherwise)? Each of these things can affect the amount of time available for bar prep.

Your boss might say he’ll accommodate your study schedule but when that big project is due, you’ve got to step up to the plate. Then your kids need help with their homework. And Covid sure hasn’t done anyone any favors.

3. Things come up.

There are things you knew would be obstacles before you started…and then there’s everything else.

Your dog passes away. You get the flu. Your boyfriend cheats on you. You’ve been dumped. You find out you’re pregnant. I’ve had students who have gone through these things and more.

If you foresaw any of these situations ahead of time, you could have prepared for them. But these kinds of things have a tendency to sneak up on you.

4. You procrastinated.

I’ll just take the weekend to rest up. I’ll start again after the holidays. I can’t study tonight, it’s the Super Bowl.

One or two excuses probably isn’t going to hurt anything. But make it a habit, and before you know it, the exam is just a couple of weeks away and you haven’t written a single practice essay.

5. You didn’t take it seriously.

Then again, maybe you just didn’t bother to buckle down and study the way you should have. After all, you did great in law school, why would the bar exam be any different?

Then your classmates start telling you horror stories about how many times they had to take and retake the exam. Now you think you at least should have looked at more flash cards.

You know it was a bad decision, but what can you do about it now?

How to Study For the Bar Exam…In Just Two Weeks

At this point, you don’t really need to know why your studying plan fell through. You need to know how to study for the bar exam with the time you have left.

Luckily for you, I have a plan to save your exam.

I’ve spent the last 20+ years as a law professor and bar exam tutor and have single handedly developed a unique method to help you pass the bar. My 1-on-1 tutoring program covers all three phases of the exam and is based on painstaking study of every year’s bar exam.

In just two or three months, I’ll have you ready and confident.

But you don’t have two or three months.

For last-minute bar prep that gives you your best shot at success, I’ve written two books to help you spot issues, outline essays, generate points, and feel more confident walking into the exam.

• WINNIN’ TIME! contains Bluebook-ready rules in bite-sized, memorizable pieces, with data compiled from every version of the exam from 1993-2019.
• The Trigger List provides you with the issue spotting help you’ve always needed. If you’re a law student, you just need four hours with this book and you’ll be set for one subject. One week and you’re set for the exam.

And if you want to give yourself the best possible shot at success, sign up for my upcoming free webinar. Each quarter, I’ll be hosting a webinar aimed at tackling a different area of bar exam prep.

You don’t have much time left. You can use that time to panic or you can get the shot in the arm you need and pull out that passing grade.

Time to Take the Bar Seriously

While it is possible to learn how to study for the bar exam in just a week or two, it won’t happen unless you put the work in.

If you’ve got time off, take it. If you don’t have time off, try to find a way to take it anyway.

Your future success depends on the results of this test. You’re not just passing the bar, you’re launching yourself into a lucrative career. Now’s the time to buckle down and make it happen.

Some time in their first semester, law students wonder how to succeed in law school.

Actually, that’s not true. This is the question students want to know about when they attend their law school orientation. Nay, when they apply to law school. Nay, even before that, when they take their first pre-law class.

So since you’ve been thinking about this at various points in your college (or pre-college!) career, let’s talk about how to succeed in law school, month-by-month and year-by-year.

How to Succeed in Law School: 1L

In the first year of law school, I teach my Legal Writing students about the three most important parts of the critical Fall semester calendar: Survival, outlining, and practice exams.

With the right schedule (and a few helpful tools), you can ace your first year of law school.

August/September: Survival

At this stage in the game, “survival” means showing up to class every day and briefing cases (if you start falling behind, use Casebriefs or another pre-drafted set of briefs to get you through class that day).

If you want to get ahead of the game, use WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List to get a preview of how to spot issues, what rules can realistically be written during a final exam, and how to present your answer and finish on time.

What if you could get the correct answer three years early and succeed in law school? Want the correct answer? It’s right there in WINNIN’ TIME! with the foundation lecture on how to succeed in law school and the bar exam by writing strong exam answers on time.

Do you have to work hard to survive in August/September? No. Set a schedule and stick to it. Use some next-level resources like WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List to get ahead of the game and know the correct answer ahead of time.

Think of law school as a full-time job. From 8-4, 9-5, or even 8-6, you should be reading cases, briefing cases, going to class, and staying on top of assignments. And read WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List to reinforce what the correct answer is when you get to exam time.

Why not target your studies every day towards preparing for the point-generating activity at the end of the semester? This ain’t a Ph.D. orals exam, folks. You gotta learn how to take a 60-minute essay in 60 minutes, while spotting all the issues and writing analytically.

Now what if you feel that you’re starting to get in over your head in the first month of law school? Fear not! The games haven’t even begun yet! WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List are the appropriate resources to pull you back from confusion and from feeling overwhelmed. The correct answer is there. The tools you need to get back on that treadmill and keep moving on the journey? They’re all there. The best way to succeed in law school is to do a little bit every day and know what professors need on their final exams well ahead of time.

During this survival period, what about work/life balance? Well, nobody can promise you that in law school! There’s a lot of work to do. But do your job. Give yourself some incentives each day. Read those cases for Property class. Take an hour off and watch a sporting event you wanted to watch. Watch that cooking show. Then get that Contracts reading done. Same thing.

Again and again and again.

October: Outlining

This is the time to start working on your outlining. There are two types of people here, folks, and be honest with yourself: are you a procrastinator or not?

Many professors will tell you to create your own outlines. It may help you learn the material better because you typed it. But if you’re a procrastinator, you know that you won’t do all that work on your own. What do you do?

Either way, you need to get a few examples of outlines to see what they look like. Don’t try to create one without seeing how others have done it!

Some outlines are 10 pages long. Others are 40 pages. Others are 100-200 pages! YIKES! Does that sound like a recipe for success?

So, get a couple of outlines that were written by 2Ls or 3Ls who took your professor, and use WINNIN’ TIME!’s bluebook-ready rules that were tailor-made for when you’re stressed the most…on exam day! Use WINNIN’ TIME! for your Cal Bar subject finals (i.e., Torts, Contracts, Property, etc.). Professorize WINNIN’ TIME! outlines by adding things that your professor likes to emphasize in class.

Use my formatting, and add those things your professor likes, and my 8-15 page outline turns into a 15-20 page outline. Perfect for memorization purposes: not too long, and you know half of the rules already because the rules are written in the same writing structure.

Procrastinators, you already know what to do! Succeed in law school by having WINNIN’ TIME! by your side every step of the way. Someone’s already done the work for you!

November: Practice Exams

The 2-3 weeks before the reading period begins (i.e., the time between the last day of classes and the beginning of finals) is when you need to excel…NOT during the reading period (for many, that’s too late!).

Do a practice question (that’s one question, not an entire exam) every single day. If you have multiple choice and essay components on your exams, then do a practice essay and do some multiple choice questions every day.

Every. Single. Day.

“But what if I haven’t memorized the material yet? How can I take practice exams if I haven’t memorized anything yet?”

Well, friends, let’s think about that for a second. When will you have memorized the material? November 1? Nope, there’s still 3 weeks of class left. Last day of class? Nope, you still need to finish outlining from the last days of class. Day before the exam? Nope, that’s when I’m going to memorize!

What’s the solution? Forcing yourself to take practice exams BEFORE you finish the last day of classes. Schedule your day around the practice exam. Wake up, schedule your practice exam for the day. Schedule your outlining. Schedule your classes. Schedule when you brief cases. Then schedule when you eat. Etc.

How can you take practice exams if you don’t know the law yet? Use the appropriate resources, of course.

WINNIN’ TIME! is open when you take the exam. Take 10 extra minutes for each practice exam (i.e., 70 minutes for a 60-minute question, 100 minutes for a 90-minute question, etc.). And when you finish taking the question, look at the sample answer (if you’re practicing on Cal Bar questions) and see what issues you missed. How do you solve the problem of your missed issues? The Trigger List of course!

BONUS ROUND: Just Before Finals!

It’s down to the wire now. What if your grand outlining plans fall apart? What if you don’t take any practice exams? What if your plan goes to hell due to family taking over your Thanksgiving period, or a big life event unexpectedly takes place?

I have a secret for you. I didn’t write WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List for easy days, but for crisis ones!

If you only have one long day to focus before your final exam, these books can save your semester. Remember, perfection is the enemy of excellence. Be diligent. Do your job. Use next level resources designed to help you succeed when it matters most. Work smarter not harder.

That’s how to succeed in law school during 1L Fall semester.

Spring/Summer Semesters & 2L

Once you survive the first semester, take stock of what you did during finals. What worked? What didn’t? Adapt and make sure you follow the best plan you can.

Spring Break? Work on your outlines. Or get WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List and have next level resources to help you with the Holy Trinity of Law School Exam success: issue spotting, outlining your essay answer with bluebook-ready rules, and presentation.

Professorize your existing WINNIN’ TIME! outline with things your professor likes to emphasize. Go to office hours and ask questions. Prepare one-page white papers with bullet points for potential policy questions. And no matter what, on April 1, start taking practice exams instead of waiting until the day or two before the exam!

For future semesters, focus on WINNIN’ TIME!’s Essay Writing Lecture to help you get in and out of issues faster and finish your exams on time. If you’re taking Evidence, stop EVERYTHING and get WINNIN’ TIME! so you can crush your Evidence final with the undefeated, exceptional Evidence Boilerplate. First one to 20 issues wins, my friends! Or if you’re taking PR, get WINNIN’ TIME! and practice that PR Boilerplate once a week to nail down those CA distinctions, organize by conduct and succeed on exam day!

You don’t have to be smart to succeed in law school. But you need to be organized. Sometimes Socrates scores higher on exams than plumbers. But not frequently. Why?

Plumbers know what the professor is looking for. They show up every day and take all the practice exams they can find. Socrates crushes the Ph.D orals defense, but doesn’t do practice exams and writes fascinating essays about a few issues of their choosing.

Socrates doesn’t finish the essay on time—they were too busy writing really interesting stuff but not worried about introductory or tertiary issues. The plumber? Crushes the exam because they know how to take a 60 minute exam in 60 minutes and how to use The Trigger List to ensure that words and phrases are spotted, issues implicated, outlined, and written up on time.

Socrates may know 80% of the material, but if they don’t take practice exams or knows what the professor is looking for, they’re going to get crushed by the plumber who knows 20% of the law, but grinds every practice exam, knows how issues are implicated, and how to analyze the way the professor wants.

The student who succeeds in law school is the GRINDER, the one who reads WINNIN’ TIME! to learn how to take an essay and uses The Trigger List to spot all of the issues. Because if you can’t spot an issue, it doesn’t matter what you know or how well you IRAC. You’re screwed.

How to Succeed in Law School: 3L

This is crunch time, folks. It doesn’t get more serious than this.

I recommend 3L students use the same materials they will use to prepare for the Bar, as this gives you an early preview of what’s to come. Having WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List means you don’t have to draft outlines from scratch.

Briefing cases is unrealistic, and so is outlining. So get your bluebook-ready outlines with WINNIN’ TIME! in October, take some practice exams in November, blow off prep during Thanksgiving, use those two beautiful books the day or two before the exam to save your semester, and excel on exam day.

For the Cal Bar, how many Bar courses should you take in law school? I recommend all except for Community Property and Remedies. If you need either or both of those courses to graduate because you need the units, that’s fine. But if the only reason you’re taking those courses is to get ready for the Bar exam, you don’t need to do so. You can pick up those courses during the summer.

Conclusion

Now you know how to succeed in law school. Think of it as a day job. Get your work done, and then reward yourself by doing something you like. Be organized. Survive. Outline. Take practice exams early and often. Use WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List to help you thrive throughout the exam process.

And if your plans don’t quite go according to Hoyle and you’re in over your head? Fear not! WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List are here to help you at any time during the semester. Especially if you have only one day to focus.

Remember: perfection is the enemy of excellence. Use the proper tools, work smarter not harder, and succeed in law school!

Hello everyone!

FYI – The Cal Bar released the July 2021 Bar Exam FAQs today.  On page 14, in the Scoring, Scaling and Grading section, Question 4:

“Results are scheduled to be released by November 12, 2021.” 

This is one week EARLIER than usual.  Typically the results publish the Friday before Thanksgiving.  But Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 25, which would make the traditional results day Friday, November 19 (which, not for nothing is the day before a certain Big Game!).   At any rate, if the November 12 date remains, that’s not a bad result for repeaters, who will have more time to get some work done before the holidays, which is always a tricky exercise.

July-2021-Bar-Exam-FAQs 32521

Hello everyone!

The July 2021 Cal Bar Exam announcement is provided here:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/California-Bar-Examination/July-2021-California-Bar-Exam

Note that the first version of the FAQ Document for the July exam is here!   I’ve attached it.  Note it will change over time, so make sure to check the document online periodically.  Pro-tip:  Look at the LAST page of the document first because that’s where the tips are!

July-2021-Bar-Exam-FAQs 32521

Finally, the July 2021 Bar Exam Schedule (under traditional time) is available as well.  It’s attached.

July-2021-Bar-Exam-Schedule