I was a lawyer 8 years out of law school and already a member of the New York bar when I failed the February 2016 California Bar attorney’s exam. I knew that I had put long hours into studying using an online course, and so I was left bewildered by how things could have gone so terribly wrong. Steven came highly recommended to me by a friend who had also failed once and then passed after receiving tutoring from him. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about him. I called him the Monday after I found out I had failed, and I was reassured from my conversation with him that he had a plan for us.
I knew that I needed one-on-one tutoring from an expert – someone with perspective and experience with this specific and unique exam – in order to understand how to answer in the way that bar exam graders valued.
Through my tutoring with him, I learned exactly what the graders were looking for. Much of it struck me as idiosyncratic and non-intuitive, and thus it became clear that it made a huge difference to have a tutor who had already guided many others to the finish line. His method was incredibly streamlined, based on known and tested methods that have worked for others before. I did not waste time working on extraneous tasks like watching lectures or outlining bar subjects the second time around because Steven provided plenty of guidance on what exactly to do, and he made clear how it would help me on game day(s). Our weekly tutoring sessions served as sanity checks. I learned a great deal from Steven during each one, and I found each and every one to be rewarding and elucidating.
His approach to performance tests was uniquely helpful. In comparison to the one taught in my previous online course by an out-of-touch law school professor, his had a finger on the pulse of performance tests, and was therefore light years ahead in helpfulness. He taught concrete steps that one could take one by one to make their way systematically through it. And one of the lessons he taught in particular was a major game-changer for me and gave me a much-needed psychological boost. Going into the afternoon sessions on Days 1 and 3, I was reassured by how much practice and preparedness I had from Steven’s tutoring.
His teaching materials, WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List in particular, were indispensable resources. They are streamlined, results-focused texts which provide direct and focused guidance on how to master an approach to essays. They are intended for people who recognize that preparedness – not general preparedness, but preparedness in the unique way that the California bar graders are looking for – is an essential key to passing the exam. The “boilerplates” he teaches are absolute lifesavers – when I used one on Day 1 of my exam, I breathed a major sigh of relief that I had already committed the necessary text to memory after so much practice. I called Steven after Day 2 of my exam and spoke with him after there had been some nasty surprises on Day 1. He reassured me and was a source of strength and calm for me when I needed it most.
I passed the July 2016 exam. I will always be grateful for Steven for what he did for me. This is truly a calling for him, not a mere job. This is what one hopes to find in a tutor. His guidance was invaluable to my success, and I know for certain that I couldn’t have done it without him. I would highly, and with absolutely no reservation, recommend him to anyone. — SRK, Esq., passed the July 2016 California Bar Examination