Bar Exam Tips

This is the time of year when people, some annonymous, some not, start posting their advice for studying for the July bar exam on various web sites such as Ms. JD.  I still read a number of these websites -- the same ones that I read when I was in law school.   It is my recent reading of some of that advice that has prompted this post.   I will try to address a few common threads that I see handed out as internet advice, each of which I have affectionately called "myths" below.  Obviously, this is also just one person's advice so take it with a grain of salt...

Myth #1:  If you study too much, you will burn out.  First of all, who is to say how much studying is too much?  I had classmates who studied around the clock in law school.  They outlined, re-outlined, made flashcards, joined study groups, bought 3-4 hornbooks per class, and on and on.  I knew people that took the same approach to the bar exam.  They signed up for three or more prep courses, hired a tutor, listened to PMBR on tape in the car and in the gym and on and on.  In each case, that didn't seem to "burn" these folks out.  They handled it just fine.  I guess my point is that the point when studying is "too much" is different for everyone.  Don't listen to the person next to you in BarBri that says that if you study more than 4 hours a day, you'll burn yourself out before the exam.  Also, this is likely the most important test that you'll ever take.  In many states, such as CA, if you pass you'll never know your score.  That means that you'll never know if you studied too much or just enough.  The only way to find out your score is to fail and...well... that doesn't seem like a great way to determine if you are studying too much. Therefore, I say study all that you can handle, emotionally, physically, socially, etc. 

Myth #2: If you did well in law school, you'll do fine on the bar exam.  Obviously, this is a flawed premise as you know that there are people at your law school that did very well but can't pass a bar exam for anything.

Who goes to Law School? Why?

For many years, the number of female law school applicants was on the rise. In the last five years that number has plateaued. Then at last week's Summit in Austin two second tier law school deans mentioned that they received too few female applicants this year to maintain previous gender . This is not a pipeline problem: the majority of college graduates in the last few years have been women. There was speculation that declining applications reflect women's increased interest in business and medicine rather than some problem women have with the legal profession.

Periodically, Kaplan surveys its LSAT-prep clientele. This year's sample of 1,040 students was "about 50/50" male/female respondents, accoridng to Russell Schaffer, Kaplan's Senior Communications Manager. On the face of it that's encouraging - at least half of the folks pursuing LSAT prep courses are women.

'Diverse' Analyzes Female Leadership in America's Leading Law Schools

Diverse, a forum dealing with issues in higher education across America, has released an article dealing with female leadership in law schools.  According to Diverse, as of the 2006-2007 academic year, "47 out of the 200 American Bar Association-approved U.S. law schools were being led by women," as reported by the ABA.

As part of their study, Diverse also interviewed some of those women law school deans.  To read those interviews, click here.

It's easier because of those who've gone before me

Here I am, five weeks away from exams and the end of my 1L year.  I’m having trouble getting motivated to do all of the work I know I should be doing.  I’m behind on my outlines, and I haven’t done enough studying to prepare for the exams that will be here before I know it.  I’m not a slacker, but it’s hard to find the energy to do much more than get my reading done for class at this point.  Working full time and going to class part time can be draining. 

Sometimes it helps to put it all in perspective – the Ohio Women’s Bar Association worked on a project that focused on Ohio’s first women attorneys.  During their research, they came across a document entitled The Law Student’s Helper, which told the stories of some of the first women admitted to practice law in various states.  Mrs. Josephine Moody Luthe was admitted to the Colorado bar in 1891.

Ask a Mom in Law School: Balancing Schedules, and Interviewing

Cross-posted at (Formerly) Knocked Up (and in Law School):

Spring Break has come to an end!  I'm now seven weeks away from completing my JD, and I have a rambunctious toddler who will be reeking havoc at graduation.  Life is good.  So, I've been asked to impart more wisdom concerning being both a parent and a law student.  Readers have asked both about balancing schedules while in law school as well as when to talk about your kids.

1.) Do you have any tips for balancing law school and family life? How do you schedule your day?

Family vs. Law School

OK, I have to somehow vent this stress I've been carrying around for the last several weeks.  I work full time and go to law school at night.  The stress of law school is enough by itself, but with family pressure, I'm feeling a little crushed.

My husband is going to be away for a few hours this weekend. I reminded him that I have a Legal Writing assignment due next week, and I got a dirty look.  It's the same attitude I got when I came home last night, said hello to everyone, and started reading.  I figured I could get at least a little reading done before dinner.  My husband acted like a child.  So do I not spend time with my family, and go to class poorly prepared, or do I prepare for class, and have my family give me the guilt trip?

Single Mother Perseveres to Earn Law Degree

The Witchta Eagle rencently ran an inspriring story about a single mother who overcame adversity to become the eighth African-American member of the Wichita Bar Association.

Latina Alston is not yet 30. She has three children out of wedlock with three fathers, two of whom have not helped much with the kids. She raised the children in poverty all their lives.

That's about to change.

Latina's story goes beyond absent fathers, food stamps and welfare checks.

Overcoming poverty, stress, guilt, heath concerns, and potty training, Latina passed the bar in 2008.

Equal Justice Works on Student Debt

Ed. Note: The following post will be of interest to Ms. JD readers entering law school, attending law school, or those readers already working.  Whether a student, an attorney at a private firm, or an attorney working for government or a public interest organization, the following links provide information to those readers about planning for student loan debt and the pay-back process. 

Several recent posts on Equal Justice Works discussing student loan debt caught my eye:

• Equal Justice Works and American University’s Washington College of Law have teamed up to launch an all-new podcast: The Student Debt Relief Series. The first episode, “How to Figure Out if You Benefit from the College Cost Reduction & Access Act - and How Much?” is available now.
• The Project on Student Debt joined 12 other national organizations to send a letter to Congressional leaders urging that their economic stimulus bill include major new investments in college affordability. The proposal includes a Pell Grant increase, a boost in funding for Federal Work-Study, more access to PLUS loans, and emergency federal loan funds for some students.
• The Legal Services Corporation began the second three-year cycle of its Pilot Loan Repayment Assistance Program, bringing much needed assistance to civil legal aid lawyers.

Will BigLaw Embrace Grade-Less, High-Pedigree JDs?

Ed. note: The following article comes to Ms. JD courtesy of author Michael Estrin and bitterlawyer.com.  They interviewed a number of hiring partners at major U.S. law firms, who expressed concern about decisions by Harvard and Stanford law schools to switch to a pass/fail system.  This article might be of interest to many Ms. JD readers, especially given past issues and discussions concerning the compatibility between current law school learning frameworks and female law students.

Class rank is everything. It separates the future scholars from the posers; the potential Big Firm Partners from the 9-to-5 government slackers. If there were no grades, there’d be no way to differentiate among prospects and the entire legal hiring system would implode. Or maybe not.

In the past year, Stanford and Harvard have adopted a pass/fail grading system similar to Yale’s. This means no more grades at three of the top five U.S. law schools. Does this make sense? Are the schools doing the “real world” a favor or a disfavor? Does the elimination of competition from a highly-competitive profession make any sense whatsoever?

Ask a Mom in Law School: The Possibility of Pregnancy

Cross-posted at (Formerly) Knocked Up (and in Law School):

A new reader asks:

I just found your blog after googling "taking the bar exam while pregnant." I'm not in law school, but I am in the dead middle of a PhD. What is your take on the possibility of being pregnant during a major exam (in my case my "orals"). Terrible idea? Disaster? Not as bad as it sounds?

Just reading these comments on your blog makes me feel better about the prospect of pregnancy - so nice to see a bunch of women thinking about families and careers happening at the same time!

Congratulations on being a PhD candidate and not a law student! You obviously make better life decisions than I do. (I'm only half-kidding.) But I certainly understand the hard work involved in pursuing advanced degrees, in both graduate school and law school. To choose to become pregnant during such a time takes a special kind of determination, a special kind of insanity, and keeping a balance between the two.