 BAR
PASSAGES: From Law School to Law Firm |
Current Column | More Columns | Discussion
—————————————————————————————
Current Column | More Columns | Discussion ————————————————————————————— |
|
© Glenn E. Plosa, 2000. Opinions expressed are exclusively those of the author. "So much to do, so much to be" - Winnie the Pooh Well, here I am. The Graduate. The Law School Graduate. I have my degree certified by a new, clean diploma - but without a law license I can't practice law! I still have to pass the Bar Exam. So instead of feeling like "The Graduate" I feel like "the graduate"... Three weeks ago I received my Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. At the graduation ceremony my name was called, I walked across the stage, shook hands with Dean David Herring, received a certificate, shook hands with our speaker, Judge Robert Cindrich, and exited - stage right - into a sea of uncertainty. After three years of schooling, the real test looms on the horizon. That "real" test is the Bar Exam. This is what I've supposedly prepared for over the last three years. It's been in the back of my mind since entering law school. Actually, it was one of the first things mentioned the moment I walked into the school for orientation. At orientation there were various tables sponsored by student groups to inform/recruit/ensnare entering law students. The busiest table belonged to BAR/BRI. Curious and fearful of missing out on something that I would regret missing, I went over. A BAR/BRI representative, a Pitt law student, greeted me and told me something to the effect of "BAR/BRI helps you pass the bar ... I will need BAR/BRI to pass the bar" and "everyone takes the BAR Review course." My initial reaction was one of suspicion. She sounded like a used car salesman. My suspicion was raised to the level of skepticism when I was told that if I "locked in" now for only $25 I would reserve the going price of whatever state's bar exam I eventually took. I looked to see if she was selling snake oil as well. By scanning through the literature I saw that the price for the Pennsylvania bar review course was approximately $1200! However, the BAR/BRI representative pointed to a huge book titled "First Year Outlines" and said that with the $25 deposit I would be able to have this year's version of the book and a could have a complimentary copy of a Torts outline. Weighing my options I asked if I had to "lock in" that day. When I was told "no," I opted not to pay and figured I would do some research. My research consisted of asking friends of mine who were 2Ls and 3Ls what they knew of this BAR/BRI thing. Their eyes widened at my naivety and I was told unequivocally that I had to sign up for BAR/BRI if I wanted to pass the bar. My friends explained that Bar Review teaches me those things I need to know to pass the bar and would teach me those classes I didn't take in school but needed to know to pass the bar. When I said that I thought the price was a bit steep, one of my friends made a very salient point. He reasoned that after spending so many tens-of-thousands of dollars on law school, isn't it penny-wise but pound-foolish not to take the BAR/BRI course and risk failing the bar? After all, whatever the price of the Bar Review course, it was substantially less than the total bill for law school. Failing the bar would be a waste of all of the money spent on school. I signed up for BAR/BRI the next day and "locked-in" the 1997 prices for the course. This proved to be a financially wise decision because if I signed up today for the review course in Pennsylvania I'd pay approximately $1600, and in Tennessee (where I am now) I'd pay approximately $1200! Reflecting on my three years in law school I have concluded that modern American legal education is equal parts learning and learning how to cope with the learning. Many past and present law students throughout the United States probably share this view and, as a result, various structures exist to help students cope with the learning process. The Bar Review course is one of these structures, and it's designed to help me pass the Bar Exam. BAR/BRI offers bar review courses throughout the country to help graduated law students prepare for the bar review of each of the fifty states. In each state there are various sites where BAR/BRI holds classes. I am taking the Bar review course in Nashville, Tennessee. I have a job with a law firm in Nashville, and therefore I am preparing for the Tennessee Bar Exam. This exam has three parts, the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), and the State Essay Exam. I took and passed the MPRE in March when In was still in Pittsburgh, so I have one down and two to go. To prepare for the MBE and the Essays, BAR/BRI has daily classes that I attend from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM for the next six weeks. In this time I will hopefully hear and review more information than I need to know to pass the Tennessee Bar Exam. My skepticism of three years past has turned to reliance. For better or worse I have come to rely on BAR/BRI to guide me through studying for and supplying me with the information necessary to pass the Tennessee Bar Exam. For $970 I hope it's worth it. I have the option of taking morning or night classes. I have elected to take morning classes because 1) the lectures are live versus video taped, and 2) the Bar Exam starts in the morning so I wish to have my body and mind acclimated to learning and remembering law in the morning rather than at night. Call it psychological superstition. I believe that BAR/BRI has agreements with various law professors throughout the country to lecture students taking Bar Review classes. I believe this because I find it hard to believe that the lectures are the benevolent gift of concerned professors. I have attended two lectures so far at which Professor Doug Blaze from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville School of Law has lectured on Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. In approximately seven hours of lecture Professor Blaze covered two classes that comprised thirty-two weeks of my law schooling! Even more amazing was the fact that from my own classes I remembered a lot of the issues he discussed! Perhaps there is hope after all! It was a good start to what promises to be a long six weeks. The lectures discussed common law issues of criminal law, and then specific Tennessee law that deviates from the common law. This format is used because the MBE tests common law issues, and the Essays test Tennessee law. I have a workbook tailored to Professor Blaze's lecture. It was a "fill-in-the-blank" outline. I found it very useful because it was easy to follow the lecture, easy to spot the issues of importance, and easy to see the direction of the lecture. This was a contrast to many of my law school lectures, where I was not certain of the focus of the lecture, what I should take from the lecture or where the class was going. My BAR/BRI classes seem more grounded and less esoteric than what I learned in law school. I received an explanation as to why on the first day of classes... I was told that the MBE is a multiple-choice exam. It cannot ask questions on the fringes of the law. MBE questions test established, black-letter law. There are definite answers to the questions. In contrast, most of my law school classes dealt with issues on the fringes of law. Many cases for class were extreme examples of how far a court was willing to go in reading a statute or interpreting a previous case. Exam questions were often hypothetical situations to interpret undecided issues of law. By its design, the MBE cannot ask for an interpretation of a hypothetical issue of law. It must ask questions on established law. The Essays, however, are apparently more like law school exams. I haven't started preparing for them yet so I can't speak to them. To prepare for both the MBE and Essays I attend daily weekday lectures. The lectures are not, however, the core of my Bar Exam preparation. For that I have seven extremely large books designed to educate and test me on the principles of law tested on the Bar Exam. I have a workbook with thousands of multiple-choice questions. This is probably the most important book for passing the MBE. I also have an "MBE Question and Drill" book. I have two outline books, one for the MBE and one for Tennessee-specific law, I have a mini-review outline book, an essay writing book, and the lecture book. In addition, I have audio tapes that correspond to various subjects. BAR/BRI has a study outline for which I am to pace myself. Basically I am to read the outlines before the lectures and do multiple-choice questions after the lectures for those subjects tested on the MBE. For those subjects on the Essay section of the bar exam I am to outline essays prior to the lecture on that subject. And that, I believe, is the key to passing the bar exam. Passing the Bar is up to me. There is no magical elixir I can take that will give me knowledge to pass the Bar Exam. BAR/BRI merely gives me the tools. I have to use them. I wouldn't want it any other way, really. As a typical, type "A" personality, control-oriented, (now former) law student, I don't want to rely too much on someone else to pass the Bar. Whether I pass, ultimately, will come down to my level of preparation for the Bar Exam. I know that, and so should every other individual studying for a Bar Exam. I mentioned earlier that various structures exist to help law students cope with the rigors of school. For me, the most important coping mechanism throughout law school was my attitude. I tried to keep a positive attitude, whatever the circumstance, even under fire from a professor who managed to turn the Socratic method into the Demonic method. I have braved the perils of law school. The horrors of One L and The Paper Chase did not manifest, but school was not without its bumps along the way. Like most students I experienced bouts of self-doubt, and I occasionally questioned my decision to pursue law. From these experiences I know that I have to stay positive and maintain an even keel to pass the Bar. I have always marveled at fellow students that "sweat the small stuff." I do not understand how they managed to stay sane. Perhaps they looked at me and thought the same thing about my attitude? As a result, I fully expect to pass the Bar. In no way do I feel that the bar exam will be easy or that I will know everything. However, I'm confident that I will know more than I need to in order to pass. Since I began law school I have received tremendous amounts of advice on how to get through law school and how to pass the bar. I have received advice from just about every source you can imagine. Ironically, most of these sources were not members of the legal profession. My personal favorite was the bank teller who explained to me how her friend's fiancé recently passed the Bar by drinking lots of coffee, locking himself away for two months, and studying night and day. That was the sum of her advice. With a smile and I sigh I promised the teller I would consider that "fool proof" method when studying. (Little did she know that I don't drink coffee). To pass the Bar I have combined a number of suggestions to create a study method and schedule. I don't think it's revolutionary or incredibly keen. Basically I plan to make a schedule and stick to it. I plan to eat breakfast in the morning and go to my Bar Review class. Then come home and eat lunch. Thereafter study about 3-4 hours. Then I plan to exercise and eat dinner, then study another 2-3 hours. I have a calendar on which I have blocked days that I will study specific subjects for set periods of time. I was told to take studying like a full-time job and allot approximately 40-50 per week to it. That seems sensible to me. Most importantly, I was told not to cut myself off from the world. One of the first things I was told at my BAR/BRI course was to maintain my support structures. I plan on staying in touch with my family and friends. I hope to see some summer movies. I will not become a "Bar Review Hermit," a moniker suggested by Professor Blaze. I have to maintain a life. Ah yes, my life. Since completing my final law school paper a month ago, I have lived in a whirlwind. I have moved from Pittsburgh to Nashville (starting from Bethlehem, PA), visited family in Kentucky along the way, set up my new apartment in Nashville, returned to Pittsburgh to graduate, returned to Nashville to start my Bar Review course, received a speeding ticket, crashed my computer by deleting Windows, repaired Windows, changed my driver's license and voter registration, found a bank, and have continued to try and live an otherwise "normal" life. At this rate I look forward to working. Maybe it will be a little less hectic! There was a period of two days following my exams where I had absolutely no commitments. I had no appointments to keep, no classes to attend, nothing to do at all. It was an incredibly surreal time. After three years of law school I was so conditioned to moving onto the next task or having something to do that when presented with absolute free time I was lost. Mostly I just slept. I actually became somewhat stressed over not doing anything. I developed a mild paranoid anxiety that there was something I should be doing about which I did not know. To combat this notion I did what any sensible person would do. I left town. I visited my family. It was the best thing for me to do. I decompressed. I ate comfort foods like ice cream and heaping plates of spaghetti. I put school, my recently completed exams, and the pending Bar Exam and review classes out of my mind. I watched television. I went ice-skating. I helped my brother renovate an old stone farmhouse he recently purchased. I went to dinner with my sister. My siblings and I took my mother out to dinner for Mother's Day. And then, at dinner, the pressures of the Bar Exam started to build. The questions and answers were like this: "When do you take the Bar Exam?" July 26th and 27th. "Two days?" Yes. "Two days! Is it that long?" Well, on the first day I take 200 multiple-choice questions. The next day I answer 12 essay questions. I have six hours each day to answer the questions. There is a break in the middle of the day for lunch. "Are you ready for the exam?" No, not yet. I will take a review course that starts in a few weeks. "Is the review course enough?" I certainly hope so for my sake. "Are you worried?" Somewhat. There is no guarantee that I'll pass. The pass rate in Tennessee is around 77 percent. I like my chances, but realize the test isn't a "gimme." "Is the test hard?" Very. "Will you be able to pass it?" I certainly hope so. "What happens if you fail?" I don't know and I don't want to find out. "Will you still have a job?" I don't know and I don't want to find out. "Is there some sort of policy at your firm?" I don't know and I don't want to find out. And so on, and so on ... I realize that the questions were directed at me out of concern for my future, but I had to wonder if there was a secret pool among my family about whether I'd pass the Bar. The questions ended my brief mental interlude away from law school and the Bar Exam. Since that point I have been thinking about it constantly. I've been told that all students preparing for the Bar Exam reach a point when they feel that there is no way they can pass the Bar Exam and "freak out." I've been instructed at that point to wipe all of my books off my desk, close my eyes, take deep breaths and stop. I'm to relax for a bit, then pick up my books and start again. This is apparently a sign that I am "getting it." I received no guidance alerting me of a sign that I am *not* "getting it." I will close by answering the most common question I have been asked since I handed in my final assignment: "How do you feel?" I feel like I've hiked up a mountain for three years and now stand at its top. Looking down I can see the path I've taken. My perspective has changed now that I see the mountain from a different angle. At the beginning of the hike, the top of the mountain seemed attainable, but distant. Now that I look from the summit, the distance covered doesn't seem nearly so great. However, one more challenge yet awaits. From this peak I have to fly. And like Daedaleus and Icarus I have to build my own wings. I have feathers, glue, wood and twine. Now all I need to do is build my wings and watch where I fly. Too high and the sun will burn me, too low and the waters will sink me. Here's hoping for a smooth flight.
Glenn E. Plosa ——————————————————————— JURIST and Glenn welcome your reactions to Glenn's column, and your own views and recollections of the post-law school transition...
|
