You Have GOT To Be Kidding Me

There we were. 10 minutes to go on the first set of three questions during the California Bar Exam. I was diligently typing away about the 4th Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and a business' reasonable expectation of privacy in financial and personal records of its customers... when.... all of a sudden.... much to my shock.... much to my horror.... EARTHQUAKE. That's right, I said earthquake.

In. The. Middle. Of. The. Bar. Exam.

I had earplugs in (as many bar examinees do so as not to hear the incessant typing, possible hyperventilating and other random noises of nearby examinees) so it took me about 10 seconds to discern where exactly the great rumbling sound was coming from. However, the earplugs did not at all prevent me from feeling the ground begin to shake and roll beneath my feet.

For a flash second, I thought, "wait, what am I supposed to do in an earthquake? I learned this in school... is it stop, drop and roll?" Then I remembered that's what you're supposed to do when you are on fire. It quickly dawned on me that I was supposed to be getting under my desk, along with the other 1,500 examinees.

Before crawling underneath my desk for cover, I glanced up at the ceiling to see what could potentially fall down on us. There were large hanging lights and an open-type ceiling with bars and piping. As I grabbed hold of the leg of my desk during the shaking, I had only one thought: please, do not let anything happen to my laptop.

I looked toward the front of the convention center as the ground continued to roll about. Some people were running. Most were under their desks with a shell-shocked expression on their face.

I looked toward the back of the convention center to see what was going on there. There was one guy near us who remained in his seat peering down upon those of us who were balled up under our desks. He had an overly smug, self-impressed look on his face as he looked at all of us. I imagine, based on his expression, that he was thinking something along the lines of: "Stupid peons. It's just a little shaking." He continued to type away. With that smug little smile on his face.

But the fact is that it wasn't just a little shaking. I was born and raised in California. I felt the Northridge quake in the 90's. Never have I experienced an earthquake quite like that. My test taking location was about 20 miles from the epicenter and, to be honest, it was quite a shake-up. Then again, I'm sure the sound and vibration of 1,500 examinees pushing their chairs back and dropping to the ground didn't diminish the shaking feeling.

Nonetheless, after seeing Mr. Smug continue to type, I decided that I could not lose valuable time for a natural disaster. I crawled out from under my desk as the girl next to me said, "Wait, it's not over."

At that point, I believed that the worst of it was over and it was time to press on. Then I watched about 1,500 people crawl out from under their desks and quickly, almost manically, resume typing. It was like a scene from a weird movie... like where all the people are possessed by aliens or... their laptops.

Later that night, as I was describing the days events to my ever-supportive mother, I told her the irony of the earthquake was that I had prayed for it. She looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I explained, "Well, I prayed for an act of God during the bar exam. But that wasn't exactly what I was hoping for."

Washington Bar Exam - A Few Thoughts

Right now, I should probably be cranking out some practice essays for the California Bar Exam, but with the Washington Bar Exam fast approaching, I thought I'd take the time to jot down some of my thoughts on the Washington Bar Exam and to provide a little advice to those takers of the Washington Bar Exam in 2008. Of course, this is just my perspective and like any advice from previous takers really doesn't mean a whole lot, but might be somewhat helpful...

SOME THINGS TO REALIZE AS YOU STUDY:
1. You will likely pass. The Washington Bar Exam pass rate is extremely high. (I am jealous of those of you who are taking the Washington Bar because the California Bar pass rate is not very high... as low as 39% some years...). The Washington Bar Exam pass rate is usually somewhere around 70%. That is high. However, the high pass rate does NOT mean that the bar exam is easy. See #2 below.

2. The Washington bar exam is not easy. Although the pass rate is high, the test itself is not easy. When I walked out of the Washington Bar exam, I remember thinking "that was really, insanely hard." I also remember thinking that I would never, ever criticize anyone I knew who didn't pass, even if I did, because it was so difficult for me. Why is it difficult? See # 3 and # 4 below.

3. The Washington bar exam is a test of SHEER MEMORIZATION. The Washington Bar Exam tests for your ability to issue spot and remember rules. Although some analysis is involved, very little is likely needed to pass. Primarily, you need to be able to recognize all issues in an essay and write the correct rule for that essay. The way to learn how to do this is to practice essay writing. Write as many essays as you possibly can and make sure you review the model answer, comparing it to yours. Incorporate new rules into your checklists/ flashcards/ study tools. Write rules over and over and over again.

4. The Washington bar exam is a test of ENDURANCE. For me, the endurance factor was the most difficult part of the exam. When I studied, I would frequently take breaks to check my email or walk around the law library and chat with a friend. I did this whenever I felt like I needed to. Obviously, during the exam, I did not have this luxury. The Washington Bar Exam is 2 and a half days of solid essay writing. It is rigorous and exhausting. Breaks are allowed, but they do not feel like breaks because of the testing conditions and they obviously cannot be taken when you feel like it.

5. Follow the BAR-BRI Paced Program. During the self-study time after the Bar-Bri classes end, do NOT devise your own method for studying for the exam. BarBri will have you dedicate an ENTIRE day to ONE subject (maybe TWO) during that self-study time. It is natural to want to "mix-it-up." For example, you may think it's a good idea to do a couple of contracts essays, then a UCC 9 essay, then a torts essay in one day. You will think this will keep your mind fresh. If YOU ARE THINKING THIS, YOU ARE WRONG. You will remember the day that you studied for a particular subject during the exam. It is the repetition of doing so many essays on one subject in a row that will save you during the exam. I knew some people who did not follow the Bar-Bri Paced Program and created their own study schedule, whereby they did all the same work, but in a different order. Most of them did not do very well on the exam.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE ACTUAL TESTING DAYS:
6. Write an essay and try to forget it. During the exam, it will be easy to dwell on the previous questions. Don't do this. Focus solely on the essay that is before you and do not think about ones you have written.

7. Wear LAYERS. The testing center was FREEZING last year. I remember one of my guy friends wore a short-sleeved t-shirt and was making jokes about how he was shivering at the end of exam. Someone else bought a sweatshirt in her hotel giftshop because she didn't pack one. It's cold in there... dress appropriately.

8. Don't make a run for it. During last year's exam, at some point on the second day, after I had written about 12 essays, I spent about 3 minutes seriously pondering the idea of getting up and walking out of the exam. Honest. Eventhough I was nearly done, I remember looking at the door and envisioning myself walking through it and never coming back. Of course, I didn't leave and I finished the exam, and fortunately passed. Even if you have very serious thoughts of leaving or you have convinced yourself that you have failed, you probably haven't failed, and you should stay and finish.

Again, I'm not the voice of experience on the Washington Bar Exam, but I just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you. Good luck! (Also my checklist outlines are located at blawgirls.googlepages.com or click the button on the left that says Student Resources).

MBE: The Great Equalizer

I loved the MBE, and not entirely due to some undiagnosed mental illness. I taught LSAT classes in law school and learned to appreciate multiple choice questions. The bar is obviously very different from the LSAT, but the one thing they have in common is that the more practice questions you do, the more likely you are to pass the exam. Don't get me wrong, I walked out of that day of the bar thinking I had maybe, maybe, chosen two right answers IF I was lucky and my strategy of lightly marking all four boxes worked for me (please, please, please know I'm kidding about that).
By some miracle I got more than two right and ended up passing, and here's my theory on that: the MBE is the great equalizer. On the essays you're judged not only on route memorization, but also on how well you write and organize. On the MBE no one has an advantage unless they have some special bubble checking skill. It's sheer memorization, not only of the "law" on which it's supposedly testing you, but also on how to answer MBE questions. Fortunately both the "law" and the ability to answer the questions can be picked-up by doing a zillion practice questions and, most importantly, carefully checking the answers. One of the most common mistakes I saw in my LSAT students was that they would correct their practice tests only caring about their score, and not about why they missed certain questions and got others right. This makes perfect sense since a practice test can take hours and calculating your score provides instant gratification, while figuring out why you got the score takes much, much longer. In the long run though, the why and how will be much more important than the score itself.

Twice the Fun?

So I'm doing it again and I simply cannot believe it.

Last summer, I blindly maneuvered my way through the Washington State Bar Exam. With nearly all of the other graduates of my 2007 law school class, I sat through ridiculously long lectures courtesy of Bar-Bri, painstakingly perfected my checklists (see link for study resources on the side of this blog ), and wrote about 612 essays (Washington is an all essay bar exam) to prepare for the two-and-a-half-days that I can only describe as the worst experience of my life: the bar exam.

To my great dismay and delight, I passed. BUT, I'm doing it again.

That's right, for the second time, I'm subjecting myself to those same Bar-Bri lectures, maniacally completing those checklists, and taking countless practice exams under "timed testing conditions." WHY, you ask? How could I possibly CHOOSE to make this decision again?

Well, I really didn't have much of a choice. I moved. To California. Where there is no reciprocity.

So here I am again. Preparing for a test that I thought I failed last summer but didn't. Making my mind go to work in ways I completely forgot it could. Trying to remember that at common law, burglary only occurred at night. Downing way too much red bull. Consuming copious amounts of sugar. And sporadically (sometimes hysterically) crying over a mortgage. (Not mine... the one on Blackacre).

I'm in the fortunate position of having passed a bar exam, but the unfortunate position of not knowing if I can be lucky enough to pass it twice. In the meantime, hand me a twinkie and a grande latte, because luck isn't going to get me everywhere and I've got some serious work to do.

If I Knew Then...

"Mock Trials IS life," K reminded me late one night over a bowl of chips and salsa and week-old coffee at the local diner. I had been complaining about my lack of a social life since we seemed to spend all of our time holed up in dingy restaurants, staring at an out-of-date laptop, trying to out-clever college mock trial opponents.

Now I'm almost 10 years older, not much wiser, and once again mock trials IS life...except now they're real trials, with real lives at stake, and there's no K off of which to bounce every crazy idea that pops into my overly-active head.

I'm a litigator, and I love it. But I always think to myself, I wish I knew then what I know now. I wish I had understood how much of an impact my signature on those shiny student loan lines would have on my post-law school life. I wish someone would have told me about the legal job market, and the seemingly endless number of qualified attorneys submitting their resumés for even the most menial of law jobs. I wish I would have spoken with more women about their experiences, challenges and successes. It's not that I would have done anything differently (except maybe forgo that pair of Seven jeans I bought in law school since post-interest they ended up costing me one million dollars), but I would have been better prepared, less surprised, and less likely to have that "why does everyone hate me!" breakdown after my 751st rejection letter. (752 was no picnic either.)

So go ahead, show you're smarter than me by asking K & I those questions now. Should I go to a top ranked law school or the 3rd tier one that offered me a ridiculous amount of money? Should I do moot court or law review? Where can I go to get affordable suits that don't make me look like that tiny little teenage greeter trying to be a grown-up at Wet Seal?

The beauty of a blog is that if we don't know the answer, someone will.

Did Dylan McDermott Make Me Do It?

We have no idea what drew us toward the law. Was it all those episodes of "The Practice" we watched in high school? (Dylan McDermott was such a hottie!) Maybe it was our desire to get in a courtroom and work magic like some kind of Matlock? (Not such a hottie.) Or perhaps it was the tailored business suits and expensive slingbacks that we desperately wanted to don? Or it's possible that it was just our insatiable need to use our analytical skills, persuasive abilities and legal knowledge to represent others in the interest of justice.

We can't exactly pin point what made us want to begin careers in the law... but we now here we are... with our law school diplomas framed in our offices and forging our way through countless briefs and bustling courtrooms and dirty law libraries.

When we began our endeavor to study the law, we had no idea what was in store for us. We experienced the same things that every law student has experienced at one time or another: insane law professors, ridiculous hours in the library, debates over the meaning of a single word in a statute, memo writing until midnight and the inane competition that comes with being a student of the law.

When we began our legal careers, again we were faced with the unknown: billable hours, entertaining clients, engaging with the opponent, and oh yeah, the entire practice of law.

We hope to use this blog as a venue to share our experiences, proffer advice and sometimes vent or ramble about our perceptions of the legal profession. Please share your stories, comments, etc. with us. Stay tuned...