They Really Have No Clue: By "They" I Mean Those Who Haven't Taken the Bar Exam

I was asked today by one of my aunts if I was ready for the bar exam.

UPDATE:

“What if I don’t pass?” I asked my eight-year-old daughter.

“Then you won’t be able to be a lawyer?” she wondered.

“Yup.”

“You can do something else,” she said, “There are help wanted signs all over the place. I saw one in the bakery.”

Click to find out how this story ends.

Is A Four Hour Time Good Enough To Pass The Bar?

Everyone says it's a marathon, not a sprint and therefore you should pace yourself. But what exactly does that mean? I understand that means you shouldn't go so fast that you burn yourself out but doesn't it also mean that you have to be at the pace where you're not going too slow? And isn't that the bigger fear, the fear that you're going too slow, not that you're going too fast. How do I know that I'm going at a 1o minute a mile pace when I should be going at an 8 minute a mile pace? Is the right pace simply the one where you're completing all the tasks of your bar prep program right on schedule? Not doing less than scheduled because that would be too slow and not doing more than scheduled because that would be too fast? Or is there something more to it?

Anyway, the following is a post over at P.A.S.S. The Bar Exam regarding burn out.

I see how some people have just had it. Others want even more time to pull it all together. Either way, it's cool. Give yourself a break. It's normal. It's very personal. And, bottom line, either way, you have no choice. You are taking this exam on July 25, 26, and 27, and YOU are going to pass! Done deal. No options. No way around it. You'll go in then, and do your best.

So, how do you get through until then? A couple of thoughts. 1) Exercise. Most people are stressed, quite normally so. The best way to burn off the excess stress is to burn it out, with exercise. 2) Pace yourself. Take breaks. Remember even during the bar, you get close to a 2 hour lunch break between the morning and afternoon sessions. So, feel free to take long lunches now, each day. Stop fully and relax. Then get back into it. And, when you've put in a full day of studying, take off at night to relax before you get a good night's sleep. And, make sure to get a good night's sleep, each and every night. 3) Last, but not least, get comfortable with "practice test days." One way of coping with the actual exam is to walk in with a "been there, done that" --attitude. You've been writing practice exams all summer. Those days, tell yourself, "This is just another practice exam." Do your best. You can handle it. I know you can!

Above all, be kind to yourself. This IS one of the hardest times in your life, one of the steepest mountains you will ever have to climb. The good news is, once you get through, it's a lifetime license.

Not Exactly Incentive To Pass The Bar

On the bright side, it's probably not so bad if one doesn't pass the bar.

Dating as a lawyer? OLS's recent post made me think, I don't even know what that means. I know almost no lawyers who are "dating," and I am certainly not one of them. In law school it seemed like virtually everyone was married or in a committed relationship. Well, now the numbers are even more daunting because all those committed relationships turned into marriages shortly before or after the bar exam. Of the lawyers I know who are "dating", most of them are very seriously dating someone they met prior to entering practice. And then there are the single female lawyers who share a sort of despair that suddenly all they have is their career and the half hearted wondering if they can convince themselves that a career is all they need. And the single male lawyers who seem to think that they don't need any social skills because they can just announce they are lawyers and women should drop to their knees.

Mnemonics

If you're into that sort of thing. Not that you should be memorizing things now.