Bar Exam Pass Rates ...

Well for some, it takes them six times.

 

Hillary at least bested JFK Jr., Pete Wilson, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Benjamin Cardozo's results.

 

Who is this "she" of whom y'all speak?

 

Lena Dunham, I would assume.

 

I doubt Hillary Rodham Clinton has ever done anything on a whim.

 

Upside, you pass once, never have to take it again.

Downside, you fail, you have to wait another 3 mos to retake and wait another 6 mos for results; so you've lost a year.

Major motivation to pass the first time. (Which fortunately I did.)

Yes, in California the passage rate is driven lower by those in what are considered "lower-tier" schools, but if they want to try, why not? And I've seen that quality of school does not necessarily indicate legal ability. I'm just glad I passed and never had to retake (though I have recurring dreams of just that!)

 

Just don't practice in Louisiana so you can avoid taking the bar exam, or at least the Civil Code portion.

 

I decided to take the NY Bar exam without studying any of the NY state specific stuff. It's not uncommon at all for people to something like that and fail their secondary state. I was fortunate enough to do well enough on the multistate that, for resources reasons, they didn't even grade my NY essays.

 

Do you know that for sure? It's a rumor in Illinois that that's the case. Based upon the fact that they don't provide you with your essay scores, I think it's probably the case.

 

That's what I was told by people familiar with the process at the time, but I don't know for sure. I literally went in cold and had no background in NY practice. I did really well on the mutlitstate but, while I am a decent essay writer, my substantive knowledge was pretty poor. I was shocked to have passed NY. Which made my life easier when I decided to practice there a few years later.

 

I took ny and hated the state specific questions, especially the writing ones. So I asked, how many multistage questions do I need to get right to virtually guarantee passing. The number I think was either 70% or 170 out of 200- I forget. So I just kept practicing the MS until I could do that and then blew off studying for the my part. Made the shortsighted decision not to take the nj bar the next day or week.

 

NJ was just multistate if I remember. They get you on the CLE requirements after admission.