Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Are law schools and bar exams necessary? Really?

recent op-ed in the NY Times makes the "case" for de-regulating the legal profession and doing away with both law schools and the bar exam. Obviously, as a bar review provider, I have a bias in preserving my business, but I also happen to believe in the importance of professional testing. 
The article's author, Clifford Winston, a Sr Fellow at the Brookings Institute is a fan of deregulation of all types but here he makes a series of bizarre assumptions about what lawyers do and why the free market would improve access to legal services. If lawyering was simply a matter of filling out templates in routine matters, he might be right, but that's a very small part of the profession. In fact, the need to analyze and rigorously advocate for a client (in court, in writing and in negotiation)  should not be something only the wealthy have access to while the rest of the population can just make do with non-lawyers. 
Winston's proposal that we simply allow anyone to practice law including corporations (since the Supreme Court thinks they're just dandy - WalMart Legal Services anyone?) is fanciful free-market foolishness. It appears that the only people who would actually have access to trained lawyers under his proposal would be the very wealthy. Too bad for all those alleged criminals and poor people who currently rely on legal aid and public defenders.
Really? Seriously? I'm wondering who Mr Winston would use for HIS legal work?
I suppose that deregulation thing worked so well in the financial industry and the airlines and the telephone business that we ought to just try it once more and see if we can get it right this time. Or, we can continue to improve legal education and the testing methods and standards that currently exist to work towards a better level of legal service for everyone. 

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A big week for bar results...

Typically, the last week in Oct and first week in November are a time for lots of jurisdictions to post the July bar exam results. We expect Georgia Bar Exam Results on Oct 28 and are watching for Texas Bar Exam Results on Nov 4. 
New York and New Jersey don't have announced Bar Exam Score release dates yet but we expect both jurisdictions to report by Nov 4. We'll let you know on our website when those results come out and best wishes to everyone waiting for their scores!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

A Wonderful Note...

I received this email today from one of our students and wanted to share it...
"You have put together a very special way of explaining to anyone who should cross your path and join you in this walk with materials that are out of the box....but have every component necessary for success. I am blessed to have found you on the day I did, swallowing a little of my pride, because my dream is to become the attorney necessary to help the babies and children with disabilities be represented."


That's pretty cool on a lot of levels but what I really like about it is the focus on the "WHY." Taking the bar exam is not a lot of fun (really?) and it requires hours away from family, friends, work and other activities of intrinsic value. There has to be a reason to put yourself through this. I've learned time and again that those who have a WHY do better on the test than those who simply DO. If you're studying for the exam, ask yourself what the WHY is and keep your focus there. It will help pull you through the hard times of the study...
 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

What do you expect from your bar review?

I'm constantly talking with people who have taken the bar with another course and failed, and I often wonder why they settled for an inferior course at a higher price? Why were their expectations so low? In this video, I try to provide some answers to that question... and a solution. I hope you'll watch!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

eBook Downloads

Go Green and Save $$ on Bar Review Books.


If you're looking for the lowest price on Celebration Bar Review course books, here it is: eBook Downloads from our order page!
Each title is available separately in an .epub format that can be used with Apple iTunes or iBooks or any epub reader. Order the titles you need at the lowest prices anywhere. Only from Celebration Bar Review.

Friday, October 14, 2011

When someone you know fails the bar exam...

One of the most common Google searches we receive is: 
"advice to give to someone who failed a test"
It's always tough to know how to console someone who has failed a high-stakes test like the bar exam. Fortunately for us, most of our students pass, but there are always those who do not receive the required score and so it's necessary to talk about what it means and what to do next. 


We've put some of our best suggestions and advice for those who have failed their bar exams on our website. Here's the link. 

If someone you know failed their bar exam, take a look at the suggestions on this page and then suggest that the bar taker look at it as well. Over the years, we've found that these 10 steps are important to move forward and ultimately pass the test. 


We've also made a short video that you or your bar-taker will find useful. It's on YouTube and here's the link. The title is "Why Do Some People Fail the Exam?"

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Books for the Bar Review

We know that in tough economic times, many bar takers will have to make some hard choices about how to study for their exam. That's why Celebration Bar Review offers lots of different course options and formats at a variety of prices. Here's a link to our Fees Page


In addition, we've just added a new option for those who only want or can afford the written course materials: eBooks available by title directly from our order page. 
With this option, you can order individual titles from our course catalog at the lowest prices available and have immediate access via online eBook format. This is the format used by the iPad, iPhone and iTouch devices from Apple.


If you're looking for Kindle-compatible files or our traditional printed books you can still purchase our books directly from Amazon or from Lulu. In other words, there are lots of choices. We hope you'll find just the right one to help you pass your bar exam!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

If you're waiting for exam results...

We know that this can be an anxious time for those waiting for their July bar exam results. A while back, I recorded this video that students have told me was quite helpful while they waited and I wanted to share it with you. Here's the link.  Watch it and let me know what you think, and of course, best wishes on your results! We'll let you know how our students do as results come in for the jurisdictions we teach...

Friday, October 7, 2011

A wonderful note we received today...

Here's an email that we received today:

"I wish to write a quick thank you for your help passing the bar exam.  I didn't take your course because you do not teach my jurisdiction (DE), but in looking for pointers on the exam I found your YouTube videos and watched just about all of them.  I was impressed with your advice and tried to incorporate it into my study as much as I could.  I'm certain it made a significant difference, especially the parts entitled "Shifts in the Bar Exam."  


I've been licensed in PA since 2009 but want to practice closer to home in DE (the commute to Philadelphia each day is getting old).  Standing in my way was the DE Bar Exam, which I'm sure you know is very challenging.  I know this from experience, having failed it rather miserably the first time around.  After this failure, I set out to do things differently (i.e., better) this year.  With your help, I adopted a different attitude and a new perspective towards the bar.  I started studying earlier and was honest with myself about my strengths and weaknesses and what I needed to do to get better.  When the exam came, I left each of the three days with my head up, knowing that I was well prepared and had given my best effort.  I found out this morning that I passed.  

Although I'm not a customer of yours, I hope you can take away some satisfaction that you've made a positive difference in my life, helping me achieve a very important goal.  For that I sincerely thank you, and hope that others (especially your paying customers!) also find your advice and perspective as helpful as I have.  Thanks again." F.D.

Pretty cool :-)

Thursday, October 6, 2011

If you missed the live video feed...

We've got an archive copy online that you can watch at your convenience. I hope you'll take a look and let us know what you think. It was a lot of fun to do and we hope to do more in the near future.
Here's the link:
http://livestre.am/149hu

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Live Video Discussion on Wed Oct 5



On Wed, Oct 5 at 8pm Eastern, I'm going to be doing a free live video chat on our Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/CelebrationBarReview) and I hope you'll join me! 
For an hour, I'll be taking questions about the bar exam, study strategy and anything else that bar takers want to know about the process (for obvious reasons I won't be answering specific substantive law questions) but everything else is fair game.


We have limited bandwidth for this video, so it's necessary to RSVP. Just go to our Facebook page and click on the Events Tab on the left side and click "will attend." You don't need to be a Facebook member to participate. 


Prior to the event, please feel free to post any questions you'd like me to address. You can put them here, or on the Facebook page or email me at jackson@celebrationbarreview.com or Twitter them to @CelebrationBar.


During the event, you can also post any new or follow up questions and comments and I'll respond as time permits. 
It should be a fun experience and a useful hour!