Ah, Bar Exam!

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  • Bar exam happening today. Any fond memories to share?
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:07 pm

TTHHWWWAAACCKK and FIRST!!!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:13 pm

Bar Exam Memory: 1998 Exam. Typing room. Someone finished the exam early and on their way out of the room hit another test taker in the head with their typewriter. Without giving away my identity, when studying for the exam, I ended up bumping into 2 people in the Sahara Library who were also studying for the bar exam. Those 2 people ended up being Judge Shell Mercer and Barry Levinson. Talk about 2 people whose careers had completely different trajectories.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I was there that day.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:44 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I took the bar exam in 1998 too, but did not use a typewriter. For the life of me, I do not know how the examiners were able to read my writing and I still passed. The most annoying was sharing a table with someone who, after each essay session, stating that he would be shocked if he did not get the highest score on the essay. And yes, he passed the exam too.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:50 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

On that 1998 Exam I came out of a Wills question and this guy was pontificating about the hidden torts duties and obvious Article 3 implications. I went into panic mode over lunch because I saw no such issues. When the results came out, I looked for that guy's name. As I hoped, I passed and he did not. Schadenfreude for sending me into a panic for issues that did not exist.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:16 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

11:44, how was that guy going to know how everyone else scored on the essay? It's not like Law School where someone could get a top paper award for a certain class.

More to the point, the guy was a totally self-absorbed, narcissistic jack ass–making everything into a competition. It is not a competition for highest scores. It is simply about passing. I don't think there is any recognition for top scores on essays or anything of that sort. Now, perhaps things have changed and I'm wrong about all this.

But I'm not wrong that he was a jerk to behave like that at the Bar exam. Room full of bunch of people really worried(and in some case almost panicking) about the exam and the impact it has on their future. They don't need to hear that fool boast and brag. At least for that day he can give it a rest. This struck a nerve for me because I knew quite a few clowns like that in Law School. We all did.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 12:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

A lawyer's value comes in how they spend their time and exercise their judgment; the point of the bar exam is to pass; and studying for the bar exam is neither an enjoyable nor productive use of time. So any bar score over the minimum passing score represents time actually wasted on studying, and folks who get the "highest" scores on bar exams have, from a practical perspective, received the lowest passing score. Attorneys who boast about getting the "highest" score are even worse, because they venerate their own time-management problems and reductively treat every aspect of lawyering as a competition to be won, which is why they feel the need to "win" the bar exam to begin with.

So the attorney who boasts about getting the "highest" scores is an attorney who not only has poor time-management skills, but believes this defective skill set is actually a valuable asset and lacks the ability to apply a more nuanced approach that will avoid needless conflict in a number of situations. The last attorney anyone should hire is the one who gets the highest bar exam score and advertises that fact prominently.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 2:21 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

THIS ^^ is the perfect approach to the practice as well.

Also, Its been a couple of decades, but I don't recall any testing scores being on my "passed" letter. Perhaps I just didn't care, as I got the P. But, I don't recall any scores being given to me.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 4:45 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I remember getting an MBE score and percentile, but nothing like that for the essays.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 5:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I got a score the first time I took it (1 semester before graduation, you could do that back then). 74.65%

Literally, one more MBE question and I would've passed. Nailed it the 2nd time. though.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:36 pm

2014 Bar Exam: Being too cheap/broke to pay for covered parking at UNLV and parking on a surface street. I returned to my car (which did not have working A/C) after the first day of testing and had to wear my socks as gloves so I could hold the steering wheel. I don't recall the temperature that July day, but the stress of the bar exam was immediately relegated to the fight to survive the heat on the drive home. I repeated this process on days 2 and 3, but I was smart enough to bring actual gloves the next two days.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:51 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

But not smart enough to put a towel on your steering wheel?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 10:53 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Just sunshade. Black Jetta, black interior, no window tint.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:49 pm

Prediction: In 10 years, becoming a member of the Bar won't involve an exam.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:53 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

5*

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

3-5

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:02 pm
Reply to  Anonymous
Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:02 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Rumor has it the KKK has secretly been writing it for years

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:09 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

How can the bar exam be racist? Every property question involved Blackacre.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@12:09 It is an inclusive exam because property is alternately described as Blackacre and Whiteacre.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:39 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I read the article explaining why the bar exam is racist. After a while, the barrage of excuses, false narratives, rationalizations, justifications, and whining becomes exhausting. If the people who claim racism every time they are disappointed by their results spent the same amount of time and effort studying that they do twisting and misinterpreting the facts to support their racism narrative, they'd have better results.

Racism isn't baked into the bar exam.

I am not white nor do I come from wealth or privilege. I am a first-generation American and the first in my family, on either side, to attend college and law school. I had good parents who taught me not to complain about every perceived insult or slight and that my life would be better if I just work hard and overcome obstacle rather than use them as an excuse for failure. Everyone takes the same bar exam. Becoming a lawyer shouldn't be made easier because some are not willing to put in the work.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Unfortunately, the progressives, who seem to grow by the day, disagree with you. Bar exam be gone!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:51 pm

"According to details released as part of a libel suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against right-wing broadcaster One America News and later reporting by Vice, Solomon also never received a college degree and served two years in prison on a drug charge."

LOL look at my quant! https://youtu.be/FoYC_8cutb0

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:20 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Bringing up election rigging allegations during bar exam discussion seems odd. There has not been sufficient evidence shown that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, but at the same time there has been sufficient evidence shown that the election was fair. We just have to rely and have faith that all 50 election systems were fair and accurate. For example, Romney did not receive one vote in over 50 voting precincts in the Philadelphia area in 2012.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:32 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I get what you are saying about not "sufficient evidence" re 2020.

Exactly what sufficient evidence is there that it was fair? Oh yeah, we are supposed to rely and have faith.

Sorry, I quit relying on and having faith in what the government tells me about anything years and years ago.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That's a quote from the first article linked above concerning the Gilbert lawsuit. That's Gilbert's quant. This comment was an original comment, not responding to any of the other discussions. You seem odd.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@12:20 If you think it's weird there were 50 precincts in Philly that didn't vote for Romney, you've clearly never been to Philly. He was also beaten by Obama which…ok, you've never been to Philly. Don't go in the summer. It's muggy. Winter is cold. Go in the fall. The leaves are nice.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 6:57 pm

1998 – Lunch at Jerry's Nugget and watching the Lionel Sawyer guys/gals getting into a limo after the exam was over.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:02 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

What did you think of the limo then? Now?

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:25 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It was fun to watch. Seemed cool, if a little "The Firm" to me. What would be interesting to me is if any firm in town still did this.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:55 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Lionel Sawyer went bankrupt.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:04 pm

2014 California exam in Pasadena, one of the test takers passed out I believe on the second test. Probably about two rows back from me so i couldn't see exactly what occurred. But anyways he was Taken out on a stretcher and about five min later we were instructed by PA to move on. When we came back from lunch there was another announcement over the PA that an unfortunate occurrence happened during the morning test, and there would not be any retaking or regrading of that test section due to the unfortunate incident.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:05 pm

I just remember a surreal, numb, exhausted feeling after the third day. I was so spent, I didn't have the emotional capacity to appreciate the moment. I understood in my head, but could not feel in my heart. The upside of being that spent was I had no capacity to second guess or analyze my performance. I don't remember exactly what I did, but I think I just went home and crashed.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:16 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That feeling, realizing you won't know your result for another two and a half months. Ugh.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:59 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

That sounds dramatic. I had none of those feelings when I was done. I was excited to be done. Then went back to work the next day, as I was a law clerk at the time.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:14 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Congratulations, 12:59, for gatekeeping how people feel. And congratulations for going to work the next day. You must be a better attorney x1000 for doing so.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:35 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I walked out of the Cashman Center, in 1999 KNOWING that I passed. Then I proceeded to question and doubt myself for the next 2 1/2 months. So relieved when the refresh bar worked and I scrolled down to see my name.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:48 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Got my results from Sally Lohrer's clerk about 2 hours before the results were released. 1996. Still remember that feeling of relief. Had to find a pay phone to call my wife.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 10:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

1:14. I have a hard time taking people like OP seriously. "Surreal" and "numb" for taking a test nearly every single attorney has taken, including 100% of those in Nevada? Talk about being a drama queen.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 11:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

3:34 Easy to minimize it years later. At the time it feels like 19 years of education and the rest of your life riding on it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:05 pm

2017. We got two oddball essay questions, one was about wills and one was in the context of family law, but both basically just tested whether you knew how community property vs separate property worked in Nevada. They had like one point to make about revocation of a will and one point to make about custody and the rest was all about the property involved. Luckily, I knew that area well. I felt bad for the poor test taker who elected to focus on other areas more. Got pounded by not one, but two questions on it.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 7:24 pm

California. I was tense and wanted to be focused and I scheduled the exam in San Diego instead of LA, so that I would not have to talk to anyone from my law school. I took a hotel room across from the exam site to avoid missing the exam due to a traffic accident. Rented an IBM Selectric and brought my portable typewriter as a backup. Backup ribbons for both. Anal. Yes, people did throw up. A few gave up and walked out. I Passed. Notice arrived in the mail on the day before Thanksgiving.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:11 pm

Summer 2015 at the UNLV student union. It was the weird year where they made us do two MPT sections instead of one, which was goofy. Nothing too surprising otherwise, beyond a handful of people leaving early the first two days. We did have one of those weird hybrid topic essays where you could overhear people debriefing after and they 100% read the prompt differently

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:43 pm

I took the bar in 03. I skipped all review courses on Secured Transactions because it had never been tested and I wanted a break. Imagine my shock when one of the essay questions was about secured transactions. After collecting myself, I proceeded to identify every person in the hypo as a "holder in due course." It was the only term I could remember from the mini review. Not sure how I scored on that essay question, but I passed.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 8:43 pm

1997 – had to walk through most of Caesar's Palace where they held the bar that year. It was in an older area of that casino that was knocked down when they wanted to build another tower, probably about 5-10 years after that. I just remember it was an incredible maze trying to get to the exam room.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 12:13 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I was there at The 1997 Caesar’s bar and glad there were lots of available snacks and bathroom with no lines. It did seemed surreal to take the bar at a casino. The bar was only given 1 time a year back then.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 4:49 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I was there in 1997. I typed the test because I didn't trust my hand writing. I brought 2 typewriters and tested them right again the morning of day 1 and neither worked. Went and bought 1 at Walmart at 6 am. Earplugs were not enough to keep out the sound of the other typewriters.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 9:02 pm

I took the bar about 10-ish years ago. Stayed at the hotel it was at to avoid traffic and stress. Got snacks so I could just sit in my hotel room and review and chill out during the exam, but didn't consider how salty the snacks I was eating were so I ended up super thirsty every day. I remember some chick sitting cross-legged in the hallway with a hoody on, rocking back and forth during breaks. Seemed over dramatic. The guy at my table was extraordinarily obsessed with making sure my scratch paper and extra pens and pencils didn't end up on his side of the table. He even suggested we might need to put tape down as a barrier. I didn't have scratch paper or extra pens or pencils because we were typing. I didn't stress about passing the bar until the day of the results and as I pushed refresh on my browser, I started having a panic attack. I passed. Now here I am, grinding out paperwork and living that life.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 10:08 pm

Does NV use ExamSoft for the summer bar exam? Check out their problem this year: https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/23209784/intel-law-students-12th-gen-processor-bar-exam-examplify-examsoft

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 12:31 am
Reply to  Anonymous

They did when I took it in 2017

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 26, 2022 11:05 pm

I took the bar in Oakland. One day they didn't have power to the front few rows of tables, and everyone's computers died. They all had to hand write. (I wonder if there's a portable battery you could bring now?). I met a lot of people that went to non-ABA law schools, and realized instantly why the CA passage rates are so low.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 12:54 am

I took the California bar exam in 1991. I was in Sacramento but chose to take the exam in San Jose so I wouldn't see people I knew from McGeorge. We each had a table with two test takers. The person sharing my table didn't show up after the first day. After the third day, I had to drive back to Sacramento. The traffic was horrible. It took me forever to get back home, and I was completely brain dead. I finally made it home, and my wife said, "The cat ran off. You have to help me find him!" So we spent an hour looking for that damn cat and finally found him. The little things you remember…

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 12:54 am

2007 – My boss warned me to only eat food I brought during the testing days because he knew people who got food poisoning, so I lived off of cheese sandwiches in my cooler. A friend got food poisoning and was so sick on day two, I felt so bad I didn't pass the warning along. I remember having to drive my laptop home up upload my test because there was an Internet issue at the Texas Station. RIP Texas Station, btw.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 1:09 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Funny you mention Texas station i took it there too if i remember in 2008 and i think the smoke or fire alarm went off during one of the sessions. Literally not a single person got up to exit.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 1:22 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I took it then and there too. One of the days I went bowling during the lunch break to blow off some nervous energy.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 3:22 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I took it at the Orleans. Was tempted to play the slots during the breaks but figured that was a weird thing to do. Finally played Megabucks right after finishing on the last day. Lost all my money but passed the bar.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 28, 2022 5:09 am
Reply to  Anonymous

I took it at the Hacienda in '96. Passed. Hacienda imploded that December. Closure.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 1:15 am

I took the bar with William Horne. Super nice man. California named partner was taking bar for 4th time. People smarter than me never passed. I took it when it was not dumbed down. That partner finally passed in 4th try. He said it was harder than California bar

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 3:51 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Which time did you take it with William Horne? It took him 5 times to pass!

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 5:57 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Who gives a shit? He is a good man. I don't think it was five.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 7:54 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

It absolutely was 5

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 9:03 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Don't care

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 9:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 4:24 pm

The facts of one question were all low hanging fruit con law issues, but the question was about evidence. After the session my friend kept talking about how he aced the con law question. I didn't have the heart to tell him. He took the bar 3 times here and failed every time. Now he is a judge in another state.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 5:07 pm

2013 here. My main memory is that we got hit with a commercial paper question on I think day 2. The "oh shit" looks on everyone's faces were priceless.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 5:29 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

@10:07
Also 2013. Luckily I had studied commercial paper only the week before the exam, but not in detail because the topic had not been on the exam for years. The guy sitting across the table from me typed for 15 minutes and then stopped and looked really uncomfortable when I continued until the break, although I do remember writing "bona fide holder in due course" many times.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 27, 2022 6:01 pm

This new fangled bar exam is a joke. No multi state. Open book. Essays and performance. It is apparent they are going to pass just about everyone. This new open book non MBE Exam is a step towards diploma privileges and waiving into the bar. Get ready folks for graduates who have essentially not taken a real bar exam.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
July 28, 2022 12:17 am
Reply to  Anonymous

If the exam is all open book and performance testing, then any judicial law clerk whose judge greenlights it should consider sitting for a second bar exam during the February sitting of their clerkship year regardless of how much time they can afford to study for it. Writing legal memos and draft opinions under time pressure is what much of their jobs will entail in the months preceding the exam, and the performance tests will be child's play to them.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 2, 2022 6:03 pm

2006 here. I took the exam next to a guy who had been hired at Lionel Sawyer and knew a guy from my law school who had been on law review and also got hired at Lionel Sawyer. On day two in the afternoon, the first guy asked me if I had seen the guy from my law school, because he had not shown up for the first part of the day two exam. Turns out the guy from my law school, mid-bar, decided he wanted to pursue his goal of joining the UFC and left for his magnificent future in the UFC. I heard from a mutual friend a few months later the guy was working at a Walmart in Idaho …

Anonymous
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Anonymous
August 2, 2022 7:20 pm

2006. I sat near a guy who had been hired at Lionel Sawyer (I was jealous then, not so much now). Anyway, he knew a guy from my law school who had been on law review, graduated top of our class, had also been hired at LSC, and was also taking the NV bar at the same time (let's call him Ted – not his real name). On day two of the exam near the end of the lunch break as we all started milling back into the testing room for another round of torture, the dude from LSC asks if I have seen Ted that day, which I had not. Guy from LSC tells me that Ted did not show up for the first part of day two testing and all of the resources LSC had available could not find him. Turns out, Ted decided mid-bar to not finish the bar exam and pursue his dream of fighting in the UFC. A few months later I heard from a mutual friend that Ted was working at a Walmart in Idaho …