- the_aggravated_associate
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And so it begins, the beginning of the end of the worst summer of most would-be lawyers’ lives.
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| this is false, since sitting for the bar already make you unlucky |
While most states engage in torture that is either 2 or 3 days long, Nevada is unique in its 2 1/2 day experience. We generally view the last half day for what it is – an extra little “fuck you” from those in charge.
Then will come the waiting. The arduous waiting. As was once relayed to me, waiting for two months to get your results is kind of like having a band-aid taken off very, veeeerrrrry slowly. Yeah, the wound is healed, but do you really need to drag this last part out?
In Nevada, roughly 2/3 of takers pass the exam in the summer. That means 1/3 get to explain to their bosses why they can be valuable contributors until the February exam (read: beg to keep their jobs).
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| Because it’s not just a test of your legal knowledge. It’s a test of your value as a human being. |
Anyway, in honor of this holiest of weeks, let’s start off with some fun/horrible/nauseating/tramautic bar exam stories. Anyone have anything good?
I don't have any good stories, but seriously — wtf is it with that last 1/2 day?! At the end of two of the most exhausting days of your life, you then have one 4-hour session of hell. By the end, I just honestly couldn't give a damn about anything but going home and soaking my hand in ice (and my brain in booze).
That article 3 question was brutal.
I remember the girl sitting across from me would do these weird tai chi-ish motions and breathing exercises in the middle of the test. It actually didn't bother me because it was some comic relief during an otherwise awful couple of days.
First day down, boys. MBE tomorrow.
In 1996, the bar exam was given at the old Hacienda Hotel Casino (where now stands Mandalay Bay). The exam took place a week or so after the public announcement had been made that the old place was to be closed and imploded. By the time the bar exam was given, contractors were already on site preparing for the demolition. So, during the exam, we were treated to the funky sounds of concrete drilling going on directly above the room in which the exam was taking place. The grinding noises were the perfect accompaniment to an already-unpleasant two and a half days.
By the way, back in the day the bar exam was only given once per year. For those of you who don't pass this time, your wait to re-take is now only six months. For those who did not pass back then, it was a much bigger deal. I recall feeling a small bit of survivor's guilt for the friends I made in BarBri who did not pass.
"roughly 2/3 of takers pass the exam in the summer. That means 1/3 get to explain to their bosses why they can be valuable contributors until the February exam."
I'm not sure on the exact stats, but I'd be surprised if more than 2/3 of the takers have a job lined up. Factor in the fact that generally people who scored better in law school not only have a better chance of landing a job before taking the bar, but also have a higher likelihood of passing the bar, and I think that leaves only a few folks in the "begging to keep their jobs" group. That's not to say that passing the bar isn't just as important for those without jobs – in fact it's worse becaues they're trying to find a job, despite failing the bar, on the hopes of possibly passing in February.
The bar is such a weird thing – it has very little, if anything, to do with practicing law, and although it sucks, if you can't pass it (especially on the second try), maybe you chose the wrong profession.
Finally, while I enjoy the protectionism provided by Nevada refusing to participate in any reciprocity programs, the fact that your bar license only allows you to practice in Nevada is infuriating.
/just some stream of consciousness musings.
after the first day of the cal bar, I made the mistake of going out with some guys from the probate department of the firm I was clerking for. I told them the answer I put down for the first questions (a will/contract question), and their response was, "Mmmm nope.'
The Board of Governors is moving toward a national standard which would result in reciprocity. There will be a lot of opposition to this. Weigh in with the BOG.
There are a variety of ways around the no reciprocity issue. My personal path – used my Nevada Bar Exam passage to waive into a jurisdiction that allows anyone who has past any bar exam in the previous two years to automatically waive in without an exam. That jurisdiction is part of the whole "State X will allow anyone who is a member of State Y's Bar" reciprocity agreement. So, with one bar exam, I have two licenses, one of which allows me to waive into any other reciprocity state.
Plus, I get to enjoy the benefits of the Nevada Bar's restraint of trade here.
If I were to ever leave this state, I would only move to another state that would allow waiver. For example, if I waive into DC, I can waive into WI. If I become a VA resident, I can waive in to VA b/c I have at least five years of practice and VA residency. I am never taking a bar again. If that means no CA for me, tough shit for CA!