As I stated in a previous post, before starting a law firm in Minneapolis, MN, I have to take the bar exam in Minnesota and get licensed to practice law all over again. No, it is not more fun the second time around.
I will admit to being nervous. I will admit to some paranoia. I will admit to thinking about the dire consequences of not passing, and wondering what am I going to do with my life, and when will I ever make a living, and can my son be provided for if I don’t earn a living, and so on and so forth. But, I keep reminding myself this one very important point: the bar exam is a minimum competency test. I’ll say it in a different way: it’s a pass/fail exam.
I don’t know the exact statistics, but I’ll generalize and say that the national passage rate is high. I’ll even tell you that in the midwestern states (Minnesota) the passage rate is very high. 92% of the first time test takers in Minnesota passed the exam. Why would this be? Because, while it is a difficult exam, it really isn’t that difficult to pass.
What is another good thing about this silly exam? Test takers are competing against other test takers. Yes, there is a model answer out there. Yes, it will be better than most test takers’ answers. Yes, some professor probably wrote it. So what. The test takers are not the professor. The test takers are just like you and me. Test takers are tired and they are under pressure. Your fellow test takers also had to cram. And, even better, I would guess 10% or so of the test takers didn’t study for the exam too much. Guess what? You did (or, at least, I did) and you will pass. I would further venture to guess that those 10% that didn’t study much are the 10% or so who fail the exam.
That is good news for me and good news for all others who have studied. I don’t know how much studying is necessary, but I do know that I’ve gone through the BarBri study program twice now and it’s tough. The reason it is tough is not so much the material, it tough because of the time and effort it takes. The description comparing it to a marathon is apt. It is an endurance exam and people who want to pass must train.
But, assuming you’ve trained, the odds are that you will be just fine. Again, you just have to pass. I would guess that in law school, most student are worried about a certain grade – preferably an A. On the bar exam, you don’t need an A. You don’t need a B. I would argue somewhat that you don’t even need a C. You just need to pass.
If you are like me and you are anxiously awaiting passage and licensure so that you can start a law firm, I wish you luck. If you are not like me and you just want to pass, I wish you luck. I wish everybody luck, but, if you have trained for this exam, you don’t really need luck – you just need to pass. Remain positive and focused and work hard. The exam itself is gruelling, but, if you train, you can show your minimum competency and get on with the rest of your law practicing life.