Paul Pfau talks about the bar's new subject matter and why candidates who know the law, still fail the California bar exam.
LSJ: The end of November is when bar results publish again. To me, many students are foolishly waiting for that day to start studying again. Any thoughts?
PFAU: Well, the culture of the bar preparation process, rightly or wrongly, generally causes students who are awaiting results to being studying once the results come out for those students who are unsuccessful. And part of that is understandable in terms of the tremendous amount of work that students undertake in getting ready for a bar and the need for some rest. From a logical standpoint, though, it is very prudent to start studying again as soon as possible. For example, if there is a month left until results, the student, even at a light duty standpoint, should begin to recalibrate there substantive understanding and memory of subjects and being to learn some of the new subject matter, so, that in the event they take the test again, they can have a running start. You don't have to give it the same intensity necessarily that you will in the weeks after bar results, but, if you can begin to integrate it on a casual, or even gentle basis, before hand, it can work to enhance one's skills in getting ready for the examination, and certainly won't do any harm if you pass the bar and you go off to practice.
LSJ: Any wisdom for students who do not see their name on the pass list? Simply studying more and memorizing more rarely is the cure next time around. Unfortunately, that is what many students do, however.
PFAU: Well, first, my empathy to all of those who are unsuccessful There is a tremendous amount of work involved in getting ready for the bar, and often in life we don't get what we want right then we want it. But, the prize will always go to those who are persistent in pursuing this great goal of passing the California bar exam.
In getting ready for the next bar exam, it is always important to try to learn from those lessons from a preceding exam in terms of how one might have prepared and performed on the test. And, whatever the course of action a student takes to get ready for the next bar, it is important to remember that you are getting ready for bar that requires very precise skills to be able to solve a problem under timed conditions. That is the essence of the California bar exam, and what is what makes it one of the most difficult in the nation.
And, so often going back to emphasizing a review of the substantive law, while it can put one a comfort zone in terms of thinking that maybe they didn't know enough law and that significantly more than anything else contribute to now passing, learning the other sills that will compliment ones substantive understanding and memory are as, if not more, as important. Learning how to organize better, learning how to write under timed conditions, learning how to see issues as they have a tendency to cluster, and learning how to organize a performance test, learning how to select the best answer a little bit better on the multistate. There are very definitive sills that can be added to one's substantive knowledge, which will tend to get one more precisely prepared and ready for the bar given its nature as a timed test. However one goes about it, all bar candidates should try to add those skills to their test-taking regimen. An, all the best. It's easy to empathize, having worked at this for many years, on success the next time around, however that occurs.
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