Washington DC (UBE) & Virginia Bar Exam Tutoring & Self-Study

Author: Dwight Zenzano

  • July 2012 Virginia Bar Exam results posted

    The results for the July 2012 Virginia Bar Exam have been posted online. As I predicted, they were released 1 day before the scheduled date, so if your friends are still waiting for tomorrow, let them know the results are up and available now.

    As usual, there are 2 lists: Pass list A for those of you who passed and have no outstanding paperwork or issues with the VBBE; and Pass list B for those of you who passed and still have pending issues/paperwork to submit to the VBBE. Those on the first past list are now licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia, so congratulations!

    For those who didn’t pass this time, try not to be too hard on yourselves. It is a difficult exam and you can always re-take in February 2013. Think about how you studied, how disciplined you were in following your study plan and what you would have done differently. For most people, (more…)

  • Bar Exam Result dates for DC VA MD NY CA

    It’s going to be a long wait, but here are the dates we’re looking at for CA, MD, VA, DC and NY:

    California results expected November 16th, 2012
    Maryland results expected November 2nd, 2012
    Virginia results expected October 12th, 2012
    Washington DC results estimated around Oct 25th, 2012
    New York results estimated around Nov 8th, 2012

  • 10 days until the Aug 2012 MPRE

    All but 4 jurisdictions require the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) to gain admission to the bar. Most people I’ve talked to tend to study for the MPRE the weekend before the exam or 1-2 days before. Why so little studying? The general answer I hear is “It’s an easy exam”. However, I’ve known more than just a few people who have passed the bar exam yet failed the MPRE. This is why I always recommend at least 1-2 weeks of study for the MPRE. Better safe than sorry is my philosophy.

    It is not an “easy” exam. In my opinion, the questions are just as tricky as the MBE questions. Yes, it is easier than the MBE because you only have 1 subject, Professional Responsibility (PR). And PR is an easier subject than any of the 6 MBE subjects. So yes, it is easier than the MBE, but it is not “easy”. So, I always advise (more…)

  • July 2012 Bar Exam is over

    Congratulations to everyone who took the bar exam, it’s over! VA was nice enough to hold off on the painful UCC3/9 stuff but the MBE was maybe a bit tougher than usual. The good news is, it’s over. Hopefully the results will come in promptly this time around. I’ll post when I hear when they expect results to be posted for DC, VA, NY, MD and CA. Good luck to everyone and have a great rest of the summer.

  • Virginia bar exam topics – July 2012

    Day 1 of the Virginia bar exam is done and we saw Trusts, Federal Civil Procedure (it’s back), Domestic Relations, Sales (UCC2), Property, Wills, Criminal, Corporations and VA Civ Pro.

    No major surprises, now it’s time to switch over to multistate mode and tackle the MBE tomorrow. Hopefully they go easy on some of the strange property questions this time around.

  • Happy 4th of July

    Happy 4th of July to everyone! Maybe if you’re feeling a little patriotic you can study some con law and focus on 1st amendment rights :-) Great day to celebrate everything freedom brings with it including studying the area of constitutional law. Have a safe and happy holiday!

  • No electricity and 3 weeks until the July 2012 bar exam

    With exactly 3 weeks to go until the bar exam, this was a pretty bad weekend for a storm of epic proportions to roll through the area and knock out power to millions of people. Hopefully those of you who are without power are able to go to a local library or some other cooling center to continue your studies. If your study schedule was thrown off this past weekend, don’t dwell on it. Just look forward and keep your eyes on the prize. You may need to adjust your schedule from now until the exam, possibly adding an extra hour or so each day or maybe even canceling some 4th of July plans you had, but the reward of passing the bar exam is worth it. This is now the critical time to be studying since with less than 3 weeks you should be able to retain most of what you study/review at this point. If you’ve been avoiding certain subjects because they are hard/boring/challenging/whatever, you need to start focusing on those subjects ASAP.

  • 5 weeks until the July 2012 bar exam

    With exactly 5 calendar weeks until the July 2012 bar exam, it’s go time. It’s usually at this point with just over a month to go that people start to panic, which is normal. Usually most folks still don’t feel comfortable with even a small portion of the material. Most people aren’t killing it on any one subject on their practice MBE questions, and essays are still pretty confusing. This is quite normal. The bar exam has a bunch of subjects and not enough time to test them all so we find ourselves studying for subjects we don’t even know will be tested. It’s super frustrating and yet we have no choice since it’s the way the game is played. So, the natural result of this is that we don’t feel comfortable with all of these various subjects until later in the summer. Sometimes, not even until 1 week before the bar exam. And, for those of us who have taken bar exams before, (more…)

  • Livefyre commenting system now active

    We have switched from the default wordpress commenting system to the latest Livefyre commenting system. For those of you familiar with livefyre, I’m sure this is a welcome change. For those of you who don’t know what livefyre is, it’s a robust commenting system that enables better conversations and social media integration. A livefyre or other social media account is recommended but not required to post. If there are any questions or comments on this change feel free to let me know.

  • Tutoring roster for July 2012 bar exam is full

    I’ve filled my roster for the July 2012 bar exam and am not accepting any more students. However, I have two new tutors working with me who specialize on the MBE, VA, CA and NY bar exams so feel free to contact me and I can still potentially help you out for this summer. As always, check the FAQ first so you can send us the information we are looking for if you are interested in tutoring.