Category: DC Bar Exam

Just a friendly reminder that the late filing deadline for the July 2010 DC Bar Exam is no later than 4PM in Room 123 at the Committee on Admissions tomorrow, May 18th.

A low pass rate showing a difficult exam are the results being posted today for the Feb 2010 Bar Exam:

http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/coa/exam_results.jsp

We see a 41% overall pass rate, with 61% of first-time takers passing. Less than 100 people passed total. Congratulations to everyone who passed! For those of you who did not, don’t despair, you can focus on your weaknesses and pass in July 2010.

The results for the July 2009 DC Bar Exam have been posted:

http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/membership/current_members/examResults.cfm

The results are as follows:

A 72% pass rate for first time takers
A 53% overall pass rate for all takers (155 successful applicants out of a total 293 applicants)

No big surprises on the exam itself or the results… If you passed, congratulations!! If not, don’t fret, register for the Feb 2009 bar exam and study some more and you’ll be sure to pass…

Another reminder that December 15, 2009 is the deadline for registering for the February 2009 DC Bar Exam, with December 30, 2009 being the late filing deadline.

Finally, the MPRE is coming up next Saturday. Good luck to all those sitting for it. If you can, put in a full week of study and ace it… Otherwise, I recommend 3 full days minimum study… Good luck!

I received my letter in the mail today and I passed the February 2009 D.C. Bar Exam. As of right now, the Feb 2009 results are not online, but they will be posted this week at the following url:

http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/membership/current_members/examResults.cfm

UPDATE: The list has been posted with the following message:

“Notice is hereby given that the list published herewith contains the names of 116 successful applicants of the District of Columbia Bar Examination administered on February 24 and 25, to 262 applicants. This represents a 57% pass rate among first-time takers or an overall pass rate of 44%.”

I passed with a high MBE score, way above the national mean (135.67) and the minimum passing score (133)… Makes me wonder how I did on my essays and MPTs… Honestly, with my MBE score I could have failed nearly every essay and done well on the MPTs and passed… I am realizing that my strategy of focusing on the MBE definitely worked… Just wish I could get a hold of my essays to see how I did, lol…

Congratulations to all who passed! This exam was particularly brutal, with only a 57% pass rate for D.C.

For everyone who did not pass, don’t be discouraged. You will pass in July. Just redouble your efforts, focus on your weak areas (evidence, property, whatever) and know that you are going into the exam with experience from having taken it in February which will help you. Study hard and study smart!

Finally, as a result of having not cracked open a law book for a decade, then self studying and passing with a high score, I am planning on offering bar exam tutoring services… I plan to focus on working with people, who like me, have been out of law school for quite some time and can’t take 2 months off work to study… In fact, I didn’t take a single day off work to study, only 2 days off to take the actual exam, and passed on my first attempt, my first ever bar exam…

Wow, DC totally screwed people over today by giving MEE topics that are non consistent with what they have given in the past, and leaving out topics that have been consistently testing for years… I guess they want to make their ultra-low pass rate even lower… My heart goes out to all the poor folks I saw today retaking the exam… Seriously, it was a sad sight, people looked so dejected and defeated both before and especially after the exam, I felt bad for them… Lots of older folks too :(

MPTs were as expected though, so hopefully that helped everyone out! Good luck on the MBE tomorrow, knock it out…

I received a letter in the mail this weekend from the DC Court of Appeals Committee on Admissions. Basically, it was confirmation that my application was accepted for processing and they expect to mail my admission ticket and further details on Tuesday February 10, 2009. It also gave the testing location and time of the bar exam.

I’m glad I got something in the mail… It was nice to get a confirmation and details on when the admission ticket would be sent… Although they like to cut it close by sending out the ticket 2 weeks before the bar exam…

After getting some emails and in-person questions about the DC bar exam, I figured I’d post my experiences with the application process and requirements to help others out. I hand-delivered my application to the Bar Examiner’s office at the Courthouse in DC so I can confirm that my application was done correctly.

First and foremost, the application and the character and fitness are one in the same. It’s the NCBE online application that’s available at ncbex.org. You fill this out online, finalize the application, and print it out. (NOTE: The instructions say that it must be “typewritten”, but simply printing out the completed online form is what they are looking for)

The DC Specific Forms (Filename: ExamInstructionsAndForms.pdf) are also required. Unless you have special testing requirements, you will only need 2 pages from these forms: 1) The BAR EXAMINATION TESTING REGISTRATION QUESTIONNAIRE, and 2) CERTIFICATE “A”. Certificate “A” must be completed by your law school. Both of these DC Specific Forms may be handwritten. So, basically, there is no need for a typewriter for any of the DC Bar Exam Application.

Take your completed application (which will have 3 release forms and 1 attestation form) to a notary and get all 4 of those pages notorized. Then, make a photocopy of the entire thing. This is what is required when you submit your application. (NOTE: If you want any sort of “proof” or “receipt” of submission, then make ANOTHER photocopy of the entire application. They will stamp this copy “RECEIVED” and give it back to you as your proof of submission.)

Finally, for payment, you will need FOUR separate money orders. (NOTE: Be careful with certified checks, no form of payment that has an expiration date less than 1 year will be accepted by the DC Bar Examiners. My bank’s certified/bank checks had a 90-day expiration so I had to get money orders instead.) So, I would recommend going to the post office and getting Money Orders from them. And remember, even though 3 of the checks are made payable to the same payee, the National Conference of Bar Examiners, they must all be separate. Do NOT combine them into one large money order.

The deadline without a late fee for the application is Monday Dec 15, 2008.

That’s about it. Any questions, feel free to send me an email or leave a comment here on the blog.