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

DC & VA Bar Exam Coaching

  • July 2016 Bar Exams are over – DC, VA and MBE discussion

    The July 2016 Bar Exam is over! This was definitely one of the harder exams on the books, with both the MBE and MEEs being more difficult/different than in the recent past. Virginia’s essays were, as usual, fair yet challenging as expected.

    In DC we saw about twice the number of test takers due to this being the first time DC has tested as a UBE jurisdiction. Many folks opted against going up to New York or other jurisdictions and decided to stay local and take the exam here. I think yet others opted for DC instead of VA this time as well due to DC being a UBE jurisdiction. As far as the usual chaos that is the administration of the DC bar exam, they did not disappoint, although it was not the worst it has ever been. The main problem this time was delays in starting, which in the grand scheme of things is annoying but not as bad as what we’ve seen before. The morning MPTs were pretty straightforward, with a memo and a brief, but a couple of the MEEs were tricky this year. We had the following MEE subjects: (more…)

  • Strategies and Tactics for the MBE Sixth (6th) Edition Review

    The newest edition of the Strategies and Tactics for the MBE book by Steven Emanuel was released a few weeks ago. I have looked over the book and compared it with the 5th edition and there are several major changes, most of them for the better. This is, in my opinion, the best MBE study guide there is, and my primary book when preparing for the MBE. It is great to see it continuously updated and the roughly $80 price is really a steal for such a good resource that contains around 600 practice questions with excellent explanations of the answer choices.

    The major change to the book is the addition of Civil Procedure, both (more…)

  • Public Service Announcement – Strategies and Tactics 6th edition now available – Tips of the day on twitter

    PSA – The new edition of Emmanuel’s Strategies and Tactics for the MBE is now shipping. Expect a full review from me shortly. The main change is the addition of a Civil Procedure section (both questions and a substantive review) plus an additional 100 or so questions from the NCBE OPE-4. If you have the 5th edition, email the publisher as they can give you online access to the Civil Procedure questions.

    Also, I have started posting my daily Tips of the Day (#totd) on twitter. Check for the #totd hashtag to get MBE and Virginia bar exam tips each day.

  • Tutoring roster is full for all states for July 2016

    I have filled my entire roster and my waitlist for the July 2016 bar exam and am no longer accepting any more students. I believe I have responded to all the emails I have received so far, and I know some folks have emailed several times and it can take a while for a response but things get quite busy around results season. I have started filling spots for February 2017 so if you are interested please feel free to email me and of course if you have extenuating circumstances please feel free to email me for July 2016 and I can try and give you some advice. Good luck to everyone taking the bar this summer!

  • Washington DC Feb 2016 bar exam results posted

    The results are posted. Out of a total of 324 applicants, we have an overall pass rate of 44%, with 54% of first time takers passing. The full pass list is located here. Congratulations to everyone who passed!!! I know it’s agonizing waiting for the DC results but they are finally here. If you did not pass, don’t despair as it is not the end and you can use a different approach and pass it this summer (you should be getting your letter with full score breakdown in the mail very soon).

  • Virginia February 2016 Bar Exam results released

    Virginia has posted their February 2016 bar exam results here. The pass rates are as follows:

    Overall pass rate: 57.5%
    First time taker pass rate: 65.5%

    Highest overall pass rate school: Both George Mason and Washington and Lee with 83% of test takers passing, well done!

    These results fall in line with a typical February 2016 administration of the VA bar exam. Waiting for DC next week or two hopefully.

  • Virginia, DC, Maryland and NY February 2016 bar exams are over

    And with that, the February 2016 bar exam is over in this area for DC, Maryland, NY and Virginia. With this, NY and DC will be joining the growing number of jurisdictions to adopt the UBE starting with the July 2016 exam this summer (keep your eye open for an upcoming post on this topic soon). The exams were brutal and the weather pretty miserable but that’s about what you have to expect when it comes to the bar exam. DC didn’t disappoint with a dismal proctoring experience and near mutiny by the test takers over incorrect timing and other issues but everyone managed to survive more or less. Other jurisdictions were mostly smooth as usual. See below for the breakdown of subjects tested and some release date predictions: (more…)

  • Washington DC adopts UBE for July 2016 and other changes

    The District of Columbia will adopt the UBE starting with the July 2016 administration of the exam. These changes were posted a few days ago and will be effective March 1, 2016. For all intents and purposes this does not changes anything about the actual exam itself, meaning the components (MBE, MEE and MPT) as well as the timing and subject matter tested, are unchanged. This does increase the portability and reciprocity of taking the DC bar exam however and is a welcome move. The court has rejected some other changes, including allowing third year law students to sit for the exam in DC, and those details are in the court order. Interestingly, there is now a limit on the number of times someone can sit for the DC bar exam, 4 times. The details of all these changes are (more…)

  • Tutoring full for February 2016 bar exam

    The title says it all, I am full for the February 2016 bar exam. I know California is not out yet, and MD just came out Friday, but I have reached my limit of students for all states for February 2016. If you are interested in July 2016, I am taking applications now but there is no rush as I will not be accepting anyone until after the February exam is over. For those of you that have already emailed me, I will respond back to you. For those of you in active correspondence with me I will get back to you ASAP. When looking for a bar exam tutor I always tell people to trust their instincts. Talk to the tutor over the phone and be sure you have a good connection with them. Ask them how many years they have been tutoring and how successful they are at doing it. (It sounds obvious, but you want someone who is good at helping people pass) Be sure to find out if they actually care if you pass the exam or not, many tutors are just in the business to make as much money as they can without really caring whether or not their students pass the exam. So, in the end you want to make sure that the person you hire is someone who you will enjoy working with who you trust is an expert in what they do.

  • Tutoring for the February 2016 Bar Exam

    My roster is nearly filled for February 2016, for any and all bar exams. I promise to get through and respond to every email still sitting in my inbox (a little less than 100 as of tonight). For those of you I have already responded you, rest assured I am working to schedule preliminary calls to review what options exist for your particular scenario. I only take on a few students each administration so I unfortunately cannot accept everyone that is interested in working with me. If you are interested in July 2016, I will be working on that roster starting in a couple of weeks. For those of you waiting for Maryland bar exam results this Friday, please don’t be discouraged, I will still take on a couple MD students even after I finalize my roster for February this week. And of course, I have a spot or two for California since that’s still over two weeks away. If you have any questions about tutoring, or tips on finding a tutor or even if tutoring is right for you, please feel free to post a comment or send me an email.