Bar Exams

Can Memorizing Law Make You Brilliant?

Posted on May 20, 2013
Although everyone knows that memorizing is useful for the bar exam, and most lawyers have memorized at least the first few lines of an oral argument, memorizing is deeply unfashionable. New research, however, suggests that we shouldn't save memorizing just...

How Bar Candidates Can Avoid Thinking They Should Be Doing Something Else

Posted on May 08, 2013
One big distraction in life is always thinking you should be doing something else. People who want to achieve a great deal in life probably suffer more from this distraction than others. I knew a publishing executive here in New...

Targeted Drone Strikes Against American Citizens Provokes Important Legal Questions

Posted on March 11, 2013
Last week Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky conducted a filibuster opposing the President's nomination of John O. Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Senator Paul feared that once at the C.I.A., Mr. Brennan might authorize unmanned drone strikes against...

You can't find a job in your comfort zone

Posted on March 06, 2013
You asked me for tips on looking for a job (or a new job), and here are some thoughts: 1. Join everything you can, alumni associations--including the alumni association for your undergraduate school--bar associations, committees of bar associations, nationality groups,...

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The MPT Part of the Bar Exam Requires the Skills of a First-Year Lawyer

Posted on February 15, 2013
Your task on the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) part of the bar exam is to act like a first-year lawyer. You are an associate in a law firm, or a junior attorney in a government agency, or a clerk to a judge. The senior lawyer who sends you an assignment in a task memo on the MPT expects you to act like a junior lawyer drafting a work product...

How to Defend Against a Motion for Summary Judgment

Posted on January 28, 2013
For lawyers, some practice tips are invaluable. Graduates of my classes know how important the motion for summary judgment is. If successful, that motion can conclude litigation short of trial. The court merely has to find that there is no...

Student Loan Debt Is a Problem for the Entire Legal Profession

Posted on January 22, 2013
The amount of student-loan debt that many recent graduates are carrying is a cause for concern for the entire legal profession. The financial crisis has caused stress and suffering, but it has also brought some benefits. Among them, the many...

Can Memorizing Law Make You Brilliant?

Posted on January 05, 2013
Although everyone knows that memorizing is useful for the bar exam, and most lawyers have memorized at least the first few lines of an oral argument, memorizing is deeply unfashionable. New research, however, suggests that we shouldn't save memorizing just...

Five New York Bar Exam Tips

Posted on December 22, 2012
Want some great New York bar exam tips? BarWrite® has prepared five simple tips for the New York bar exam that we are pleased to share with you. These are tips that BarWrite® teaches in our BarWrite® 10-Day Coaching Group,...

What Was on the July 2012 New York Bar Exam Essays and Multiple Choice?

Posted on November 27, 2012
Many thanks to the BarWrite® Scholars who looked up in dazed exhaustion on Tuesday night and said to themselves, "I've got to let Dr. Gallagher know what was on the bar exam!" Thank you! Looks like BarWrite® hit another home run!

How to Make the MBE More Like the U.S. Open

Posted on November 19, 2012
Are you improving your MBE score the same way great tennis players improve their tennis games? Does your MBE study method have the characteristics of deliberate practice? Research shows that tennis champions are different from merely excellent tennis players because...

Five Top Tips for Early Bar Exam Preparation

Posted on November 12, 2012
Whether you are taking the bar exam in three months or three years, the bar exam is one of life?s big events. You need to plan ahead.* Here is a checklist to get prepared for your two months of intensive study before the exam.

Five Tips for Choosing a Full Bar Review Course

Posted on October 30, 2012
Bar candidates must take a full bar review course in order to pass the bar exam. Failing the bar exam is a financial catastrophe, while passing the bar exam leads to a new life. So choosing a bar review course is a key life decision. Here are five tips for choosing your course...

Five Reasons Foreign-Trained Lawyers Need to Take a Full Bar Review Course

Posted on October 19, 2012
Do foreign-trained attorneys who want to become members of the New York bar need to take a full bar review course? Yes, indeed, says Dr. Mary Campbell Gallagher, a graduate of Harvard Law School and president of BarWrite® and BarWrite press. There are at least five reasons, she says, why a full New York bar course is vitally important...

FIVE TIPS FOR SUCCESS ON THE NEW YORK BAR EXAM FOR FOREIGN-TRAINED ATTORNEYS

Posted on October 19, 2012
For foreign-trained attorneys, the key to success on the New York bar exam is setting aside enough time to prepare for the exam, understanding the limited objectives of the exam, and studying strategically.

Counsel Behavior Lesson from the Vice-Presidential Debate 10.11.12

Posted on October 16, 2012
Long before I saw the Vice-Presidential Debate, I planned to post a link to "How to Deal With AWFUL Opposing Counsel." Now Vice-President Biden has illustrated awful counsel behavior, right there on our little screens. Lucky citizens!

Speaking Lesson from the Presidential Debate 10.3.12

Posted on October 08, 2012
Last Wednesday night Mitt Romney demonstrated the power of superior preparation. Not brains, perhaps, or even skill, but just pure brute preparation. Not only did Romney show that he was totally prepared, as a bonus he showed the confidence of a man who knows that he is totally prepared...

The First Monday in October, Coming Events at the U. S. Supreme Court

Posted on October 01, 2012
Today is the famous First Monday in October, the beginning of the Supreme Court term, and a key date in our calendars. One closely-watched case this term will be Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, http://bit.ly/QS5MND revisiting the issue of affirmative action programs in undergraduate admissions...

Hourly Billing or Flat Fee?

Posted on September 25, 2012
Unless you have been on a desert island somewhere without the internet, you know that lawyers are vigorously debating whether to continue billing their clients by the hour, or whether to switch to a flat fee system. Defenders of hourly bidding say it is objective and fair...

Book Review: So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love, by Cal Newport

Posted on September 17, 2012
In his latest book, Get to Be So Good They Can't Ignore You, Cal Newport debunks the popular career advice "follow your passion." He doesn't just blow some self-help smoke about how to manipulate your own emotions, he actually tells you what steps to take to develop rare and valuable skills and achieve an interesting life, what he calls his "career craftsman" approach.

Speaking Lesson from the Democratic National Convention - Bill Clinton

Posted on September 10, 2012
At the Democratic National Convention last week, former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm gave a bravura performance, First Lady Michelle Obama delivered an eloquent testimonial, and President Obama was no slouch at the podium, either. But President Bill Clinton stole the show.

Speaking Lessons from the Republican National Convention

Posted on September 04, 2012
Every lawyer must be a good speaker. Whether or not they appear in court, lawyers must make client presentations, speak to boards of directors, and lead the community. No skill impresses potential clients more. Give a speech, meet a new client. The Republican National Convention provided excellent speeches...

The Proposed New York Pro Bono Requirement

Posted on August 25, 2012
The Chief Judge of the State of New York, Jonathan Lippman, has suggested that attorneys must in future complete 50 hours of pro bono work in order to qualify for admission to the bar. He says that pro bono work is a "core value" of the legal profession...

How to Master the Law for the Bar Exam, Law School, or Law Practice, Not Just Throw Buzz Words Around

Posted on August 14, 2012
Why do bar candidates study intensively and then draw a blank when they sit down to take the bar exam? One explanation is that they think they "know" material when they simply recognize it, instead. They are coasting along on word-spotting instead of working through the law and mastering it...

What Was on the July 2012 New York Bar Exam Essays and Multiple Choice?

Posted on July 31, 2012
Many thanks to the BarWrite® Scholars who looked up in dazed exhaustion on Tuesday night and said to themselves, "I've got to let Dr. Gallagher know what was on the bar exam!" Thank you! Looks like BarWrite® hit another home run!

Best Bar Preparation Tips from My Guest Blog Posts on The Lawyerist

Posted on July 10, 2012
To my great delight, The Lawyerist Blog has invited me to publish a series of guest blog posts to help law school graduates prepare for the bar exam. These guest blog posts are crammed with the fruit of my more...

What Was the Supreme Court Decision in the Obamacare Case?

Posted on June 30, 2012
The Supreme Court upheld the so-called individual mandate, as a tax. It allowed the expansion of Medicaid, but not the threat to remove funding from the states rejecting it.

How to Get Maximum Pay-Off From Every Minute of Law or Bar Exam Study

Posted on June 13, 2012
Here are three more tips from Dr. Mary Campbell Gallagher, president of BarWrite®, to help you get the maximum pay-off from every minute you spend preparing for law school exams or the bar exam. 1. Before you read a set...

Read "Five Tips for Faster Bar Exam Essays"

Posted on June 07, 2012
I am delighted to report that this week The Lawyerist blog published my latest guest blog post, called "Five Tips for Faster Bar Exam Essays." Here's the outline. Fill it in by visiting the blog. http://bit.ly/KOrm5R 1. Use time as...

Tips for Faster Legal and Law Exam Writing

Posted on June 03, 2012
My observation from more than 20 years of teaching is that people who write the essays slowly are not somehow slower people, with slowness in their DNA. They are actually doing different things. Here are some things not to do if you want to write your exams faster.

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