I Failed the Bar--Now What?

By: Kandice Thorn

It is great to be back on the blog after a short hiatus resulting from Hurricane Sandy, among other things. Current LL.M. students have submitted their ISIP bids, and are busy preparing for finals, as they should be, so I thought I'd take a moment to address our alumni who have just received their bar exam results.


According to the New York Board of Law Examiners, the July 2012 New York Bar Exam saw a record number of foreign-educated candidates--nearly 3,000--representing 25% of all candidates. 46% of foreign-educated first-time bar takers passed the July 2012 New York Bar Examination. Conversely, one can assume that this means that over half of foreign-educated first-time takers did not pass the New York Bar Examination.

If you are in the 46% of foreign-educated first-time candidates who passed (or a retaker who passed), congratulations! I'll have a blog post just for you next week. If you are in the majority of foreign-educated candidates who did not pass on the first go 'round, however, you may be wondering where to go from here. This blog post is for you.

Here are a few steps to help you figure out what to do next:

1.  Mourn. It is disappointing not to pass the bar exam. You put a lot of time and effort into studying for the exam and had high hopes, so go ahead and cry. But also understand that as far as foreign-educated candidates go, you are in the majority. The bar exam is tough, by design. For foreign-educated takers, the vast majority of whom have only studied one year in the U.S. and come from civil law jurisdictions that are very different from the U.S. system, who also have to overcome language barriers, the exam can be a near impossible feat. Lots of very smart people fail the bar exam. You are in good company, and not just among foreign-trained candidates!

2.  Decide whether you want to try again. For many foreign-trained candidates, the bar exam is not necessary. If you are not planning to stay in the U.S. long term, you may decide that NY bar admission is not necessary to further your career and not worth another 2-3 months of your life. What are your reasons for seeking the New York bar? Obviously, if your goal is to stay and work as an attorney in New York, the bar will be absolutely necessary. But if your goals are different than that, you may want to reassess.  Look at people in your desired career--are they admitted to the NY bar? Will it give you an edge over other candidates? Weigh that against the time, expense, and stress of retaking the exam, and (of course) the possibility that the second time may not yield a better result (the passing rate for retakers is historically lower than the passing rate for first-time takers). If you decide to take it again, commit fully to that decision. Go all in!

3.  Analyze and strategize. If you decide to retake the exam, the next step is to analyze what went wrong.  Be honest with yourself and do not make excuses. What sections did you find the most challenging? Keep in mind that memorizing the law is important, but mastering the format of the exam is equally important. Did you run out of time? Was your approach to the exam troubling in any way? Once you have some sense of what went wrong, come up with a study plan for the next exam. And here's the key--make it different than your last study plan. Remember, you can't keep doing the same thing and expect to get different results. If you did tons of flashcards last time and avoided practice exams, put away the flashcards for a while and pull out some practice tests. Change it up.

Failing the bar exam is not fun, but lots of people are able to move on, pass the exam, and go on to have very successful legal careers!  Good luck!