Not to freak out bar examinees any more, well, maybe just a little, but the last week of July should be renamed Hell Week, a la fraternity hazing. Taking the bar exam is its own particular form of hell, and the only ticket to being a practicing lawyer, at least in those states where the bar exam remains the only way to get to the other side.
Everyone experiences this hell in different ways, but for those of us lawyers, past, present, and future, who dream of practicing, this is our particular form of hell. Everyone who has passed the bar, whatever the year, has horror stories about the exam. It’s a rite of passage, something that binds all lawyers together, regardless of the future. It’s a shared nightmare.
Let’s stipulate that I am old and that I took the California GBX in the last century, before laptops. We could either handwrite or type the exam. I chose the latter, and of course, 10 minutes into the first morning session, the power went out. But not the entire testing site. Random shouts of “power” filled the air. It sounded something like this. People would unplug their electric typewriters and look for another outlet, already overloaded. Then THAT outlet blew up. Told in advance that the exam would not stop, I pulled out my old manual typewriter (does anyone remember those?) and started typing. Most other examinees at the site had not brought manual typewriters, so they started handwriting. What a nightmare! Still is, all these years later.
Luckily I passed the first time, so I did not have to find an alternative career. See John Grisham’s “The Rooster Bar.”
So here’s my semi-annual advice, worth what you are paying for it. Please spare yourself and do NOT talk with anyone, and I mean anyone, about the exam. You don’t know whether your answers are right or wrong. Hearing Mr. and Ms. Know-It-All expound on their answers is only going to make you feel worse. You could have aced it, and they could have failed it, but you don’t know that and won’t know that until the results. Don’t discuss with your study partner(s), your law school BFF, etc. All you will do is perseverate. Don’t do it!!!
Meanwhile, have you ever wondered (perhaps not, but I have) about why lawyers seem to be so willing to throw their professional careers overboard? (A thought or two while prepping.) After all it has taken to become a respected lawyer with a good reputation, it can take just one action or nonaction to besmirch that reputation so carefully cultivated.
Let’s take just one current example. Remember last year in the beginning of 47’s second term, nine Biglaw firms bent the knee to him in an effort to avoid various “sanctions” if they had the audacity to oppose him in any manner or form? Have you ever heard the saying that “if you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas”? Now these firms have been bitten by the very person that they laid down with.
ATL created its “Spine Index” last year in response to the craven ball-playing by the Biglaw Nine but also by all the Biglaw firms that remained silent while this all played out last year.
The DOJ has subpoenaed all nine firms demanding certain documents involving Boris Epshteyn, an adviser to 47, as well as depositions from all the Biglaw partners who signed those agreements. This is fallout from the ABA’s lawsuit against the Executive Office of the President and its pending motion to compel that office to comply with its request for production of documents.
Is the “Justice” Department maneuvering going to result in exactly what the government doesn’t want? Opening the door to a review of Epshteyn’s role in convincing those nine firms to play ball?
Do you think that any of the nine firms will push back against the DOJ’s demands? Will Todd Blanche blanch? (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) Do you believe that our profession faces real threats to its independence as a profession, to be able to represent clients adverse to the administration? If not your mindset, then pencils down (oops, close those laptops) and do something else with your law school education. This is not your jam. It’s never been easy to practice law and it’s getting harder every day. Caveat emptor.
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.
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