Preparing for the July 2014 Bar Exam

January 30, 2014

It has been a few years since I have prepared for a Bar Exam.  I have decided to submit my application on February 1, 2014 for the July 2014 Washington State Bar Exam.  My MPRE scores are more than three years old so I registered today for the March 29, 2014 MPRE Exam.  Because I live in Eastern Washington State I will take the MPRE at Gonzaga University Law School.

I intend to Blog from now until results are released about the entire process of preparing for the Uniform Bar Exam ("UBE")  I already know I will face Character and Fitness issues because of a past divorce, child support and bankruptcy so I will discuss that process as well.  It is possible in some jurisdictions to take the Bar Exam and learn after the fact that you cannot get a license because of Character and Fitness.  In Washington State they require all Character and Fitness issues be resolved at least 60 days prior to the Bar exam.  If the issues cannot be resolved in time they will defer the applicant to the next scheduled Bar Exam pending the outcome of a Character and Fitness hearing.

I have completed bar review courses before from the major players but this time around I plan to review on my own without paying for an expensive course.  The MBE subjects are the same as always although I understand Civil Procedure may be added to the MBE at some point in the future.  The UBE will include the MEE and MPT also.  From past experiences I now know how important it is to write actual practice essay exams so that is something I fully intend to do.

I will continue working full time as I prepare for the exam so my schedule will need to allow time for work, study, exercise and family.

When I graduated from law school in 2004 I had no idea how much I did not know about preparing for the Bar Exam even after completing a review course.  My hope is that documenting my experience this time will be useful to new applicants and repeaters.  I will also submit tweets from time to time at @Barexamrepeater.

I encourage all who have any interest to submit thoughts, comments, suggestions and ideas for other to consider and possibly benefit from.

Best of luck to all!