I Am A Foreign Attorney And Am About To Fail The Bar Exam

Most foreign lawyers take the NY bar exam and fail whether they are first time takers or repeaters. For the winter 2014 bar exam 40% of those taking the exam were foreign lawyers passing at a 30% rate. And in the summer 2014, they passed the exam at just 34% .

There are two groups of foreign educated attorneys. Those that have an English common law education from countries like England, Australia or Hong Kong who can take the bar exam without extra education, and those that have civil law and other backgrounds from France, Italy, Spain or many South American countries. They usually have to take an LLM program for one year to become eligible to take the bar exam.

I specialize in getting persons retaking the bar exam to pass and have had a lot of experience with students that have learning disabilities. You have to access why they are failing and teach them how to pass with the knowledge, skill or disability they bring to the table. I have to change how I teach and not force them to change how they learn.

They have to learn how to score points with what they can do. rather than try to have them do something they cannot.

A foreign educated attorney is the same. They are who they are – they may have language issues, skills issues and substantive issues. There are still ways to make sure they have a good chance of passing the bar exam.

A foreign educated attorney does not need to learn subject areas. They need to learn rules and how to score points. They do not need a review of all the law, but they need to narrow their focus and study what is most likely to appear. They need each rule illustrated so they know how to use it. Memory without context is useless.

I have a special course for the student retaking the bar. It is a course for someone who failed and is designed to address the common reasons why people are unsuccessful. It is not a first time course.

Sponsored

I designed it for the student that would have the most difficulty passing the bar, like a foreign educated attorney.

If, as an LLM bar taker, you just take one of the major bar review courses, your chance of passing is in the 30% range. Maybe consider trying something different.

If you have questions about how our bar review programs can help get you to pass, give us a call at (212) 249-3779 or email info@marinolegal.com.

Sponsored