Bar Exams, Law Schools

Worst Results Ever? The ONLY Grad From This School To Pass The Bar Exam Speaks Out

He knows what it’s like to be the only person from your law school to pass the bar exam.

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bar exam passedLast week, the legal world found out that Indiana Tech School of Law’s debut class posted an overall bar exam passage rate of 8.33 percent. Twenty students earned a degree from the provisionally accredited law school in May, twelve sat for the July 2016 administration of the Indiana bar exam, and only one of them was able to pass the test.

When we first covered Indiana Tech’s bar exam results, we wrote: “With such a poor bar exam passage rate, the administration at Indiana Tech must be praying that its lone graduate who passed the test is able to find a job working as a lawyer — he or she will quite literally make or break the school’s employment statistics.”

It was perhaps this sentence that prompted a source close to Indiana Tech’s lone passing graduate to email us, if only to let us know that despite passing the exam, this grad had not yet found a job. This source then put us in touch with the law school’s sole passing graduate, Brooks Ledger, for an interview to discuss the results and his job search. Here’s a (lightly edited and condensed) write-up of our conversation.

SZ: Nice work on the bar exam! A friend of yours contacted me — she says you don’t have a job yet. Is this true?

BL: She’s right about me finding employment. I am still on the hunt.

SZ: What’s your dream job as a lawyer, and how is Indiana Tech helping you to find that job?

BL: Because of my passion to practice business and corporations law, my dream job as a lawyer is corporate general counsel. I understand that I will need experience to land a job like this, and the school is very actively helping me find a position. The Career Services Dean sends us positions to apply for as they become available and he’s made aware of them. I have pursued some of these leads but none have led to employment. I am scheduled to meet with the Career Services Dean this week to discuss local firms and an employment plan.

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SZ: What do you think your job prospects will be like, all things considered (e.g., Indiana Tech’s provisional accreditation, Indiana Tech’s poor first-time bar exam statistics, etc.)?

BL: I would like to think that all that means nothing. I passed the same bar exam that all the IU and Valpo students passed, I had a 3.79 GPA, and I have excellent work experience. However, it would be naive of me to think that Indiana Tech’s track record will not impact my job prospects, especially in the local community.

SZ: Since the school was unaccredited in 2013, what made you decide to go to Indiana Tech?

BL: Its location and the scholarship I was offered. Although I was pulled off the waitlist for the part-time program at IU McKinney during Indiana Tech’s orientation, my scholarship and being able to live in Fort Wayne were too good to pass up. At that time, the accreditation wasn’t that concerning for me, or the administration for that matter. They were confident, which made the students confident.

SZ: How much law school debt do you have now that you’ve graduated?

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Zero. Because of Indiana Tech’s scholarships, help from my family, and my full-time summer jobs with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office and Allen County Circuit Court, I was able to get through law school debt-free. It’s another main reason I chose and stuck with Indiana Tech over the part-time program at IU McKinney.

SZ: How are your classmates feeling now that the bar exam results are out? Are they upset with the school, or with themselves?

BL: The class was shocked that only one student passed the bar. However, we knew going into it that our percentage might be rough based on multiple students not being allowed to take the bar due to character and fitness issues and others choosing not to take it this time around. For the ones who took it, they are disappointed, but only with themselves. Other than for a few important classes that were poorly taught our first year, the school did everything they possibly could to get us prepared for the bar exam.

SZ: How did you prepare for the bar exam? Did Indiana Tech do anything special to help students in their studies?

Brooks Ledger (Photo via Facebook)

Brooks Ledger (Photo via Facebook)

BL: Let me tell you my thoughts on the BARBRI bar review course that we all used. The material was great (outlines, MBE questions and explanations, essay questions and model answers, etc.), but the lectures for essay subjects and online homework assignments were for the most part a waste of prime studying time. The lectures started first thing in the morning, usually at 9 a.m., and lasted four to five hours. Some of them were dreadful to watch. I did all of my studying at home. If I could tell that a lecture was bad, I didn’t waste my time with it. I would instead do practice questions and explanations and read the outline, especially for the essay subjects. The lectures for the MBE subjects were worth watching, but I feel like I had an edge over everyone else by taking a different approach to the best part of the day for studying and to the essay portion. Some of my classmates joined me, but not all. Students I was close with are already taking a different approach to the February bar.

I was also pretty well prepared going into the bar review course. Starting in the fall of our 3L year, we were required by the administration to take bar review courses. We ended up taking four courses total, which covered every aspect of the bar exam. One of the courses was strictly an MPT course, which was very helpful. I had purchased AdaptiBar to help me study for the MBE portions of those courses, and I think it helped a lot. I continued to use it during the summer bar review course as well, usually at night for a few hours before bed. Most importantly, I always had an outline open.

In short, I did what worked best for me. When we started bar prep, a panel of new members of the local bar came in and talked to us to give us advice on prepping for the bar and what to expect on test day. One member of the panel told us, “You didn’t get here by chance. Do what works best for you.” This was by far the best advice I received, and I would encourage other students prepping for the bar to do the same.

SZ: How does it feel to be the only person out of your entire graduating class to have passed the bar exam?

BL: Passing feels great, don’t get me wrong, but I wish I could have experienced the feeling with other classmates. After everything we went through, I made some really good relationships with some of my classmates. I wish I could have shared the experience with others, but I am still very excited that I was one and done.

SZ: Congrats on passing the bar exam, and best of luck in your job search!

Earlier: Worst Bar Exam Results Ever? Only ONE Person From This Law School Passed The Bar Exam

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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