Bar Exams, Student Loans

Low-Cost Bar Prep Materials? Unbundling To Drive Down Costs

This company wants to help you prepare for the bar and tackle the student debt crisis instead of contributing to it.

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Getting a J.D. is expensive. Between tuition, living expenses, and books, the average student borrows well into six figures for their legal education. And then comes the bar exam. Some are fortunate enough to have their employer cover bar expenses, but bar prep can be an extraordinarily expensive endeavor for others.

While sticker and net tuition have declined at many law schools, some are taking action to make a dent elsewhere. I wrote last year about models for producing and providing low-cost textbooks. The following interview is with Chris J. Henjum, co-founder of Esqyr, a new company that’s looking to unbundle bar prep materials so that students have affordable options. I’ve lightly edited the interview for clarity and length.

Kyle McEntee: Every new business needs its 30-second elevator pitch. I want to hear yours.

Chris J. Henjum: I graduated in 2010, I think the worst year to graduate law school. I took multiple bar exams to maximize my job options, and I was hit with thousands of dollars in bar prep costs. I sat down, ran the numbers, and saw that it does not take that much money to deliver real bar materials. So we are positioning the company to offer low-cost materials and give some of our profits back to tackle the student debt crisis instead of contributing to it.

Kyle: I graduated in 2011 and may quibble with which year was worse! You didn’t start this alone. Who’s in the trenches with you?

Chris: I have two co-founders. Michael Wilson is a software engineer and has startup experience. Anthony Chester handles content creation and the sales side of things. These guys have day jobs the same as I do. We are all doing this in our free time.

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Kyle: Esqyr has a relatively rare, though increasingly more common corporate structure. Can you tell me about that?

Chris: We are a public benefit corporation, which is a legal entity that, as a part of its incorporation documents, has a social mission.

So if a shareholder saw a company donating to an organization or giving back, they could take action against that company. That social mission gives the company permission to not always pursue the bottom line. Folks are familiar with Patagonia and Tom’s Shoes.

Our social mission is tackling student debt, so we are giving back 20% of our profits to that end. We are giving 15% to organizations that seek to reform legal education and more than 5% percent back to students in the form of donated accounts.

Kyle: And here, we should disclose that my organization, Law School Transparency, is among the recipients.

Chris: Our thinking is that, reforming legal education in the way you have been advocating would actually reduce overall student debt. We think that you are on right side of history here when it comes to making sure that legal education is cost effective and also effective. But your organization also focuses on making sure that law school information is transparent; making sure that students have the best information available; and making sure that law schools position students for success.

Kyle: Let’s talk a bit about the tools you offer. I think there are real challenges to overcome if you’re to save thousands, thousands of dollars.

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Chris: We have three main study tools using all real questions. Our first study tool is a study tool for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). It offers 1100+ questions and answer explanations, and allows students to track their progress over time. The second is a Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) study tool that offers 267 questions with model answers. You can then self-grade and receive a score based on weighting by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The third is an MPRE study tool.

The first two tools are just under $200 and the MPRE study tool is basically free at $16.50. We actually also have a fourth tool for law schools that allows them to track student progress and performance and intervene as necessary.

Kyle: What do more expensive bar prep companies offer that you don’t?

Chris: Well gosh, I think everything. I mean, when I went through the process I received a huge crate at my doorstep, full of books that I wasn’t going to read in a hundred years because there is just not enough time to go through all the materials offered. Students don’t have a choice on top of that.

It’s just unsustainable, especially as law schools get more involved in bar prep themselves.

Kyle: So I’m just trying to wrap my head around it. I took an online course with one of the larger test prep companies. They provided that giant crate of books and videos that walked through their outlines. It was some sort of collaborative process whereby I’d create my own outlines as I listened to them. Then I did practice MBE questions on top of that. Are you solely focused on the practice questions or are you also delivering some kind of study content as well?

Chris: Well, we think of ourselves as the center of a tailored study package that a student can either put together or a supplement if they’ve already chosen to go with one of the expensive bar prep courses. We are not saying that you can take 1100 MBE questions and be prepared for the bar, because we don’t think that is the case.

But for a school that is trying to piece together a study course for their students, or for that student who wants to supplement or design their own tailored package, we are a perfect tool. In the future, we will offer à la carte lectures and outlines too.

But the key there is à la carte. We will not force students into one large bundle at a high cost.

Kyle: You more or less answered this, but I want to put a finer point on it. Do you think that your offerings are not yet enough alone to pass the bar right now?

Chris: Right now? No, and I freely admit that. There are many other companies that offer the full thing. All the lectures and all the books and its $4000 and a student can just sign up for that if they can afford it.

So you can’t take 1100 practice questions and pass the bar, but you can find services and design a tailored personalized study package that suits your needs.

Kyle:  With bar passage rates on the decline across the country, what’s the best advice you have for someone who is afraid they might fail the bar?

Chris: Taking real questions is key. It’s also important to practice the essays. A lot of students think the MBE is more important, so I’ll focus on the essays eventually. Well, those are also extremely important.

Kyle McEntee is the executive director of Law School Transparency, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to make entry to the legal profession more transparent, affordable, and fair. LST publishes the LST Reports and produces I Am The Law, a podcast about law jobs. You can follow him on Twitter @kpmcentee and @LSTupdates.

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