Based on a quick skim of the almost 200 comments on our most recent post about the fast-approaching bar exam, it seems that a fair number of you are freaking out about the big test (but not all of you; some commenters seem confident, even cocky).

If you're not already worried enough, read this post by Eric Turkewitz, New York Bar Exams (Legendary Screw-Ups). He discusses, among other things, last year's Laptopgate scandal.

Should stories like these worry you? Maybe; but such worrying serves no purpose. There's not much you can do about the incompetence of the test administrators or proctors, technical glitches with the exam software, or sub-standard testing conditions (like excessive noise, extreme heat or cold, or nasty-ass bathrooms).

Just focus on the things within your control. Keep studying, and studying, and studying. But take off the night before the test, and do something fun. Is anyone planning a bar-exam-eve orgy?

Here's an open thread for bar exam veterans to share their horror stories. We vaguely recall one story about a woman who lost her mind in the middle of the test and started running up and down the halls of the Jacob Javits Convention Center, screaming something about pencils. But we don't remember the particulars; if you do, feel free to share them in the comments.

New York Bar Exams (Legendary Screw-Ups) [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

Earlier: Bar Exam Studying: Open Thread (Plus a request for advice on prep courses.)

If you're studying for the bar exam, congratulations on making it this far. You're almost there; the exam will be over before you know it. In a few weeks, you'll be lying on a beach somewhere, enjoying some fabulous post-bar travel.

How are things going for you in the home stretch? An ATL Community thread on the subject is generating healthy commentary, so let's bring it to the front page:

How is everyone's progress on studying for the bar?

How did the simulated MBE go for everyone?

General thoughts?

Based on the responses thus far, it seems that folks are worried, but unduly so. Relax; you'll be just fine. Those practice MBE scores are plenty high, and you still have some study time left.

If you don't pass the bar exam for some reason, like these famous bar failers, you can just take the test again (and again, and again; hi Paulina Bandy!). It's not the end of the world. Bar failers have had successful careers in law, politics, media, and academia, among many other fields.

Of course, failing isn't fun, and it does make for awkward interactions around the office or with classmates. So what's the best way to study? From a reader:

I'd love a thread about bar exam prep courses. I'd especially like to hear from people who decided not to take one. Biggest mistake of one's life, or best idea ever?

We took Bar/Bri and PMBR (the three-day review), and we found them both very helpful. It's nice to have a plan of attack that you can mechanically follow -- lawyers love fixed trajectories -- as well as a third party imposing some discipline on your study habits.

But we also know lots of folks who got the books, studied on their own, and did just fine (and saved themselves or their firms a nice chunk of change). Readers, any thoughts?

Update: We went back and reviewed the 200+ comments on our earlier open thread about BarBri. The comments we found most entertaining pertained to Professor Paula Franzese, who teaches property. She inspired passionate detractors and defenders. Selected comments, after the jump (or just click here).

Open Thread: Bar Exam Study Update [ATL Community]

With bar exams taking place at the end of this month, a bunch of almost-lawyers are furiously studying away. It's not the worst way to spend the dog days of summer... but it's pretty bad. If you're in that boat, we wish you luck (and encourage you to spend your study breaks here at ATL).

While few look forward to taking the bar, many look forward to post-bar, pre-start-date travel: the legendary, celebrated bar trip, your last hurrah before immersion into the grim realities of law firm life. With Biglaw start dates pushed back at quite a few firms (see here, here, and here), some of you may have more travel time than expected.

So where are you headed, and how long are you staying there? Or where are you considering going? Is Europe still a desirable destination, or does the weakness of the dollar put it out of reach? Is southeast Asia still a popular pick, or is a post-bar trip to Thailand so "five minutes ago"? Please share your views, in the comments.

If nothing else, this post should trigger you to buy airplane tickets -- e.g., on a 21-day advance fare -- if you haven't done so already. Last-minute airfare deals seem to be a thing of the past (perhaps due to rising fuel costs). If you want to get a ticket using frequent flyer miles, you need to act fast -- heck, you may even be too late -- given the dwindling supply of such seats.

Kash leaves today for two months in Hong Kong -- an unfortunate destination in terms of weather right now, described by the Lonely Planet guide as "punishingly hot and humid" during the summer. Hope you've made wiser choices!

While responses to last week's ATL / Lateral Link survey on summer associate programs continue to flow in (add your 2 cents here), let's pause to consider what last year's summer associates are going to experience over the next few months: bar exams (sorry), relocations, and sweet, sweet signing bonuses (or not).

We've received about a hundred comments and tips since we posted our "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Starting Bonuses But Were Afraid To Ask" table, which aggregated the results from our ATL / Lateral Link surveys on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, relocation benefits and whether you have to pay it all back when you leave.

So today, we're updating the table to fill in some more blanks.

The table below now shows six things for each firm:

  * which bar exam expenses the firm will reimburse (send us tips to fill in the blanks),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a summer stipend or a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts,

  * whether the firm provides any particular relocation benefits,

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year, and

  * whether the firm will make you pay it all back if you leave. As a general rule, payback requirements will apply to everything but a stub bonus, and will include clerkship bonuses.

And now, that introduction aside, read on to see the aggregated table of bar reimbursements, stipends and bonuses, salary advances, moving expenses, stub bonuses, and payback requirements. Check it out, after the jump.

Back in February, we wished them good luck. And now, some two months later, February bar exam takers are learning their fates. From a tipster:

Any chance of a story on February bar results? They're starting to come out. WA [just released] its results online, admittedly a completely unrepresentative sample, but where I took the bar.

This would be a good topic for ATL's new Community section. But since nobody has posted on it over there, we'll give you this here open thread.

New York, one popular jurisdiction among ATL readers, allows candidates to look up whether they passed this Wednesday, May 7, at 9 AM (EDT). Another major jurisdiction, California, makes results available to candidates a bit later: Friday, May 16, at 6 PM (PDT).

Back to our tipster:

As I understand it, the February takers are a motley assortment of clerks who liked the jurisdiction where they are clerking enough to take a second bar exam, people who forgot to take PR and graduated in December, part-time students with weird grad dates, and people who failed the July bar.

Paulina Bandy, this bud's for you.

February 2008 Bar Exam Results [New York State Board of Law Examiners]
February 2008 California Bar Examination Pass List [State Bar of California]

Earlier: Good Luck to February Bar Exam Takers!

Last week, we posted Part Four of the results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, covering the range of firms from Akin Gump to Young Conaway. We've also posted results from our surveys on relocation benefits and whether you have to pay it all back when you leave. And between survey responses, comments, and tips, we have a few thousand data points.

Today, we're consolidating the three tables in one place, so that we can start filling in more blanks and squeezing out some nuances.

The table below now shows six things for each firm:

  * which bar exam expenses the firm will reimburse (send us tips to fill in the blanks),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a summer stipend or a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts,

  * whether the firm provides any particular relocation benefits,

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year, and

  * whether the firm will make you pay it all back if you leave. As a general rule, payback requirements will apply to everything but a stub bonus, and will include clerkship bonuses.

And now, that introduction aside, read on to see the aggregated table of bar reimbursements, stipends and bonuses, salary advances, moving expenses, stub bonuses, and payback requirements. Check it out, after the jump.

Last week, we posted Part Three of the results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses (which covered the range of firms from Akin Gump to Proskauer Rose). We got quite a few tips in response, as well as quite a few comments in person, at the NALP conference in Toronto.

Find out whether today's installment will at last make it to Wachtell, Weil, WilmerHale and beyond . . . after the jump.

But before we get there, let's quickly review what we said about the table last week:

The table below shows four things for each firm:

  * how the firm helps new associates with bar exam expenses (reimbursement of actual expenses or a fixed stipend),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts, and

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year.

As always, please send us a tip if any of the details about your firm are missing or wrong or fraught with nuance. Also feel free to let us know whether these stipends and bonuses are subject to repayment if you leave, and whether your firm helps out with relocations, both topics of surveys last week.

And now, that introduction aside, read on to see the fourth batch of results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses. Check it out, after the jump.

Last week, we posted Part Two of the results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, and covered the range of firms from Akin Gump to Kirkland & Ellis (or K&L Gates, depending on how you choose to alphabetize). We got quite a few tips in response, as well as quite a few comments in person at the NALP conference in Toronto.

Find out whether today's installment will make it to O'Melveny, Pillsbury, Quinn, Skadden, or all the way to Weil and beyond . . . after the jump.

But before we get there, let's quickly review what we said about the table last week:

The table below shows four things for each firm:

  * how the firm helps new associates with bar exam expenses (reimbursement of actual expenses or a fixed stipend),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts, and

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year.

As always, please send us a tip if any of the details about your firm are missing or wrong or fraught with nuance. Also feel free to let us know whether these stipends and bonuses are subject to repayment if you leave, and whether your firm helps out with relocations, both topics of surveys last week.

And now, that introduction aside, read on to see the third batch of results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, after the jump.

Last week, we posted Part One of the results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, and covered the range of firms from Akin Gump to Drinker Biddle. We got quite a few tips in response, as well as one of my favorite comments of the week:

Nooooo. I need to know about firms in the 'W's! I hate waiting.

Find out whether today's installment will get far enough to satisfy our poor reader at Weil, WilmerHale, Wachtell, Winston, or Whatnot . . . after the jump.

But before we get there, let's quickly review what we said about the table last week:

The table below shows four things for each firm:

  * how the firm helps new associates with bar exam expenses (reimbursement of actual expenses or a fixed stipend),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts, and

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year.

As always, please send us a tip if any of the details about your firm are missing or wrong or fraught with nuance. (Or, if you're going to be at this week's NALP conference in Toronto, feel free to say hello in person.)

And now, that introduction aside, read on to see the second batch of results from our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, after the jump.

We received over 1,200 responses to last week's our ATL / Lateral Link survey on bar stipends and reimbursements, salary advances, and signing bonuses, and we've definitely got the makings of another sweet, informative running table for you.

But it's going to take a little bit of time to mesh all the data, as some of you differ quite a bit on what, if anything, your firms provide. So while we work on getting you everything from A to Z, here are the results from Akin Gump to Drinker Biddle, or about 35 firms, to get the ball rolling. We'll post a bigger table next week.

The table below shows four things for each firm:

  * how the firm helps new associates with bar exam expenses (reimbursement of actual expenses or a fixed stipend),

  * whether the firm pays new associates a signing bonus or graduation bonus (not counting clerkship bonuses, which are discussed elsewhere),

  * whether the firm provides salary advances (i.e., loans) in any particular amounts, and

  * whether the firm provides a pro-rated bonus (a "stub bonus") for the period between your start date and the end of the year first year.

Now, this is the first iteration of these results, and like another Episode I, it may have some room for improvement. It's entirely possible that we've got the right numbers in the wrong buckets, or are missing a number completely, or have otherwise managed to bork something.

For example, in a lot of cases, where associates have reported that their firms don't cover bar expenses, they may really have meant to say that the firms don't provide a stipend, but actually do reimburse the actual bar exam expenses when presented with a receipt. In other cases, reported salary advances or stub bonuses may differ from associate to associate, and we need more input so we can state a range instead of an amount certain.

So, if details about your firm are missing or wrong or fraught with nuance, please send us a tip.

Those caveats aside, we bring you the first batch of results. Check out the table, after the jump.

Open threads about the MPRE are a fine tradition here at ATL. See here and here.

Even if the test isn't particularly difficult or interesting, people love to talk about it. We've already received a slew of "MPRE results are out!" emails, and the news has also surfaced in the comments to other posts.

So to everyone who passed the MPRE, congratulations. To everyone who didn't pass the MPRE, you can bemoan your fate, in the comments.

Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) [National Conference of Bar Examiners]

Over the past few months, we've devoted several of our ATL / Lateral Link survey posts to compensation issues like base salaries, bonus amounts, and clerkship bonuses. But we've received quite a few requests to do another survey or open thread on another compensation issue: starting bonuses and stipends.

Associates at four New York firms (anonymized) have recently e-mailed the same general question:

Next year top law firms in New York, as well as those around the country (Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.), will pay their incoming associates $160,000 plus a $10,000 STARTING BONUS. [My v5 firm], on the other hand, will pay incoming associates $160,000 with a $10,000 SALARY ADVANCE. Simply put, I will be going on a bar trip this summer with money I loaned myself from my first year salary! I find this very strange considering that [my firm] considers itself to be the cream of the crop in New York in terms of pay.

i'm wondering if you can post a thread on firms giving incoming associates stipends for the summer. i'm at a v5 nyc firm and just learned that they don't offer a summer stipend but do allow an advance (up to 12k, i believe). some friends i know at peer firms mentioned that they'll be receiving stipends (10k from what i hear) as opposed to advances. any assistance in shedding some light on this would be greatly appreciated. thanks.

I read your blog and I have a suggestion for a thread - the types of loan/stipend firms give to cover studying for the bar. I've heard that some firms give out-right cash bonuses, whereas others (including my Vault Top 5 firm) give a no-interest loan that you must then repay over your first year. Since these amounts are usually around $10,000, it can make a not insignificant difference in first year compensation.

Thought you might want to run a story on advances/stipends offered by law firms for incoming associates. I'm an incoming associate at [big prestigious firm], and was frustrated when I heard that most other top law firms pay a stipend of $10,000 to their associates for the summer of the bar, while [big prestigious firm] is offering only a "$3,000 signing bonus" and a 7k loan, which will be deducted from our first 6 months of salary.

I know several other incoming associates who are surprised to see [big prestigious firm] below market, but are afraid to communicate this to the firm.

About a year ago, when ATL previously posted an open thread on the subject, commenters suggested that firms in New York were more likely than non-NY firms to pay stub bonuses (first year bonuses pro-rated for the number of months worked), which made up for the lack of a signing bonus. But is that true today?

Today's ATL / Lateral Link survey will probe your firm's policy on signing bonuses and salary advances. Feel free to speak up in the comments, too. Or send us information by email. If we get enough responses, we'll put together a table like the clerkship, maternity, and paternity leave tables (each of which will be updated this weekend, by the way, so feel free to send tips about those as well).

Some of you took the MPRE recently -- and we're gathering, from your comments, that you'd like a place to talk about it. Here is an open thread.

To be totally honest, we're not really sure how much there is to say about the MPRE. It's not a super-difficult test, and it hasn't exactly achieved the mythical status of the bar exam as a rite of passage for aspiring lawyers.

But perhaps you'll surprise us. Back in December, an open thread on MPRE results generated over 200 comments. So maybe there's more to say about the MPRE than one might think.

Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) [National Conference of Bar Examiners]

Earlier: MPRE Results Are Out: Open Thread

We didn't notice this, until a tipster just mentioned it to us: today is the February MBE day. So, to everyone taking the multistate bar examination right now, good luck!

From the same source:

I thought an open thread about the weirdest bar preparation might be entertaining. I immediately thought of you when I was told that the husband of an acquaintance, taking the bar for his second time, decided to "manage" his bathroom breaks by first doing a purge diet the week prior to the bar, and then taking Immodium each day during the exam.

Sorry for the crudeness, but I found this funny, as well as a bit extreme.

No worries. We have a reasonably high tolerance for crassness in these pages.

We also like this suggested topic of bar prep. The February administration of the bar exam is often more difficult to study for than the July administration, since those who sit for the bar in February are more likely to have to juggle their studies with other commitments (e.g., a day job). July exam takers, in contrast, are usually recent law school graduates who have taken the summer off to prepare full-time for the big test.

If you have any good stories about how you prepped for the bar, feel free to share them in the comments.

National Conference of Bar Examiners: MBE [official website]

Leave it to lawyers to complicate everything they touch. Over at New York Personal Injury Law Blog, Eric Turkewitz has this update on the New York bar exam fiasco:

The New York State Board of Law Examiners has confirmed to me that they will hear appeals regarding the July 2007 exam. That exam was plagued by malfunctioning software for those that submitted essays on laptop computers, only to see all or part of the answers disappear. The BOLE subsequently said that they approximated the answers if they were incomplete, based on how the examinees did on other answers. Those grade approximations were subsequently called into question based on an anonymous tip in this blog.

More details in the full post.

New York Bar Examiners Will Entertain Appeals Over Laptop Problems [New York Personal Injury Law Blog]

To our surprise, yesterday's open thread on the MPRE generated over 200 comments. Who knew that this topic would incite such interest?

Since you're all so interested in talking about the MPRE, here's more. A reader sent us a long but entertaining story about the test -- which you can read in full, after the jump.

Two favorite topics for ATL readers are (1) the bar exam and (2) the difficult job searches of non-top-tier law school graduates. These subjects are nicely combined in an article in today's New York Sun:

Even with 91,000 practicing attorneys in the five boroughs last year, a new wave of lawyers is hitting the city, as a record number of law school students are taking and passing the state bar, according to data provided by the New York State Board of Law Examiners.

In July, 10,907 students sat for the bar — an increase of more than 20% since 2000 — and a record 70.6% of them passed the bar.

While many associates who graduated law school in 2006 are earning bonuses at the city's most prestigious law firms, boosting salaries to an average of $205,000 a year, recruiters said the competition for the top talent belies that the vast majority of lawyers in New York are not guaranteed lucrative employment after law school.

That's an understatement. More discussion, after the jump.

Congratulations to everyone who passed the MPRE. Results were made available online earlier this afternoon.

As for those of you who failed, we could subject you to some good-natured ribbing in these pages. But we will refrain.

Instead, we're delegating that task to the commenters, on this open thread. As one reader noted in an email, "people love comparing scores and condescending to, or commiserating with, those who failed."

The MPRE: Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination [official website]

A reader alerted us to this informative article (registration-free) from the New York Law Journal. A summary from our correspondent:

This piece talks about the New York State bar passage rate, and specifically how the Tier 2 schools jumped up the ranks this year. Cardozo moved to the third-highest bar passage rate out of all the New York law schools, beating out both Fordham and Cornell.

I think with all the tier 2 trash talking on this site lately, you should give a post dedicated to the surprising accomplishment of those tier 2 bar takers in NY.

An excerpt from the article:

For as long as anyone in the legal academy remembers, the top three spots have shifted a few percentage points among Cornell Law, NYU Law and Columbia Law. And for the past several years, Cardozo Law, which opened its doors in 1976, has contended with St. John's University School of Law and Fordham Law for the coveted fourth spot.

"I'm not deeply invested in bar pass rates," said Cardozo Law Dean David Rudenstine. "But I have to confess, I'm really touched. This is a milestone for our school."

Congratulations, Cardozo! Your grads rock the New York bar exam.

Law Schools Report Record Gains in Bar Exam Pass Rate [New York Law Journal]

Before Thanksgiving, we put up an open thread devoted to discussion of the California bar exam. We're surprised that nobody mentioned this interesting tidbit of news (which we learned about from a tipster via email):

High-powered Sullivan & Cromwell partner Eric Krautheimer, the alleged tormentor of gay associate Aaron Charney, took and passed the July 2007 California bar exam.

Congratulations, Mr. Krautheimer!

Back in April, at the height of the Aaron Charney controversy, it was rumored that Krautheimer was going to be transferred to S&C's Los Angeles office. Some speculated that it was to remove him from the New York office, where Brokeback Lawfirm all went down. But if Krautheimer's move to the West Coast is still going forward, despite the settlement of the Charney lawsuit, we're guessing Krautheimer has his own personal reasons for wanting to move to L.A.

On our earlier post about the move rumors, a commenter called S&C LA wrote: "No truth to this at all. Sorry, this rumor is just that and nothing more." Presumably this commenter thinks that Eric Krautheimer -- a leading M&A lawyer, and a partner making millions of dollars a year, at one of the nation's top corporate law firms -- took California's three-day bar exam just for fun.

It must have been strange for a veteran lawyer, almost 15 years out of law school, to be taking the bar next to newly minted law school graduates -- including 18-year-old Kathleen Holtz. But then again, former Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan did it -- twice.

On the S&C website, Eric Krautheimer is still listed as based in New York. But expect to see him in L.A. sometime soon, now that he's a member of the California bar.

P.S. On the S&C website, the link to Eric Krautheimer's bio was moved from here to here. Was the firm trying to render all of ATL's links to his bio obsolete? If so, nice try -- but nothing that a site-wide "Find and Replace" can't fix.

July 2007 California Bar Examination Pass List [State Bar of California]

Earlier: Brokeback Lawfirm: Is Eric Krautheimer Headed for Hollywood?