The Bar Exam Is Done... But Now What?

For real, what are you supposed to do with yourself now?

Now what? What now? I’m not referring to the three events of domestic terrorism within the past week, although maybe I should. Now that the bar exam is over, purgatory begins, the time between finishing the exam and getting the results. You are neither fish nor fowl waiting for the results.

What to do during purgatory?  There are lots of options, depending upon your situation.

  1. For those who have jobs, it’s back to work. And if you have that elusive job, then do your best, but don’t try to be perfect. Deadlines abound. Just get it done.
  2. For those looking for work, it’s time to polish that résumé and get as many informational interviews as possible. The more the better. Informational interviews can be as simple as cups of coffee. You want to know everything you can possibly learn about the area(s) of practice you are interested in and who might be able to help you. It’s easy to learn a bunch of new stuff because I assume that you did a brain/data dump as soon as the exam was over, but don’t throw your study materials away just yet. There will be time for it when results are in.
  3. Volunteer, be it at a law firm, legal clinic, wherever you can clerk for someone at no cost to them. Everything and anything you learn will be helpful, even if it’s just file maintenance. My law school BFF tells the story of a young man who walked down the entire length of Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills (a not insignificant distance) dropping his résumé off at every law firm of whatever size and hoping to get an interview. His last stop was in my friend’s building.  He snared an interview and clerked for him for six months or so and was even paid!  Persistence and good supportive shoes made the day.
  4. If you have any spare cash (ha!), take some time off. If not, don’t fret, as most of the examinees aren’t awash in disposable income. Student loan repayment is high on the list of reasons for “no disposable income.” A way younger friend, who has been paying on his student loans for a decade, says that the loan payments he’s made have not reduced his principal balance by one cent. And one of his friends who committed to working for the government in exchange for student loan forgiveness is not going to receive the benefit of the bargain. She’s been told that a sizable portion of the debt is not eligible. Available data on law school debt sucks. How hard can it be to get accurate and current information? Apparently too hard, or perhaps no one wants to share the dirty little secret that the cost of a law school education is out of control.
  5. Spend some time in your local courthouse. You may have vowed to never set foot in a courtroom once you’ve passed the bar, but it’s good to familiarize yourself with not only the physical courthouse (where is the clerk’s office?), but to observe some hearings and even a trial or two. Why? You never know when you might be asked to make a “special appearance” because the attorney on the case is tied up elsewhere, out of town, or “unavailable,” whatever that means.

You need to know courtroom etiquette. (Be polite and courteous to the courtroom staff; they will either be your friends or your worst enemies. Will they put your file on top or at the bottom?) You need to know which side of the counsel table to stand behind. (Hint: plaintiff’s counsel is closer to the jury box.)

You can pick up many clues by just observing law and motion calendars. How do counsel treat each other? How do they treat the court? (You’d probably not be surprised to see how some counsel can border on contemptuous.) A court likes counsel who make things easier for the judge: preparing notices, suggesting dates for further proceedings, being clear and direct in discussions with the court, professional and prepared. You’d be amazed, or perhaps not, when counsel is neither professional nor prepared. It’s cringeworthy. Unless your matter is first on the calendar, other attorneys will be watching. Snickers are something you never want to hear.

You learn who goes first. It’s the moving party. Sometimes the court doesn’t want to hear any argument if “it’s already in the papers.”

If you can find a trial to watch, do so. I learned a lot by watching trial lawyers at work: how they interact with the jury, opposing counsel, and the court. How they handle objections: do they object and simply state the basis for the objection, or do they make “speaking objections,” something courts don’t like. It’s a good way to test your knowledge of evidence, assuming there’s something left after the bar exam brain dump.

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Make sure that it’s okay for you to watch. If so, you may find that the clerk and/or bailiff will tell the judge that you’re awaiting bar results and you may be invited into chambers for a brief introduction. Take advantage of it. Everyone you meet may be someone you meet again in your career.

If it’s appropriate, introduce yourself to counsel, and ask if you may ask a question or two about something you noticed while observing. Most attorneys, if they’re not jerks (and you’ll meet some of those along the way), will take at least a couple minutes to explain what was done and why. We’ve all been there.

Once you start practicing, you will wish that you had spent more time learning how to be a lawyer, and while law schools are improving in that area, they are not there yet. Take advantage of this time in purgatory.


old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerJill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.

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