How do you explain failing the bar/what happens/what should you do (biglaw NYC) Forum

[bloodorangedeer]

xxx

[MonsterTRM]

Most places will give you a second shot. I wouldn't worry about it too much, just keep studying so you don't have to have that conversation.

[jarofsoup]

Dont freak yourself out with bull shit.

[Vincent Adultman]

If you were at a V5 you would be fine. But a V10 will fire you if you fail.

[deepseapartners]

MBE scores are above Barbri's recommended goals

Then this is just an exercise in unjustified paranoia. You really shouldn't worry about having that conversation until after you get your scores back. Plenty of people pass the bar despite not studying at all until the 4th of July.

[yost]

About me: Heading to V10 firm this fall, graduated top 2%, magna from T14 school.

I don't know if I will fail the bar, but I know it is a possibility. I was very sick for the first few weeks of June and fell behind on bar study. I've been working my ass off (MBE scores are above Barbri's recommended goals), but my essays are dogshit. I know that might be ok, I may pass, etc. etc., but as a doomsday mentality person, I wanted to ask the community for advice and insight on to what failing at a big law firm looks like, what your options are if you do fail, if you should warn your firm ahead of time (re: sickness), what you should say if you do fail it, and how it affects your future at the firm.

Dude, if you were you top 2% at a T14, you know how to write a damn essay. I bet 99/100 people with your profile pass the bar exam on the first attempt. You'll be fine.

[BlueParrot]

You are almost certainly going to pass. You could have taken all of June off and I would still be confident you'd pass.

If you don't pass, it very likely isn't the end of the world. At my NYC firm you are allowed to retake. They really have no reason to care if it takes you a little longer to get admitted (by having to retake once).

[Anonymous User]

About me: Heading to V10 firm this fall, graduated top 2%, magna from T14 school.

I don't know if I will fail the bar, but I know it is a possibility. I was very sick for the first few weeks of June and fell behind on bar study. I've been working my ass off (MBE scores are above Barbri's recommended goals), but my essays are dogshit. I know that might be ok, I may pass, etc. etc., but as a doomsday mentality person, I wanted to ask the community for advice and insight on to what failing at a big law firm looks like, what your options are if you do fail, if you should warn your firm ahead of time (re: sickness), what you should say if you do fail it, and how it affects your future at the firm.

I had a pretty similar similar profile to you--run of the mill HYS grad headed to V10, and couldn't study for 3 weeks in June for personal reasons. I studied hard for the MBE (was testing above recommended Barbri goals by test day), but I did close to zero preparation for the essays. I literally did not look at any of the the essay-only subjects until two days before the exam, and I did only a couple practice essays total (less than 5) throughout the entire study process. My theory was that I needed to gain familiarity with the law, but that--based on my credentials--I probably was already a better essay writer than the vast majority of test-takers. For the essays, if you can just make an argument that's logically structured and reasonable, you can get a lot of points. I also figured that if I had a high MBE, it would balance out a low essay score.

I ended up scoring just as high on the essays as I did on the MBE--my total score was above 300.

[Anonymous User]

About me: Heading to V10 firm this fall, graduated top 2%, magna from T14 school.

I don't know if I will fail the bar, but I know it is a possibility. I was very sick for the first few weeks of June and fell behind on bar study. I've been working my ass off (MBE scores are above Barbri's recommended goals), but my essays are dogshit. I know that might be ok, I may pass, etc. etc., but as a doomsday mentality person, I wanted to ask the community for advice and insight on to what failing at a big law firm looks like, what your options are if you do fail, if you should warn your firm ahead of time (re: sickness), what you should say if you do fail it, and how it affects your future at the firm.

I had a pretty similar similar profile to you--run of the mill HYS grad headed to V10, and couldn't study for 3 weeks in June for personal reasons. I studied hard for the MBE (was testing above recommended Barbri goals by test day), but I did close to zero preparation for the essays. I literally did not look at any of the the essay-only subjects until two days before the exam, and I did only a couple practice essays total (less than 5) throughout the entire study process. My theory was that I needed to gain familiarity with the law, but that--based on my credentials--I probably was already a better essay writer than the vast majority of test-takers. For the essays, if you can just make an argument that's logically structured and reasonable, you can get a lot of points. I also figured that if I had a high MBE, it would balance out a low essay score.

I ended up scoring just as high on the essays as I did on the MBE--my total score was above 300.

Piggybacking because I'm in the same situation as OP too. Did you just make up rules in the essays when you didn't know the answer? And scored high?

My strategy right now is basically to score > 70% on the MBE and pray to god that's enough.

[RaceJudicata]

Some serious first world (read: T14, top of class) problems ITT.

[lavarman84]

You haven't even taken the bar yet. Stop being neurotic.

[bloodorangedeer]

xxx

[Anonymous User]

About me: Heading to V10 firm this fall, graduated top 2%, magna from T14 school.

I don't know if I will fail the bar, but I know it is a possibility. I was very sick for the first few weeks of June and fell behind on bar study. I've been working my ass off (MBE scores are above Barbri's recommended goals), but my essays are dogshit. I know that might be ok, I may pass, etc. etc., but as a doomsday mentality person, I wanted to ask the community for advice and insight on to what failing at a big law firm looks like, what your options are if you do fail, if you should warn your firm ahead of time (re: sickness), what you should say if you do fail it, and how it affects your future at the firm.

I had a pretty similar similar profile to you--run of the mill HYS grad headed to V10, and couldn't study for 3 weeks in June for personal reasons. I studied hard for the MBE (was testing above recommended Barbri goals by test day), but I did close to zero preparation for the essays. I literally did not look at any of the the essay-only subjects until two days before the exam, and I did only a couple practice essays total (less than 5) throughout the entire study process. My theory was that I needed to gain familiarity with the law, but that--based on my credentials--I probably was already a better essay writer than the vast majority of test-takers. For the essays, if you can just make an argument that's logically structured and reasonable, you can get a lot of points. I also figured that if I had a high MBE, it would balance out a low essay score.

I ended up scoring just as high on the essays as I did on the MBE--my total score was above 300.

Piggybacking because I'm in the same situation as OP too. Did you just make up rules in the essays when you didn't know the answer? And scored high?

My strategy right now is basically to score > 70% on the MBE and pray to god that's enough.

Yes, I made up rules for essays if I didn't know the answer. I bet that secured transactions wouldn't show up on the essay, and particularly spent very little time on it. It showed up anyways and I 100% B.S.ed my way through the essay.

And yes, I scored high. I don't know the specifics of my essay score, because they only tell you if you don't pass. All I know is that I scored 150+ combined on essays. Keep in mind that MPT actually requires no preparation (maybe do 1 practice essay just to get minimal familiarity), even for responsible people--so if you are a top law student, you're probably going to blow that section out of the water anyways. That's 40% of your essay score right there (20% of your total score). Also keep in mind that, given how essays are graded, an MBE score in the mid-150s can basically secure an auto-pass--even if you totally totally get the answer wrong to an essay, a reasonable essay will probably get 40-50% of credit.

To be clear, I wouldn't recommend this strategy to the run of the mill test-taker. You have to be really honest with yourself about your test-taking ability. But if you scored ~175 on your LSAT, have top grades at a T14/mediocre grades at HYS, etc.--you can probably bet on yourself by just focusing on the MBE.

[LurkerTurnedMember]

You'll be fine. A friend of mine took a week long vacation out of the country and was relaxed about studying during the rest of the time and he passed. Just set aside an extra hour at night and go through barbri's essays. Don't write them out, just read them, then very lightly outline them, flip to the answer and read it to see how much you would've gotten right. This lets you do a ton of essays in a short amount of time and that conditions you on how to write them on the exam and teaches you the law if you weren't familiar with it.

If you got less than passing scores on the barbri graded essay, don't worry. Only 1 out of 3 of those essays were passing for me (I even took extra time on some and got well below passing) and I still passed the California bar back when it was the hard 3-day test. Barbri likes to be extra harsh on the essays to scare you.

And if you fail, although I have heard of some biglaw firms firing people after they fail the bar the first time, you'll be fine since you're in a V10 and it's NYC.

[yost]

If you got less than passing scores on the barbri graded essay, don't worry. Only 1 out of 3 of those essays were passing for me (I even took extra time on some and got well below passing) and I still passed the California bar back when it was the hard 3-day test. Barbri likes to be extra harsh on the essays to scare you.

Well this is really relieving to hear.