Failing the Bar Exam

If you've already failed the bar exam, you're at least in good company. The most notorious of which is probably Kathleen Sullivan, a veritable legal superstar whose failure made national news. Ms. Sullivan's credentials are a mile long: former Dean of Stanford Law School, former Harvard Law School professor, she has argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court several times and is widely considered a potential nominee for Supreme Court Justice. Did I mention she wrote the casebook we used in law school? But the illustrious company we repeat-takers keep is by no means limited to Ms. Sullivan. John F. Kennedy, Jr. failed the New York bar exam twice, the second time earning the headline, "Hunk Flunks" on the front page of the New York Times. Hillary Clinton failed the D.C. bar exam. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch failed once and former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley failed twice. Charlie Crist, Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate for Florida, failed the exam twice. Former California Governor Jerry Brown managed to pass on his second attempt, while former Governor Pete Wilson did not pass until his fourth attempt. Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, never did pass the bar after failing four exams. The California Bar Exam is one of, if not the most difficult in the nation. California has an exclusionary bar: instead of just screening out people who are incompetent, the exam aims to regulate and limit the number of lawyers in the state. The fierce competition to practice law in California leads to a thriving bar exam review industry and private tutors as well as companies like BARBRI or PMBR have become extremely profitable. In 2004, only 44% of the 12,448 California bar exam applicants passed and in 2005 only 46% of 12,863 passed. So, what can we learn from these famous people who have failed the bar exam, besides the fact that misery loves company? Actually, their advice is nearly unanimous. Study even harder for the next exam.