Bar review

A bar review is a series of classes that most law school graduates attend prior to taking a bar examination, in order to prepare for that exam.[1] A typical bar review course will last for several weeks, beginning a few weeks after law school graduation and running until a few weeks before the next administration of the bar examination.[2][3] "A full service bar review course prepares a student for both portions of a state's bar examination: multistate and state law. A supplemental bar review course prepares a student for only one portion of a state's bar examination".[4]

Bar review courses are heavily marketed to graduating law students, as noted by Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which examined that practice in an unfair competition case:

Bar review course sponsors compete for potential customers on law school campuses through distribution of advertising fliers, sponsored student events, and advertisements in student newspapers. These businesses promote their courses directly to law students throughout their three years of law school. Some law students are employed as sales representatives to market courses to their classmates, and full-time sales personnel "table sit" at law schools to promote their firm's courses.[4]

Common examples include BarMax, Barbri, BarPlus Bar Review, Esqyr, Kaplan PMBR, Marino Bar Review, Preliminary Multistate Bar Review, Rigos Bar Review, and SpacedRepetition.com. The majority of bar review courses offer classroom based instruction for both the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) as well as the state specific portions of the exam administered in each state. However, growing subset of bar review courses are offering online only, or app based learning. For example: BarMax, Esqyr, LegalThree Review offer several options for law students who wish to study at their own pace. Recently traditional bar review courses have expanded their online only offerings as well as offering shorter, condensed reviews such as the Two Day Bar Exam Cram Session for examinees who are unable to attend traditional bar review courses.

A variety of other companies, such as Supreme Bar Review, Law Preps LLC, AdaptiBar, and e-BarReview offer individualized instruction focused on the bar applicant's specific needs, through the use of tutoring, small group instruction and online test preparation. Some companies, such as Pieper New York-Multistate Bar Review, Ltd, BarWrite and BarWrite Press, and Esqyr, offer study guides on the essays and MPT and small group courses, and the former Richmond Bar Review (Virginia) have offered state-specific reviews of the essay portions, which concern solely specific state law, which differs in certain way from state to state. SpacedRepetition.com uses professor-created materials and a special algorithm to customize the training each student receives to their own needs.

Many of these bar review companies have begun offering their instructional materials in new media formats, such as smartphone applications and e-books, allowing for greater flexibility and convenience for students.

Many companies offering bar review courses also offer a component to prepare bar takers for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).[5]

References

  1. ↑ George E. Edwards, LL.M. Roadmap: An International Student's Guide to U.S. Law School Programs (2013), Chapter 27, E-8.
  2. ↑ Ransford C. Pyle, Carol M. Bast, Foundations of Law: Cases, Commentary and Ethics (2016), p. 7.
  3. ↑ Rossen, Marc D. (December 2011). "Seven Hurdles to Bar Exam Success (and how to overcome them), Vol. 60, Issue 3" (PDF). The Gavel, The Student Newspaper at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. p. 5.
  4. 1 2 American Professional Testing Service, Inc. v. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal and Professional Publications, Inc., 108 F.3d 1147 (9th Cir., 1997), O'Scannlain, J.
  5. ↑ Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus, Acing the Bar Exam (2016), p. 18-19.


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