Bar Review: Where Will we Find the Time?

I have recently blogged about clinics, law review, and write-on: the Holy Trinity of evening student concerns.  However, the topic that's weighing most heavily on my mind these days is the bar exam. Much of that has to do with the fact that everyone I meet, when they find out that I'm graduating in May, immediately says "Oh, then you'll have to take the Bar!"  EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON.  They say it as if I didn't already know. It's like telling a pregnant woman how much labor will hurt. I know what's coming, and I know how hard it is.  Stating the obvious to me doesn't help, it actually just sucks the joy right out of the fact that my hard-earned graduation's coming.

Ok, ok, maybe I'm just taking my own frustrations out on certain people. (Seriously though, it's everyone.). The fact remains that the bar exam (exams, in my case), is looming and I don't know how I'm going to find the time to study while working full-time.

As you may have heard, things have not gone according to plan for law school grads for the past few years. High post-graduation unemployment, and fewer "big law" jobs have changed the game for a lot of people. In the past, the idea was that you would get a summer job at a firm in your second (or third, for evening students) year.  As long as you didn't burn the place down, that firm would typically make you an offer for permanent employment after graduation. Many would even let you draw a salary while you took off time to study for the bar.  Reality no longer works this way, so many people are finding themselves having to take extra loans to cover their expenses while they study from May to July.

It's different for evening students.  Many, such as myself, still don't have anything firm lined up after graduation.  Which means that we will have to continue working at our present jobs after we graduate. A few of us evening students got together recently for dinner and lots of questions came up:  What if we can't take enough time off to study for the bar? What if we have just started a new job and haven't accrued enough vacation?  How will it affect our relationship with our employers, since they know we will be looking to bail as soon as something "legal" comes along?  Yeah, good times.

These aren't easy questions, and the answers are highly specific to each person's situation. One thing that many of us will be doing is taking an "early start" course this spring.  Basically, that just means that bar review begins in February rather than in June.  I don't know if it will help, but I'm happy to know that this is an option.  The sooner I can get a jump on studying for the bar, the better I'll feel.  It also means sacrificing 5 Sundays this spring to study.  Big deal - like I was doing anything interesting to begin with? 

So, faithful reader, just know that if you, too, are worried about having enough time to study for the bar over 8 weeks in the summer, fear not.  You will be able to kill your entire spring as well. I'll keep you posted throughout to let you know if I find them helpful.