Studying for the bar exam is among the hardest things you will have to do in your legal career. It is a test of character, to be sure. It is a test also of your endurance and dedication. Until I launched my own business, I had not gone through anything else that was quite so personal, so intensive. And now, upon reflection, I can see that many of the lessons I have learned in building my business are useful in the context of studying for the bar exam.

By way of background, I worked as an associate in a large law firm for a number of years. Last year, I left my practice to start a small business. In the transition from working as an associate in a large law firm to being an independent small business owner, I was faced with creating some very specific strategies for growing my business and defining my own success. While there is plenty of information out there about what makes a successful small business (and more information still about how many small businesses fail!), much like studying for the bar exam, there is no formula per se. Rather, you have to know yourself, capitalize on your strengths, and devise a system that works for you.

With this said, there are a number of behavioral tools that are key for any successful entrepreneur, irrespective of business type or objectives. And, incidentally, these tools will serve you well as you are studying for the bar exam, too.

1. Work hard. In pursuing any business endeavor, and in studying for the bar exam, there is no substitute for dedicated hard work. To succeed, you must work hard. You must put in long hours and late nights and get up early to do it all over again. While this may sound obvious, it is the awareness that is important – the willingness to work hard must be front-of-mind every day.

2. Create a schedule. When you are studying for the bar exam, just as when you are running your own business, your days are mostly your own. You are the master of your schedule and what happens within the course of a day depends on you. This can be both a positive and a negative. It is positive because it allows you freedom to work in the manner that is best for you; it is negative because it can be overwhelming, and can lead to a lack of structure.

At the outset when you are studying for the bar exam, devise a defined schedule for your days. Create a schedule that is realistic and easy to stick to. Build in some flexibility and account for variables that inevitably come up from time to time. Make adjustments in your daily schedule where things are not working. And study smart. Think about the best use of your time and energy. Focus on areas that cause you difficulty or that are sure to appear on the exam (and not on remote topics that may or may not appear on the exam in the form of one multiple choice question).

As a tip, make your daily schedule the wallpaper on your computer so you are seeing it constantly. This will help keep you on track.

3. Set goals. No business can thrive without a set of clearly defined goals. This is true when you are studying for the bar exam, as well. Of course, the long-term goal for anyone studying for the bar is to pass. But this goal is a broad one, and difficult to tackle in any meaningful way (it is similar to a small business owner setting the goal of making a lot of money – a valid goal, but not specific enough to take on without smaller, more realistic goals in place first).

To make goal setting realistic while studying for the bar exam, write down daily, weekly, and monthly goals over the course of your studying. These do not have to be major goals in every instance – identifying small, defined goals in furtherance of the larger goal (passing the bar) will suffice and will increase your chances for success. For example, what subject might you study on day one? What improvements would you like to see in your writing by day 15? What score are you aiming for on your mid-study period practice exam? Small goals in support of the larger goal will keep you on track and help you stay motivated when the actual exam is still months away.

As an additional tip here, your goals should be uniquely your own. Do not be influenced by the way others are approaching their studying. Everyone has different study needs and tactics – what works for one person may not work for you. Focus on your own needs and forget about what others are doing.

4. Do not be discouraged. When studying for the bar exam (again, like any business endeavor), it is easy to succumb to feelings of discouragement or dissatisfaction. Any bad news, in the form of a bad practice test, for example, or a day where you did not get as much studying done as you would have liked, can really bring you down. Instead of allowing yourself to be discouraged, use this as motivation to continue moving forward. Stay the course. Start the next day with a fresh perspective, a renewed motivation, and a positive sentiment about the remaining days of studying. No process, including studying for the bar exam, is a flawless one.

5. Take mental health breaks. When I first launched my business, a friend and fellow small business owner told me that the one piece of advice he wished he had been given when he started his business was to take breaks. He said he had run his business for years without rest, because there was always more to be done. When you are studying for the bar exam, your work is never done. It feels as though there is always something more you could be doing. This does not mean that you must spend every waking hour studying. In fact, this is counterproductive. Allow yourself some downtime, and some recharging time. Exercise, even if just for 15 minutes a couple of times a week. Eat regular meals. Spend five minutes on your favorite website. Allow your mind and body a reprieve from the consuming bar exam study process so you are energized and working at full capacity when you go back to it.

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So that’s it. Your entrepreneurial guide to studying for the bar exam. Take a moment to take these in, and then get to your bar exam studying like you own it. Because you do.

Desiree Moore is the President and founder of Greenhorn Legal, LLC. Greenhorn Legal offers intensive practical skills training programs for law students and new lawyers as they transition from law school into their legal practices. Ms. Moore is also an adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and was an associate at the law firm of K&L Gates. She can be found on Twitter at @greenhornlegal.

Guest Post: An Entrepreneur’s Approach To Studying For The Bar Exam is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

For some, there may be a few days or almost a week until exams.  But everywhere law students are wondering what they can do at this point to give themselves the best chance for the grades they want.  Here are a few tips:

Finish those outlines as soon as possible.  I have discussed on my blog how important outlining is, but at this point in the semester those outlines need to be pretty much done. And if they are not, finish them as soon as possible. Remember to focus on the important information in the outline and don’t include mini-briefs of cases. For more about outlining, see here.

Get your materials together. You should have collected as many practice exams and hypos as your professors have released. The exams and hypos should all be in one place (in a folder or a binder). You should have your outline for a given class printed out and in the same place. Hey, you know what makes things even easier? Create one “finals” binder! In that binder you can have a tab for each class. Each tab can include your outline, class notes (if you have them on paper) and any practice exams. That way you will never waste time by not having your materials together.

Get a study plan. I have talked before about how important it is to be organized. And finals are no different. You need a study plan. What should be on this study plan?

• What subject or subjects you are going to study each day up to the end of exams.  I recommend that you study up to (but not exceeding) two subjects per day for a minimum of three hours each. This keeps you from wasting time getting materials together and gives you an opportunity to really study and get some work done.
• When you are going to take breaks, exercise, etc.  Contrary to popular belief you shouldn’t only study during finals.  (And I am not the only person who feels this way; see The Girl’s Guide To Law School.)
• When you going to take practice exams. You want to spread them out and not just save them for right before exams.

Make sure your computer is ready for test day.  Most students are taking exams on computers these days.  You need to make sure your computer is ready with all the software and that it has been tested. Most of the software programs allow you to run a “practice exam” program. Use this! Practice writing on the program, so you are used to where all the buttons are. Also, make sure it doesn’t have any issues with your computer. Sometimes you need to turn off certain programs so as not to conflict with the testing program. You want to figure this out prior to test day so you can do your best to avoid any computer issues.

Make a day-of-exam plan.  The day-of-exam plan is critical.  Here’s what to include in the plan.

• When and where your exams are and how you are going to get to them. Taking the bus? Make sure you leave enough time for the bus to be late. Driving? Make sure that you have saved enough time to find parking.
• Whether you are using a computer. If so, how early do you need to get there to set up your computer?
• Where to sit in the exam room (if you have a choice).  I always liked to sit in the front so I couldn’t see what everyone was doing behind me.  Also, if there is a problem, you are typically close enough to get the proctor’s attention.  But that is just a personal preference.  If you do have a preference though, get there early to get the seat you want.
• What to take into the room. Outlines for an open-book test? Water to drink? Pens? Highlighters? Do you need pencils for a multiple-choice test? You don’t need to “move in” to the test room, but you do want to think through what you are going to need.
• What to eat before the test. Make sure you eat something that will keep you from getting hungry but won’t make you crash during the exam.
• What to do while you are waiting for the exam to start. There will be people in your class that continue to study in the testing room.  Please don’t do that. Nothing you will learn in those last 15 minutes is going to make one bit of difference in your grade. Does it stress you out to hear people quizzing each other? Bring headphones!  I used to sit silently in the testing room listening to my iPod before each exam to help keep me from getting distracted by other people.

Good luck getting ready for finals. You can do it! And at the end, a blissful winter break is waiting for you.

GET READY TO WALK INTO FINALS is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

This week I wrote a guest post for The Girl’s Guide to Law School which helps answer these questions.  Check it out here.

What to do if you fail the bar exam?!? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

And why is it so important to outline the various calls of the question? Because you don’t want this to happen: A student was taking the bar exam and there was an evidence question that had five parts. The parts were outlined in the call of the question and numbered one through five.  This student did not outline the call of the question on scratch paper and didn’t include a header for question number three in her essay answer. The text blended into question number four. What happened? That student lost major points because the grader couldn’t find question number three. If the professor has given you five questions, make sure you answer each one individually and call out each question using a header.

For help with essay exam writing and preparation, please contact Amicus Tutoring.

Should You Outline Before Writing an Exam Answer? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

The thing about studying for finals or the bar exam is that it is a marathon and not a sprint. It takes hard work and discipline to study daily (while taking much needed breaks) and oftentimes you are the only one setting up the study schedule.  You have no easy accountability except the test looming in the future. And if you have a tendency to procrastinate, that can lead to disappointing exam results.  Why? Because you cannot cram for a law school test. To be successful you must study, learn the law, and practice. And this cannot be done in one day or even in a couple of days.  Steady work is required throughout the exam period.  So what can you do? There are a number of techniques you can use to help fight procrastination.

• Set up a study schedule. Everyone should do this — it is very helpful to plan out your day/week or even month of studying.  What does that mean? Well, you can assign a given week a subject to focus on and set goals for that week. What if next week was “torts week,” for example?  Then, my goals for the week would be to update my torts outline, write at least one practice exam on torts, and do two hours of torts multiple-choice questions.  Once I have set out those tangible goals, it is easier to discipline myself to accomplish them.
• Set up an accountability structure for yourself.  Sometimes it is just too difficult to make yourself write that practice exam (because we all know how fun that can be). How can you help yourself get it done? Set up a deadline for yourself.  Talk to your friends and set up a meeting to get together to review the practice exam as a group. That means it has to be done. Or if you don’t want to do that, set up an appointment with a professor to review the exam.  These external deadlines will help keep you on track.
• Keep a journal.  Journaling is an interesting technique that can help with many facets of managing a study period. Keeping a journal can help you deal with anxiety and also create accountability to yourself.  By tracking the work you do every day, you can highlight what you did that you are proud of on a given day and what you wish you had done.  Some even argue that this is a very effective technique with managing stress during the bar exam. See Matt Racine, The Bar Exam Mind: A Strategy Guide For An Anxiety-Free Bar Exam.
• Take breaks to reward yourself. Breaks are very important when maintaining a productive study schedule. You cannot study all day every day.  You must take breaks in order to re-fuel yourself and re-focus.  But these breaks need to be planned. They need to be a given Sunday morning for hiking with friends, or a dinner out on a Friday night.  Do not become overly indulgent in breaks.  Breaks can keep you from getting burned out, but they should not take away from quality study time. For more on procrastination and the importance of breaks see Survive Law School: Stop Procrastinating on The Girl’s Guide to Law School.
• Go to a place that is conducive to studying.  When I was in law school, I was never very good at studying at home.  Home was full of distractions even though I lived alone (laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, phone calls, bills — you name it, I could come up with something to do). So I used to study at locations where I could intensely focus. Sometimes this was the law school library. However, during finals I frequently found the library too busy, crowded, and full of nervous energy.  So a friend and I started studying at a library near a medical school in town.  The library was open to the public but had no public Internet.  (And this was before smart phones.) So when you were in a place with no Internet, there really was no Internet. And it was great because all you could do was study.  You can also take steps to make wherever you study more conducive to studying. Turn off the wireless on your computer. Turn off your cell phone.  Make the minutes count. That will also prevent you from getting sucked into checking Twitter or Facebook or responding to e-mails. Keeping yourself focused will help with procrastination.

Many students find that working with a tutor can also help them stay focused and on track. Please contact Amicus Tutoring if you would like help preparing for finals.

Procrastination: How to Get in Gear and Get the Grades You Want is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

A good essay exam answer has many different qualities:

• It raises all the applicable issues in the fact pattern.  It does not discuss issues not discussed in the fact pattern.
• It is written in the time allowed.
• It is written in a clear style that is easy for the grader to read/understand.
• It contains accurate and concise rule statements.
• It follows IRAC (if the professor wants IRAC).
• Headers are used in a “smart” way to make the essay easier to read.
• It contains few if any typos (typos can be distracting or frustrating to the grader).

For more help with essay writing, please contact Amicus Tutoring.

What Are the Qualities of a Good Essay Exam Answer? is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

The book is a quick read — I read it on a trip down to Southern California.  Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought it raised some important issues relating to the bar exam.

I agree with Mr. Racine that we don’t spend enough time talking about the importance of mental strategy to taking the bar exam. It is a stressful, high-anxiety experience — sometimes one of the worst many people have lived through. And not learning some tactics to cope with this stress can sabotage your exam experience and negate much of the hard work you have done to prepare for the exam.  Mr. Racine put it very well when he stated, “You must do all you can to approach the bar exam in a fearless state because when you are in a fearful or anxious state, you often attract the situations or results that you want to avoid.”

Mr. Racine describes a number of different techniques to getting yourself mentally ready for the bar exam.  These include visualizations, affirmations, journaling, and nutrition.  Not all of these techniques may work for you, but it is interesting to read his recommendations and brainstorm which ones to try. Journaling, perhaps (something my students have found success with).  Or maybe taking his suggestions for anticipating testing conditions.  Whatever you get from the book, it presents an interesting approach to the mental aspect of the bar.  And one that I think needs further discussion in the testing community.

One small note: Mr. Racine discusses nutrition in part of the book. Although I cannot condone his recommendations (you should consult a trained medical professional before taking any of his recommendations regarding nutrition), I do agree that taking care of yourself physically as well as mentally is key to finding exam success.

Mr. Racine also has a blog where he continues to post about the bar exam.

Book Review — Bar Exam Mind: A Strategy Guide For An Anxiety-Free Bar Exam is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

Most students accept this as something that must be done. However, it has become very popular to outline on your computer screen prior to writing.

Is this a good idea? No.

You should be making the outline on scratch paper, not on your computer. Why?  Well, there are many reasons. First, if you outline on your computer, as you start working on the essay, your outline will disappear from the screen.  This is problematic because I see outlines as a “road map” to your entire essay. Therefore you need to have it as an easy reference point as you work. Second, computers are not without fault.  Yes, computers fail during exams. And what happens if your computer fails? You are typically given a bluebook so you can continue writing by hand. What if your outline was on that computer too?  Then you would be left with nothing.  You think it doesn’t happen, but it happened to me three times in law school. And it even happens on the bar exam.  You can still pass and do well on tests if this happens, but you want to protect yourself if it does.

For more information on how to best outline an essay exam, please contact Amicus Tutoring.

Writing an Essay Exam: Outline on Paper, Not on the Computer is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

Final Exams.

That’s right.  It is that time of the year already.  Most law school classes have only one final exam, on which your entire grade depends.  One exam lasting typically three to four hours.  That is a lot of pressure on  a single exam given on one day.  This is why it is critical that you start looking toward that exam and make sure that you are doing what you can to achieve success on exam day. Here are some questions you should be asking yourself to see if you are on the right track.

(1) Do you know the format of the exam? This is a very important question. Why? The format of the exam dictates how you study.  Especially how you practice. If the format of the exam is 50 percent multiple choice, then you need to practice that.

(2) Do you know if the exam is going to be open or closed book? This is also critical when preparing your study materials.  Technically, an outline for an open-book exam should look no different from preparation for a closed-book exam.  However, if it is an open-book exam, you may want to generate additional materials (attack plans, etc.) to take into the test.

It is also important to think about how this changes the test. In an open-book exam everyone knows the law since it’s right there in front of you.  So it is critical to think about how you are going to differentiate yourself. Typically, this is done by great analysis.  And great analysis comes from lots of preparation with hypotheticals and practice exams.

(3) Does your professor circulate practice exams? Some professors circulate them in class, some via a website, and some put them on reserve in the library.  But you want to get your hands on them as soon as you can to learn as much as you can about what the professor wants.

(4) Have you gone to office hours to talk to the professor about the exam? Typically, many law professors will be candid with you in office hours about what they are looking for in a good exam answer. Bring along a sample of your outline or your writing practice to kick off the discussion.

(5) Are your outlines up-to-date? Outlining is a critical part of preparing for exams. I have written about why it is important to outline, how long outlines should be, and when I think you should start outlining (the answer is yesterday). At this point in the semester, outlines should exist and you should be updating them weekly.

(6) Do you know where to get other practice materials? What if your professor does not circulate practice exams? There are plenty of other resources where you can find practice problems. Does your school have an Academic Support Program? If so, you should check that resource for a supply of practice exams.  Some schools even proctor exams for first-year students. Don’t forget supplements. Many supplements have fact patterns or multiple-choice questions. And don’t forget those bar study books. They are full of essays and multiple-choice questions on many of the topics you are taking right now in school.

(7) Are you practicing your writing?  I hope so. You are a fool if you are not trying to write every week. It is the only way to test if you know the law and if your outlines are working for you.

These are just some thoughts on how to continue on your way to being well prepared for final exams.  Please contact Amicus Tutoring if you would like help with exam preparation.

Halfway Through the Semester: What to Think About is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC

But what does The Elements of Style have to do with legal writing? Well, quite a bit.  Grammar is still very important in legal writing. In addition, the book includes a section on An Approach to Style (With a List of Reminders), containing recommendations and considerations writers should take into account.  I was reviewing this section today and I found a number of recommendations that I think are very applicable to legal writing.

• “Write in a way that comes easily and naturally to you, using words and phrases that come readily to hand.”

• “The use of language begins with imitation. The infant imitates the sounds made by its parents: the child imitates first the spoken language, then the stuff of books. The imitative life continues long after the writer is secure in the language, for it is almost impossible to avoid imitating what one admires.”

This is something I actually recommend that my students think about.  Frequently I am asked how to “learn” legal writing. I think one of the ways you learn is by reading legal opinions, critically, and taking from them what you think works well.  Do you like how the judge summarizes the law? Do you find the way he/she presents the reasoning easy to understand?  Learning from the writings of accomplished jurists can help you find your own voice in your legal writing.

• “Revising is part of writing. Few writers are so expert that they can produce what they are after on the first try. Quite often you will discover, on examining the completed work, that there are serious flaws in the arrangement of the material, calling for transpositions.”

I think it is a common misperception that the best writers don’t need to edit.  It is often just to the contrary.  Some of the best writing is that which is revised and edited. When you are doing legal writing (outside of the exam scenario), it is important that you leave plenty of time for revisions.

• “Remember, it is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends up in need of major surgery. This is a common occurrence in all writing, and among the best writers.”

• “Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating. …  The click and flow of a word processor can be seductive, and you may find yourself adding a few unnecessary words or even a whole passage just to experience the pleasure of running your fingers over the keyboard and watching your words appear on the screen. It is always a good idea to reread your writing later and ruthlessly delete the excess.”

• “Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

Although in legal writing you are often required to use terms of art that do sound like “twenty-dollar” words, you do want to make sure you are not falling into the trap of using big words to make yourself sound more impressive. To me the most impressive legal writing is that which can communicate in a clean and direct way not requiring a dictionary to understand the prose.

• “But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue.”

Remember the purpose of legal writing is to communicate. Sometimes you are communicating to a client, a judge or another attorney. No matter what, it is important that your position be clear so that you are not misunderstood.

These tips from The Elements of Style can help any legal writer remember key considerations as they work on their own writing.  If you would like additional help with your writing, please contact Amicus Tutoring.

Thoughts on Legal Writing: Tips from The Elements of Style is a post from: Amicus Tutoring LLC