Author: Sara J. Berman
Sara J. Berman, a graduate of the UCLA School of Law, is a Professor of Law and Assistant Dean at the Touro Law Center. She formerly served as a Director at the Washington DC-based Center for Legal Education Excellence.
Character & Fitness in Jurisdictions using NCBE
Too much stress? Try these tips.
Character and Fitness information for NY
Jimmy Cliff said it best
Below are Jimmy Cliff’s amazing lyrics, from his amazing song, “You can get it if you really want.” I sang this with students for years -before finals, before bar exams, before all of the great changes they faced. Consider singing it yourself!
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you’ll succeed at last
Look here
Persecution you must bear
Win or lose you’ve got to get your share
Got your mind set on a dream
You can get it, though harder they seem now
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you’ll succeed at last
I know it, listen
Rome was not built in a day
Opposition will come your way
But the hotter the battle you see
It’s the sweeter the victory, now
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you’ll succeed at last
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
You can get it if you really want
But you must try, try and try
Try and try, you’ll succeed at last
I know it
Don’t I show it?
So don’t give up now
But keep on trying
Spring Preview: ABA Law Students
Forthcoming, Want to Pass the Bar Exam? Start saving money now! Check out abaforlawstudents.com in March of 2022.
Previous Articles in ABA for Law Students
Why it helps to craft a personal mission statement and declare your law school purpose
JANUARY 01, 2022
Having worked remotely during the pandemic, it’s with fresh eyes that I now walk through the law school, pausing to take in its sights and sounds. On the walls, works of art depict social justice and civil rights movements—many with powerful messages and compelling photographs—proof beyond a reasonable
Bar planning dovetails with career planning
DECEMBER 01, 2021
If you haven’t yet found your place in law, you’re not alone. The process of planning to pass the bar exam can help you get there.
Let positive thoughts about the bar exam process and the future keep you on track
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
Bar exam preparation—successful bar exam preparation—requires months of full-time work after law school graduation. Law school success requires three years of hard work, four years for part-time students. Succeeding at your first law job requires intense focus and incredible effort. But in each of these
How the bar exam could change
MARCH 01, 2021
There are many unanswered questions when it comes to future plans for the exam.
Motivation, growth, and the bar exam
JANUARY 01, 2021
This winter, as 1Ls reflect on their first completed semester, 2Ls—who are halfway done— consider what they want to do in the remaining year and a half, and 3Ls think about finishing up their final semester and passing the bar exam, I encourage all of you to think
Training tools you can use to achieve civility
NOVEMBER 01, 2020
For all the lawyer jokes out there, and despite there obviously being some particularly rude law students, legal educators, and practicing attorneys, many more regularly practice politeness, especially in their professional roles. Think, for example, of courtesies extended in courts, where attorneys must address judges
Preparing for the bar exam and practice during a pandemic
SEPTEMBER 01, 2020
Don’t let anyone diminish our profession and the limitless potential of this law license you’ll have sweated for, indeed that some of you will have risked your life for.
Student Success 101: Reduce distractions and increase focus
APRIL 01, 2020
To thrive academically, and pass the bar exam the first time around, you must combat distractions with enormous discipline. You must be on—mind, body, and spirit. To do this, you need to ruthlessly protect your time and put up walls around everything that steals time and focus from your studies.
How to track, then budget, your time
APRIL 01, 2020
How can you reduce distractions and make more time for bar prep? Begin by identifying what takes your time. Below, approximate how many hours per week you spend on each item. Remember, there are only 168 possible hours in any given week. _____ Work (keep
Your GPS to summer bar success
JANUARY 01, 2020
Intensive bar preparation is a “long, strange trip” (apologies to the Grateful Dead). You need your Bar Success GPS—something you don’t want to be frantically pulling together in June and July. Start early. Start now.
The above articles by:
Sara J. Berman Berman Sara J. Berman is a professor and assistant dean at Touro Law Center and a legal education thought leader specializing in student success, teaching and learning, and bar exams. Berman’s publications include step-by-step guides to contracts, torts, and criminal law, Bar Exam Success: A Comprehensive Guide, and Bar Exam MPT Preparation & Experiential Learning for Law Students. Linkedin • @passlawprof
Struggling with Criminal Law?
Berman and Bracci’s Step-by-Step Guide to Criminal Law
The Step-by-Step Guide to Criminal Law is an interactive workbook designed to effectively prepare students to pass exams. The most heavily tested legal rules are presented in a format that mirrors the way they arise as issues in typical testing fact patterns. Rule statements are set out in …Read More
eBook & Digital
ISBN: 9781647088026
Publication Date: 11/2/2021
Page Count: 200
Struggling with Torts?
Berman and Bracci’s Step-by-Step Guide to Torts
The Step-by-Step Guide to Torts is an interactive workbook designed to effectively prepare students to pass exams. The most heavily tested legal rules are presented in a format that mirrors the way they arise as issues in typical testing fact patterns. Rule statements are set out in …Read More
eBook & Digital
ISBN: 9781636590974
Publication Date: 11/2/2021
Page Count: 200
Struggling with Contracts?
Berman and Bracci’s Step-by-Step Guide to Contracts
The Step-by-Step Guide to Contracts is an interactive workbook designed to effectively prepare students to pass exams. The most heavily tested legal rules are presented in a format that mirrors the way they arise as issues in typical testing fact patterns. Rule statements are set out in …Read More
eBook & Digital
ISBN: 9781647088019
Publication Date: 11/2/2021
Page Count: 200
Missed MBE questions?
- Read the call of the question first. Then read the facts. Then re-read the call.
- Practice reading more slowly and carefully.
- Diagram the facts if it helps you to understand the questions.
- Passively listening to outlines is not the best way to learn. Make sure your reviews of the law are active. And, know that you continue to learn the the law by practicing questions and studying explanatory answers.
- Keep logs of missed questions to determine why you missed every question you missed.
More strategy tips in Bar Exam Success: A Comprehensive Guide
Sara J. Berman 