A Clue on a Lawyer's intelligence

DGS49

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2012
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There is a bit of information about lawyers that sometimes comes to light and sometimes not: Whether they passed the Bar Exam on their first try. As a law school grad and long-time corporate attorney, this is something that interests me and that I think is significant. In my experience, the grads in my class who failed the Bar (on their first try) were the boneheads in the class. I could have predicted every single failure.

In our public sphere there a lot of first-time failures in prominent positions. The joke when I was in law school was that none of the Kennedy's passed the Bar on their first try, and I believe that's close to the truth. Kamala Harris failed the CA Bar on her first try. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama failed on their first tries. Pete Wilson (3X!). Mayor Daley the Younger.

While Joe Biden has never boasted about his Delaware bar results - surprising, isn't it? - but judging by the dates when he graduated from LS and when he was admitted to the Delaware Bar, it appears that he passed that difficult exam on his first try.

My experience was this: Law school professors rewarded verbosity and "creative" thinking on exams, but the Bar actually tests your knowledge of the law. I was in the middle of my class but passed the Bar with flying colors. FWIW.
 
IDK. I've heard people say that law school didn't teach them much in the way of what they needed to pass the bar and it often came down to whether you could afford one of those expensive boot-camp prep classes or not. Guess it varies by school.
 
Mayor Daley the Younger lol. I'm surprised he passed at all. He was an idiot.
 
Hard to believe Julian Assange is still in custody in Britain awaiting extradition to the U.S. He should be freed.

After kidnapping, torturing and jailing Julian Assange the United States Govt is still trying to extradite him so they can lock him up for the rest of his life, for exposing their war crimes and corruption.

We have a justice system that is most unjust.

When will the people wake up?
 

There is a bit of information about lawyers that sometimes comes to light and sometimes not: Whether they passed the Bar Exam on their first try. As a law school grad and long-time corporate attorney, this is something that interests me and that I think is significant. In my experience, the grads in my class who failed the Bar (on their first try) were the boneheads in the class. I could have predicted every single failure.

In our public sphere there a lot of first-time failures in prominent positions. The joke when I was in law school was that none of the Kennedy's passed the Bar on their first try, and I believe that's close to the truth. Kamala Harris failed the CA Bar on her first try. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama failed on their first tries. Pete Wilson (3X!). Mayor Daley the Younger.

While Joe Biden has never boasted about his Delaware bar results - surprising, isn't it? - but judging by the dates when he graduated from LS and when he was admitted to the Delaware Bar, it appears that he passed that difficult exam on his first try.

My experience was this: Law school professors rewarded verbosity and "creative" thinking on exams, but the Bar actually tests your knowledge of the law. I was in the middle of my class but passed the Bar with flying colors. FWIW.
Then why are all Trump’s lawyers so bad? Two time failures? :cool-45:
 

There is a bit of information about lawyers that sometimes comes to light and sometimes not: Whether they passed the Bar Exam on their first try. As a law school grad and long-time corporate attorney, this is something that interests me and that I think is significant. In my experience, the grads in my class who failed the Bar (on their first try) were the boneheads in the class. I could have predicted every single failure.

In our public sphere there a lot of first-time failures in prominent positions. The joke when I was in law school was that none of the Kennedy's passed the Bar on their first try, and I believe that's close to the truth. Kamala Harris failed the CA Bar on her first try. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama failed on their first tries. Pete Wilson (3X!). Mayor Daley the Younger.

While Joe Biden has never boasted about his Delaware bar results - surprising, isn't it? - but judging by the dates when he graduated from LS and when he was admitted to the Delaware Bar, it appears that he passed that difficult exam on his first try.

My experience was this: Law school professors rewarded verbosity and "creative" thinking on exams, but the Bar actually tests your knowledge of the law. I was in the middle of my class but passed the Bar with flying colors. FWIW.
Interesting I have a friend who passed the bar exam in two different states on his very first try.

He went to a third tier law school and graduated in the middle of his class. He got a mediocre LSAT score and mediocre SAT scores, undergrad was at a very easy to get into college. I would say he was just an average student academically in high school and college. A friend of his actually told him he would never make it because he didn't think he was smart enough. He made it through got a Law Degree in 3rd tier law school and passed the bar exam in two different states on his very first try. Is now a successful lawyer.
 
Interesting I have a friend who passed the bar exam in two different states on his very first try.

He went to a third tier law school and graduated in the middle of his class. He got a mediocre LSAT score and mediocre SAT scores, undergrad was at a very easy to get into college. I would say he was just an average student academically in high school and college. A friend of his actually told him he would never make it because he didn't think he was smart enough. He made it through got a Law Degree in 3rd tier law school and passed the bar exam in two different states on his very first try. Is now a successful lawyer.
Some people are good test takers. I can remember smart guys that got lousy SAT scores.
 

There is a bit of information about lawyers that sometimes comes to light and sometimes not: Whether they passed the Bar Exam on their first try. As a law school grad and long-time corporate attorney, this is something that interests me and that I think is significant. In my experience, the grads in my class who failed the Bar (on their first try) were the boneheads in the class. I could have predicted every single failure.

In our public sphere there a lot of first-time failures in prominent positions. The joke when I was in law school was that none of the Kennedy's passed the Bar on their first try, and I believe that's close to the truth. Kamala Harris failed the CA Bar on her first try. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama failed on their first tries. Pete Wilson (3X!). Mayor Daley the Younger.

While Joe Biden has never boasted about his Delaware bar results - surprising, isn't it? - but judging by the dates when he graduated from LS and when he was admitted to the Delaware Bar, it appears that he passed that difficult exam on his first try.

My experience was this: Law school professors rewarded verbosity and "creative" thinking on exams, but the Bar actually tests your knowledge of the law. I was in the middle of my class but passed the Bar with flying colors. FWIW.
graduating at the top of one's class indicates NOTHING about an attorney's ability.
Failing to pass the bar, ESPECIALLY IN CALIFORNIA, on the first try indicates nothing about an attorney's ability.

But a supposed attorney spending time in this place in racist rants about how these meaningless data point prove ability is a clear indicator of an attorney who doesn't practice law because at 9:30 AM on a Thursday a REAL attorney would have lawyering to do not racist whining about the VP.
 
California also has several unaccredited law schools whose graduates can sit for the California bar but who do not have a great pass rate. https://www.usnews.com/education/bl...-cons-of-attending-an-unaccredited-law-school

Neither defending nor attacking the VP. I am just not sure this metric means much.
It means nothing.

California, Virginia, and Washington do not require a law school degree to sit for the bar.
The requirement in other states, in my opinion, is racist and elitist.

Attorneys who never attended Law School

1. Patrick Henry (1736-1799), member of the Continental Congress, governor of Virginia
2. John Jay (1745-1829), first chief justice of the Supreme Court

3. John Marshall (1755-1835), chief justice of the Supreme Court

4. William Wirt (1772-1834), attorney general

5. Roger B. Taney (1777-1864), secretary of the treasury, chief justice of the Supreme Court

6. Daniel Webster (1782-1852), secretary of state

7. Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873), senator, chief justice of the Supreme Court

8. Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), president

9. Stephen Douglas (1813-1861), representative, senator from Illinois

10. Clarence Darrow (1857-1938), defense attorney in Scopes trial of 1925. [While Clarence Darrow attended a law school for one year, he did not distinguish himself and preferred to study law on his own. He received the greater part of his education in a law office in Youngstown, Ohio.]

11. Robert Storey (b. 1893), president of the American Bar Association (1952-1953)

12. J. Strom Thurmond (b. 1902), senator, governor of South Carolina

13. James O. Eastland (b. 1904), senator from Mississippi

Some of the names you might recognize.

The bar exam serves a single purpose. To limit the number of lawyers. It does not actually test abilities as an attorney and REALLY doesn't test ethics or integrity.
 

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