For a complete list of all past exams from the bar, please see tab: CA Bar Past Exams & Performance Tests in the left menu panel
We hope that your studying is going well and that you are taking care of yourself! For those of you who are taking Barbri, or have access to Barbri, we highly encourage you to take advantage of their Staff Attorney Essay Grading service. At this point, you will want to know where you stand with essays to prioritize what you need to improve on. There are four essays that you can submit for grading to include additional practice essays. If you need additional feedback for your Barbri essays or any essay, please contact a Bar Coach! We can walk through the essay with you to see where you might be able to pick up more points!
Overall, if you are having trouble with anything, please reach out to someone. We want to see you succeed and we all have the tools to do that. A Barbri Staff Attorney should get back to you within 2 days. You can e-mail andrea.iorio@barbri.com or danae.weidemann@barbri.com. You can also reach our Bar Coach team here, who can help you with any portion of the Bar Exam:
Jess Khachiyants, JD: jkhachiyants@ncu.edu
Kimberly D. Rice, Esq.: krice@ncu.edu
Use all of the resources available to you. We want to see you achieve your goals.
Hello Future Attorneys!
The JFK School of Law Bar Coach Program has many resources to help you get started NOW!
This page contains an abundance of content to help you prep for the bar, including "Bar Coach on Demand" videos from Jess Khachiyants, Kimberly Rice, California Bar documents, model answers, and announcements, with more added frequently as they become available.
The California Bar Exam has a reputation for being notoriously difficult, but possible to pass. Many have done so, and you can too! While there are NO shortcuts, there are skills and strategies that you can learn to take your performance to a higher level. That’s where we enter.
The JFK Bar Coach Program is an alternative, one on one program designed to focus specifically on Bar Exam Skills, Strategies and Self-Care. While we can’t take the place of your traditional substantive bar exam program, we can provide you with tools to enhance your performance, while focusing on your well-being.
We offer individual appointments for skills or strategy sessions which cover every portion of the California Bar Exam.
Look at our "Menu of Offerings" (below) to see what we have to offer!
Please contact Jess Khachiyants at jkhachiyants@ncu.edu and Kimberly Rice at krice@ncu.edu for additional questions
Be sure to check out our page on the left menu: Bar Prep On Demand Video Series for all bar prep recordings and videos
Important update - Posted June 24th 2022
After conferring with Barbri, a universal statement was sent out to all Applicants in light of today's Supreme Court decision. Please review this IMPORTANT message below:
For Non-UBE states
You may be wondering whether the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions will affect the July bar exam. The answer is no. The NCBE has said that MBE takers will not need to be familiar with recent Supreme Court decisions. Your state essay questions were drafted and finalized before this week’s decisions. In our experience state essay examiners avoid testing topics that are before the Court. In the unlikely event you see one of these issues on your state essay exam, the examiners will accept a well-reasoned answer applying either the new or prior rule or standard.
If you are taking Barbri, please continue to use their materials.
In regards to the MBE, here is a universal statement sent to ALL Applicants now and in the future:
The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) recently announced that examinees taking the NCBE-developed July 2022 MBE, MPT, and MEE will not be required to be familiar with this term's US Supreme Court decisions. Please see the announcement here: https://www.ncbex.org/news/ncbe-statement-on-scotus-decisions/
If you have specific questions for the State Bar of California, please contact them at admissions@calbar.ca.gov
You should be receiving emails from ADMISSIONS every Friday. If you are not, please check your spam folder for any updates on the issue above and general Bar Exam FAQs.
In one week, you will get to show the bar graders that you’re practice ready! To decrease the stress associated with the exam, make sure you have a “To Do” list so that you can walk into the exam focused on ONLY the exam.
Here is a sample:
Most important of all, decide when you will STOP studying this week or weekend. Your brain will need rest to avoid burnout!
We hope these tips are helpful to you! Check the State Bar website for any updates here: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Examinations/California-Bar-Examination/July-2022-California-Bar-Exam
You can count on Professional Responsibility being on the Bar Exam in some form or another! Here is a special notice from the State Bar of California:
"Applicants are expected to know the California Rules of Professional Conduct in effect at the time the exam is administered (current law). The rules were substantially revised effective November 1, 2018. Minor amendments were made subsequent to that date. The latest amendments, amending Rule 1.1 [Competence] and Rule 5.4 [Financial and Similar Arrangements with Nonlawyers] were amended by the Supreme Court effective March 22, 2021. These rules are within the scope of the upcoming July 2022 California Bar Examination." [Emphasis Added].
You can expect the Bar Examiners to test these rules solo or with another subject. PR has been combined in the past with Evidence, Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Community Property, Remedies, and Corporations.
If you need additional resources for Professional Responsibility, we are attaching an UPDATED CA BAR EXAM ESSAY GUIDE shared by our colleagues from JD Advising. The updated version has illustrations and pictures to help you learn the law! Chapter 12 focuses on Professional Responsibility. [Bar Grader Tip: "Split conflict of interest into potential and actual. Begin with potential. Duty of loyalty means the same as conflict of interest."] A copy of the Rules of Professional Conduct for California is also attached. We hope you find this content helpful!
Website: Jdadvising.com
Important Reminder: Documents must be complete and submitted online or received in the San Francisco Office of the State Bar, Office of Admissions 180 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 by the deadline listed on the California Bar website. Early filing is strongly encouraged, as deadlines will not be extended. For complete information about the Accommodations process, please review the following link:
Requesting Testing Accommodations (ca.gov)
If you need information about your accommodations at NCU, please contact Disability Services at disabilitiesservices@ncu.edu.
For July 2022 Bar Applicants and Potential Applicants:
The deadline to request Accommodations for the JULY Bar is June 1, 2022. Documents must be complete and submitted online or received in the San Francisco Office of the State Bar, Office of Admissions 180 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 by the deadline listed on the California Bar website. Early filing is strongly encouraged, as deadlines will not be extended. For complete information about the Accommodations process, please review the following link:
This is an important reminder that you will need to stay abreast of all updates from the California Bar Examiners. This includes:
Studying for the California Bar Exam takes an extraordinary amount of time and energy. It is way more than a test. The kind of focus required over the next several months will need cooperation from those you love the most! Setting boundaries is not easy, but here are a few tips to get through this bar season:
Those who care about you will have a vested interest in your happiness and success! This part of your journey may feel like a party of one. Only you can take the bar exam. Stand firm on your decisions and thank your support system when you’re done!
Hello JFK Bar Applicants:
We recently received an article from our colleagues at Bar Exam Toolbox that we think would be helpful for you. The article is called: "Why Do We Have to Write Out Practice Answers?" It gives sound advice as to why this is a crucial component to passing the bar exam. "Active learning" is critical to your preparation for the California Bar Exam to get and stay on the passing side of the curve.
Here is the link to the article: https://barexamtoolbox.com/why-do-we-have-to-write-out-practice-answers/?utm_source=Bar+Exam+Toolbox&utm_campaign=9fb1ec836d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_22_02_37_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c410c18780-9fb1ec836d-139357571
JFK School of Law has arranged for discounted access to BarEssays.com for students taking the July 2022 bar exam.
If you need an additional resource, BarEssays.com is an excellent supplementary study tool for your bar review course, featuring a database of over 3,000 authentic graded and returned essays from prior California Bar Exams. Through BarEssays.com, you can practice any essay from the past decade, then view real high scoring and low scoring answers to that essay, graded by the actual bar examiners. By examining the answers, you can not only calibrate your study progress, but you can also gain a deeper appreciation of what the bar examiners value in an answer.
For more information and to obtain your discounted account ($30 discount), go to www.BarEssays.com and enter coupon code "JFK" on the payment screen.
If you need more information on these upcoming webinars, please contact info@baressays.com