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Yes, I know the bar exam is next week, and yes, I know that it is freak-out time for examinees. I was one all those years ago and I still remember my freaking out the week before the exam, so rest assured that we dinosaurs still remember, to the extent that we have any memory left, our own personal traumas and bad experiences. It is a shared nightmare.
So, here’s my semi-annual reminder of my rules for surviving the bar exam. I am sure that others will chime in, be they bar-preppers, law professors, and/or any others who might have some wisdom to share. It may seem like you are alone, but you aren’t.
- Follow the call of the question(s). The grader doesn’t want to read all that you know about the Rule of Against Perpetuities but rather whether it’s an issue in this particular fact pattern. Regurgitating knowledge just for the sake of showing how smart you are is not the name of the game here. Understand the call of the question and answer that question. It’s akin to being asked a question in court and not answering the question asked. Don’t make the judge have to ask it again or the court will think that you don’t know what you are talking about, which may indeed be the case.
- Budget your time. You don’t want to get to the end of the time period and realize that your answer is incomplete. You may want to take a few precious minutes to outline your answer so that you can allot time as necessary to make sure the reader knows what you know.
- Do NOT discuss, talk, or engage in any conversation via social media or any other way about the exam or any particular question on it. Don’t ask how someone else answered the question; don’t respond if you are asked. Walk away. Ignore anyone and everyone who wants to hash over the exam. There is nothing worse than fretting about whether you answered a question correctly or not. It’s too late to do anything about it and perseverating will just make you feel worse than you are already feeling when the exam is over. You don’t know whether that person answered it correctly. Why put any more doubt in your mind than what is already there? Remember that not every smarty-pants passes.
- Even if you feel confident about the exam, or about any question on it, such that you feel okay about talking about it, don’t. If any doubt, see rule number 3.
Apropos of my rant last week about whether we’ll get to the moon again before we see gender parity in our profession, it seems that the majority of Americans think that we (e.g., women) are just as smart and competent as men. (Hooray! But that certainly took long enough.) In a Los Angeles Times article, discussing a study in the journal American Psychologist, research showed that Americans’ perceptions of women have shifted over the past 70 years. About time, wouldn’t you say?
The study looked at three sets of traits, which it defined as competence, communion, and agency. “Competence” traits include being organized, intelligent, and capable. “Communion” traits are the “soft skills,” social skills such as warmth, compassion, generosity, and the like. “Agency” traits are characteristics such as assertiveness and decisiveness, and even aggression.
The researchers found that today, the vast majority of Americans view women as having better “communion” skills, e.g., the ability to connect with others, to show more compassion, and to possess better people skills. I don’t think that those conclusions are any surprise.
However, when it comes to “agency,” as the researchers defined that term (see above), most Americans still see men as more likely to be assertive than women. Gender bias remains alive and well.
The article quotes a social psychologist who reminds us all that just because women are seen as equally competent as men, if not more so, doesn’t mean that gender discrimination is a thing of the past. He likens it to “whack a mole,” which reminds me of Bill Murray in the movie Caddyshack. Just because you think you’ve eradicated the gopher in one hole doesn’t mean that you don’t have that same problem in another.
So, at least according to this study, women are still not seen as assertive enough (read aggressive) to be promoted into leadership roles. Again, I don’t think this study tells us anything we don’t already know. Women are still working to show that we are just as competent and have the cojones which law firms seem to think women need to have in order to succeed.
However, if women are eventually seen to be just as stubborn, arrogant, ambitious, and confident, then there should be absolutely no reason for women not to have the leadership positions they are prepared for today but nonetheless denied.
So, to those examinees who pass the bar exam, it’s your turn at bat to do what we have been unable to accomplish to date. I and others thought we’d be much farther along, but we’re not. Gender parity and its sibling, pay parity, are things that seem to be even more daunting than passing the bar. We’re looking at you, kids.
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.