Naked JD - What to do?

[Mark it 8]

Did you do Bar/Bri? It's the only study course you need. If you cannot afford the live course, buy the books off someone who's already used them.
For the essay section, check with the rules for your state to make sure, but you can probably just make **** up and keep it in IRAC.

For VA, I was told yes, make up the rules and IRAC them if you can't remember a rule. If you do make up a rule, you are better off trying to guess the common law version as VA is fairly traditional common law in a lot of substantial areas, (1st restatement for conflicts of law, etc. But yeah, IRAC, IRAC, IRAC for everything and you can pass with partial credit even if you don't know the rules. VA's essay day, last I checked, was 5 essays in one 3 hour sections, and then 4 essays and 10 short answer/fill in the blanks in the other essay section. All 9 essays are issue spotter essays, none of that open up a gigantic file and read through it stuff and write up that other states have.

The entire bar exam for my state was essays. They were pretty in depth, but the same approach applied- stumped on an issue, make up a rule and IRAC like crazy.

 

[dragon8]



Yep. You can completely make up your own rules and only take a small penalty. On the other hand, if you state the right rule, but don't write to the proper form, you'll barely get any points.

Did you do Bar/Bri? It's the only study course you need. If you cannot afford the live course, buy the books off someone who's already used them.
For the essay section, check with the rules for your state to make sure, but you can probably just make **** up and keep it in IRAC.

Yep. I guess all review courses encourage you to make up the rule if you dont know it but keep it in IRAC form. but if you studied enough for the MBEs you should know the rules for the essays.

 

[sns23]

Shoot me a pm if you have any questions about the mbe. I killed it with a 178 while being sick that day. (~99.8 percentile).

 

[mordecai]

Is this a vision of my :foo: ture?

 

[dragon8]



Shoot me a pm if you have any questions about the mbe. I killed it with a 178. (~99.8 percentile).

How did you find out your MBE score?

 

[sns23]

Comes with your bar results.

 

[dragon8]



Comes with your bar results.

Ok. In CA, we do not get it our breakdown if you pass but every state has their own way. Congrats on acing the MBE!

 

[dragon8]

I remembered the MBE program I took it was MicroMash.

 

[yerfdog]



Someone I know has her JD but hasn't passed the TX bar (yet), she's working as a contracts manager which isn't a straight-up legal job but it pays pretty well for the time being.

As a side note to cheesus, there are lots of contract manager /contract specialist jobs in the DC area with both the federal government and government contractors. They are probably getting harder to find in the current fiscal environment, but there have to still be more in DC than anywhere else.

A small government contractor might be your best chance to get your foot in the door without experience. If you get one of these jobs you can either take the alternate career path and run with it, or use the free time from not having 2 extra jobs to study for the bar exam nights and weekends.

The federal government is probably going to be the most forgiving when it comes to your lack of relevant experience, but it will take the longest (like 4-8 months) to get hired. If you're interested, try looking into NCMA http://www.ncmahq.org/ - they have a public job board, though it doesn't look like it has many entry level openings right now after a quick perusal. Also read up as much as you can on the Federal Acquisition Regulation and other related systems - this is not at all like commercial contracts.

 

[NoVaguy]



As a side note to cheesus, there are lots of contract manager /contract specialist jobs in the DC area with both the federal government and government contractors. They are probably getting harder to find in the current fiscal environment, but there have to still be more in DC than anywhere else.
A small government contractor might be your best chance to get your foot in the door without experience. If you get one of these jobs you can either take the alternate career path and run with it, or use the free time from not having 2 extra jobs to study for the bar exam nights and weekends.
The federal government is probably going to be the most forgiving when it comes to your lack of relevant experience, but it will take the longest (like 4-8 months) to get hired. If you're interested, try looking into NCMA http://www.ncmahq.org/ - they have a public job board, though it doesn't look like it has many entry level openings right now after a quick perusal. Also read up as much as you can on the Federal Acquisition Regulation and other related systems - this is not at all like commercial contracts.

A classmate of mine had one of these jobs while doing night law, working for a major military/engineering contracting firm. I think he stuck with it for a year or so after graduation and then jumped to a mid-major law firm specializing in government contracting (at least, it was one I had previously heard of).

 

[freddych]

178 just means you studied too hard lol...

OP needs to pass the damn bar exam and get a job reviewing documents or as a contract attorney. It sucks but it pays decently.

Someone posted earlier about being a contracts manager, which is also a good idea. Doesn't require a JD, but people will like that you have one.

Last option would be to become a police officer. Pay kinda sucks to begin with, but benefits are good and you get a pretty good pension. They will like that you have a JD.

 

[akatsuki]



178 just means you studied too hard lol...

+1

Bar exams are really no big deal if you take them seriously. I've taken NY/MA and CA and it was all about putting in the time. Did Bar/bri on iPod which was a billion times better than doing it in person since I could just cruise along. Hell, studied for NY while travelling the entire summer in Japan. Studied for MA while driving from Albany to Boston in the car glancing over at the Barbri cheat sheet.

All about being disciplined.

 

[sns23]



178 just means you studied too hard lol...

OP needs to pass the damn bar exam and get a job reviewing documents or as a contract attorney. It sucks but it pays decently.

Someone posted earlier about being a contracts manager, which is also a good idea. Doesn't require a JD, but people will like that you have one.

Last option would be to become a police officer. Pay kinda sucks to begin with, but benefits are good and you get a pretty good pension. They will like that you have a JD.

I hardly think 4 hours per day is too much. Just top of the food chain.

 

[dragon8]



+1
Bar exams are really no big deal if you take them seriously. I've taken NY/MA and CA and it was all about putting in the time. Did Bar/bri on iPod which was a billion times better than doing it in person since I could just cruise along. Hell, studied for NY while travelling the entire summer in Japan. Studied for MA while driving from Albany to Boston in the car glancing over at the Barbri cheat sheet.
All about being disciplined.

Yes I agree. If you have a study plan and remain disciplined passing the bar is doable.

 

[cheessus]

yerfdog and novaguy- thanks so much for those suggestions! never heard of that site before and law enforcement?....interesting. ill definitely do some more research on that. actually getting to discuss this with other people has reinvigorated me. thanks again to everyone.