Aspen Advisor Week in Review for November 1st, 2019

New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Virginia are among the many jurisdictions celebrating higher pass rates on the July 2019 bar exam. But it's not certain if the results signal a larger turnaround in bar passage.

The July bar results for the state of Ohio are in, and the Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law ranks first among Ohio law schools for first-time bar passage. Every ONU Law student taking the bar for the first time passed, resulting in a 100 percent bar passage rate. Ohio Northern’s first-time bar passage rate of 100 percent is well above the state average of 82 percent for the 734 first-time takers of the Ohio bar.

Almost 90 percent of University of Toledo College of Law graduates successfully passed the July bar exam on the first try, marking the strongest showing by students in the past decade.

Many law students imagine a world in which he or she can be organized, prepared, and building toward exam-ready status throughout the entire semester. Due to work loads, case briefing, copious reading, and all the other competing interests law students juggle, most students are lucky if they can get a solid week of dedicated study right before exams. There are steps one can take to start the exam prep process earlier in the semester and make the final push less stressful and more productive.

The rate of first-time takers who passed the Pennsylvania bar exam from Pitt’s School of Law is 91.36%—the highest in the state. Eighty-one Pitt Law graduates sat for the test for the first time this past July, and 74 of them passed. Pitt Law was followed in the rankings by Dickinson, with a rate of 88.46%, Penn with 88.24% and Duquesne with 87.88%. The overall state average was 80.6%.

What’s your best law school 'Never Have I Ever' experience? You know you have one.

Rather than overthinking or underthinking a theme, do your research, consider your "why" and then start writing.

The 10 worst pieces of bar exam prep advice -- ever.

Assess each mistake as an opportunity to learn more about what makes you tick. That is the path to confidence.

In this episode, special guest Stephanie Hanna -- Founder of The Other 85 -- talks about mastering the non-substantive skills that make up 85% of career success for lawyers.

Rachel Gentry, Kennedy LeJeune, and KyMara Guidry join host Ashley Baker for a roundtable discussion of law student mental health issues.

The state’s suspension of the school’s ability to accept veterans benefits earned a rebuke from the U.S. government.

Recent J.D. recipients have different opinions about whether law school is worth the cost.

The University of La Verne in California, which had a first-time bar passage rate of 31.49% for 2018, has assembled a committee to consider the future of its law school, following a recent change that tightened bar passage requirements for ABA-accredited law schools.

Transformation is a staple in legal industry articles, conferences and parlance. What is it, and what is the gauge for law’s progress?