For most students, the baseline point of law school is to become a licensed lawyer, and passing the bar exam is the price for admission. At Appalachian School of Law, the bar-exam challenge is addressed on day one with each incoming student. This long-term partnership with BARBRI will provide each ASL student with highly effective analytical and practical skills that are individually designed to ensure that every graduate is in the best position to pass the bar exam.
The ASL-BARBRI plan involves all three years of a student’s law school experience and continues several months after graduation. The first year includes a detailed series of learning assessments to set a baseline for progress and to identify any areas needing improvement. This is done to gauge the learning needs of incoming students individually and collectively as a new ASL class.
In a student’s second year, the plan examines various proficiencies (knowledge retention and application, reading comprehension, and analytical skills) in substantive legal subjects and pinpoints issues requiring focused attention.
The plan’s third year and post-graduate phase involve a regimen of practice tests on subjects likely to be on the bar exam in the specific jurisdiction in which the student wants to practice law. Similar to the day-one assessments, the post-graduate program uses similar testing and re-testing practices, delivering substantive lectures in addition to testing strategies. This final component of the BARBRI service is a 10-week program leading up to the bar examination.
The law school experience is not for the faint of heart. It is demanding and yet highly rewarding. The desire to succeed must be matched with the tools of success. Preparation breeds confidence, and confidence success. The ASL professor managing the bar-prep plan, Jeremy Hurley, explains that “what we are doing will reduce the inevitable stress of taking the bar exam, and in our experience, that correlates to better performance throughout the demanding two days of testing.”
Embracing the maxim that we should “begin with the end in mind,” ASL is pleased to offer its students at no extra financial cost the benefits of this new ASL-BARBRI partnership. For additional information and details about the plan, please contact Professor Hurley at 276-244-1223.
