Hi friends! Over a hundred of you signed up to hear about my Year In The Wilderness. That’s a lot more than I expected so I’ll get right to work writing my story about what it was like for me in 2015 right after I got fired from my law firm job, and how it eventually led me to legal tech. But before I do that, I wanted to share this with you all.
Earlier this week, The Bloomberg Law Podcast Uncommon Law released the latest episode on its series about reforming the bar exam. They opened with me sharing my personal story of what it was like to fail the bar exam. In this excerpt, I describe what it was like to go through that experience, finding out that I failed, telling my firm, and how terrifying it was to have to bring it up to the judge I was interviewing with for a federal clerkship. Adam Allington, the host of the show, does a fantastic job helping me tell my story.
If you haven’t heard the entire episode, you have to check it out here.
What It Was Like To Fail The Bar Exam
Thank You So Much For Sharing. This week I hit the one-year mark practicing law. I graduated with an LL.M. (after my foreign JD equivalent) from UC Hastings in 2010. I took and failed both NY and CA bar examS (with emphasis on plurality). I might have been in the same convention hall in Albany, NY with you in July of 2010?
Anyways, it's cringe-y to look back. The monster of imposter syndrome and feeling exposed never fails to lurk behind. Yet the career limitations resulting from my bar failures (career paralegal) aren't all a waste, in hindsight. I have been trained to be customer-service-oriented and meticulous with things going on forms and paperwork, which turn out to be crucial in my line of work: trusts and estates.
Again, thank you for being vulnerable and genuine. It is very empowering to me personally.