Group workshops and passive lectures teach what graders look for in theory. One-on-one tutoring with a former California Bar grader tells you what your answers are actually missing — and builds a plan around fixing it.
How do you actually raise your bar exam score? By learning what a grader is looking for – not by guessing at it from a lecture, a blog post, or a commercial course that grades your essays impressionistically.
Jay Bijlani graded thousands of real essay answers across multiple administrations of the California Bar Examination for the State Bar of California. He has spent the 19 years since teaching candidates to write what the exam actually rewards – as a law school professor and through Esquired.
Your program is designed and delivered by Jay personally. You are never handed off to a junior tutor.
One-on-one preparation for the California Bar Examination, built around the skills the exam actually scores.
Assessment consulting, diagnostic feedback, and licensing for organizations preparing candidates for the NextGen UBE.
Jay breaks down the three skill areas every bar exam answer is scored on, and why knowing the law is only one of them.
Replace fear and misinformation with confidence and competence, then prove you can lawyer on the essay, performance test, and MBE sections.
Esquired deconstructs the bar exam and California’s “minimum competence” standard from a grader’s perspective, and builds a program around your actual strengths, weaknesses, and learning preferences.
From the start, understand clearly what it takes to pass the bar exam and how to target the specific skills involved.Â
First, skip the self-proclaimed “experts” and blogs loaded with “tricks.” Learn directly from a former bar grader what it takes to be Esquired: What do the bar graders want to see on the essays and performance test? How do you raise your MBE score?
Then, use sophisticated approaches that target those defined competencies and skills across multiple subjects.
Feel confident with the depth and breadth of law you are using.Â
Efficient study demands comprehensive and logically constructed substantive law and other materials. Forget distilling rules from inconsistent lectures and written materials.Â
With complete consistency in substantive law structuring and terminology, all of your resources and feedback work together to promote your understanding and memorization of the rules for the essays and MBEs.Â
Best of all, work with rules that are keyed to how the bar grader would hope to see them presented.
Learn where you stand with meaningful feedback given by a former bar grader.
Jay Bijlani incorporates multiple tools for your improvement. For example, on all submitted assignments, he provides a realistic bar score and detailed, pinpoint written comments identifying each problem and showing you how to fix it. During face-to-face, one-on-one sessions, Jay uses interactive exercises to target deficiencies in law and skill on all three portions of the bar exam.
Knowing you have a former bar grader at your side, focus on your weaknesses and celebrate your progress and strengths throughout.
Know how to spend your time wisely.Â
Preparing fully for the bar exam presents a variety of challenges, including: understanding and memorizing substantive law; practicing a substantial number of essay, PT and MBE questions; considering family and work obligations; staying motivated.Â
Maintain the delicate balance from start to finish so you do not fall behind. Stay on track with Esquired.