Jessie Zaylía's Law (and Law School) Blog

Tonight, I was voted in by the partnership of my firm to be a partner. I wanted to share my joy with all of you. I also want you to know that, if you fail the Bar, your life is not over. I failed twice, passed the third time, and am now the Office Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office of my firm. This has been an incredible experience.

At this time every year, my blog tends to be on fire. My readers are nervous. You don't know whether the Friday before Thanksgiving is going to ruin your life or fulfill your dreams.  I get it. I know that bar examiners will fret constantly until the time arrives when you check your results. The fact is that about half of you will pass and the other half will not. For those of you who do not pass, I need to impress upon you that, although failing the bar totally sucks , it is not the end. Trust me. I've been there. It is very, very possible to pass the California Bar after failing it. I failed twice and passed it on my third shot. One professor (whom I love dearly) told me that I was an anomaly because (1) she thought there was no way that I would have failed to begin with (thank you) and (2) it is very difficult to pass on the third try or beyond. The key for me, though, was to finally figure out precisely how to write for the bar. Most people fail on the writing, not ...