There’s no mistaking my driving personality trait: I am a results- oriented person.  I don’t like variables and unknowns.  When I began my preparation for the bar, I found a clear void in any reliable approach to essay and MBE preparation. There were plenty of really good commercial materials for both, though none of the commercial courses offered a methodology for either the essays or the MBE work that really effectively prepared students for the test itself. What was most lacking was a defined and predictable preparation approach, and a clear understanding of what I was supposed to be doing with my time after my commercial course ended.  As a single mother, full-time employee and full-time law student, I did not have the luxury of re-taking the exam.  I had to pass the first time.  My course is designed to eliminate uncertainty and to promote economy of effort by preparing for what would actually be tested on the exam.

After sharing my method with some of my law school professors at Rutgers, they began to refer students to me for bar exam and first-year exam preparation.  Soon after, I suggested that the law school offer my course to graduating 3L’s so that everyone could have the same advantage.  Until devoting my full-time efforts to bar-prep work, I practiced law and taught this course for Rutgers Law School in Camden and to individuals privately.

My course has become very popular, and I was often sought out, through referral, by students from other schools, and in some cases, I was even referred by judges to their law clerks. These days I have formal relationships with several universities (including Ivy League law schools), whose Directors of Academic Affairs refer their students to me.

My students often relay gratitude for my compassion and attentiveness to their emotional wellbeing during bar exam preparation.  I am also well known for successfully preparing re-takers of the exam. There is no denying that the bar exam is an emotional, and often life-altering experience.

More than anything, my course is most known for breaking down preparation for the exam into defined and discrete tasks, and eliminating the guesswork.   Typically I meet with students six to eight times during a course. Meetings are confined to explaining assignments and methodology and reviewing the previous week’s assignment.  Students need not worry about the “extra” time associated with our meetings, since the organization of the course is designed to maximize efficiency and actually saves effort.

My students are often surprised to learn that essay portion of the exam is less about finding answers and more about testing their ability to detect problems.  After all, good lawyers can best identify their client’s legal exposure before delving into solutions and analysis. Similarly, the MBE is less about memorizing black letter law and more about deteting nuances and tricks to the vast scope of law tested.

Aside from the legal instruction and methodological preparation, I most enjoy the human element of my work with students---helping people overcome their fear of this exam and finding out that their unique contribution to the practice of law, however it expresses itself, is meaningful and worthwhile.