See also the pdf file attached at the bottom where Mr. Meehan goes into more detail about the experience of prepping for the Arizona Bar Exam.
Why I Became (an American) Lawyer
Eugene Meehan, Q.C.
Lang Michener, Ottawa
emeehan@langmichener.ca
A
few years ago, after my friend and colleague in the next office died way too
early, I made a list of things I’d been thinking
of doing, but hadn’t done. I restricted
my list to the things I’d spoken to my friend about, so there were only three
or four (though I did add that I’d show more often Giovanna, and the four kids
that I love them). The first thing on
that list was to become an American lawyer — and thereby get into the American
marketplace — though still reside in Canada.
A
lawyer I knew in Vancouver had moved to Arizona, studied part-time for the bar
exams over a one-year period, found them “fairly straightforward” and sent me
all his cassettes and study materials.
I thought it best I double his study period (on the basis he’s twice as
smart as me), so for two years I left work mid-afternoon, came home, made
myself a cup of tea, and got into it — then tried to ignore the hustle and
bustle of the kids coming in from school, but still help them with their
homework and their end-of-year exams. I
also studied evenings, weekends, and holidays.
I
went down to my Vancouver/Arizona friend’s house and crammed for two weeks
before the exam. I got 68.5% — the pass
mark was 70.
I
took the following summer off, went back down to Arizona, took a two and a half
month crash course (at Arizona State University, organized by a
private-provider called BarBri) and studied every American subject from
Aboriginal to Zoning — all the “federal” subjects like Constitutional,
Criminal, Property, Evidence, Torts, Contracts; all the state subjects like
Corporations, Civil Procedure, Family, Tax, Wills and Estates, etc.
The
exam I wrote (two and half days including a half-day ethics exam) was the
toughest exam I’ve ever written (to put humility aside for a moment, I’ve four
university degrees, so I’ve written a lot of exams) and the exam questions are specifically
drafted so that if for example you know your material “reasonably well” you
will be attracted by what the instructors call “sucker answers” and promptly
fail. Indeed, in very many questions,
if you know the material even a bit better than that, you’ll get attracted by
the “sub-sucker answers”, and again promptly fail. The only sure-fire way to get through the exam is to put your
complete personal and professional life on hold for three months and work your
ass off — and speaking of that, I even studied on the can. I can now read the O.R.’s with my left hand.
What’s
the main reason for doing this? For me,
getting access to the American marketplace.
I now know American law just as well as any American lawyer practising
that law, and am obliged to keep up-to-date on an annual basis with mandatory
CLE. Here’s what I’m now able to do: if
a U.S. lawyer approaches me whose client has a trans-border issue, I am able to
understand the legal position of the U.S. client, explain to that client how
the Canadian system of law procedurally and substantively works, and strategize
to find that U.S. client an appropriate solution within Canada — and vice
versa, with a Canadian client going to the U.S. I generally refer Canadian clients over to one of the U.S. law
firms that I work closely with — either on a straight referral basis, or I may
work as part of the legal team. As we
all know, you make a referral, you get a referral, that’s the way it works.
Just
so’s you know, the four toughest bars to pass are: California, Michigan, New
York, and Arizona. In some years the
California bar pass rate has been as low as 23%. Many Canadian lawyers have written both New York and California —
not passed, and don’t tell — it’s like people that go to Vegas: if they lose a
lot of money, they don’t tell you; if they make a lot of money, they tell
everybody.
Doing
a U.S. Bar, is it worth it? Who
knows. I can however tell you this: a
lawyer down there told me a Bar exam’s really like a glorified IQ test: if you
pass, no big deal; if you fail, you’re an idiot.
I’m both.
Richardson - LSAT - GMAT - GRE - MCAT Preparation Courses - Toronto, Canada
Attachments: