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Doretta McGinnis

About Doretta McGinnis

Doretta McGinnis is a law school tutor and bar exam tutor for the Law School Toolbox and Bar Exam Toolbox. After graduating from Harvard, she worked in academic publishing until a friend dared her to go to law school.

Doretta earned her JD at Penn Law, where she was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and a legal writing instructor. Eager to pay off her student loans, she practiced labor and employment law at a major Philadelphia law firm, but soon left Biglaw to pursue her interest in legal education.

Doretta joined the faculty at Widener University Delaware Law School, where, over the course of nearly 20 years, she served as Associate Director of the legal writing program and taught labor law, employment discrimination, and bar exam prep. She is the co-founder of Admission Logic, LLC, an independent educational consulting practice focused on focused on college and law school admissions.

Doretta regularly blogs about law school and the bar exam.

Think Twice About When to Retake the Bar Exam

November 6, 2017 By Doretta McGinnis Leave a Comment

Think Twice About When to Retake the Bar ExamMost people who fail the bar exam presume they should sit for the next administration. The reasons are obvious. But this one-size-fits-all approach is not optimal for everyone. Retaking the bar is a big decision that depends on your individual circumstances. Here are some things to consider as you decide when to try again: [Read more…] about Think Twice About When to Retake the Bar Exam

How To Use NCBE Information To Prepare For The Bar Exam

September 11, 2017 By Doretta McGinnis Leave a Comment

How to Use MEE Analyses to Prepare for the Bar ExamOne of the most important things you can do to prepare for – and pass – the bar exam is to write a lot of practice essays and performance tests. But how do you assess your performance? Are your answers good enough to pass, or do you need to improve? If you’re planning to take the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), your best benchmarks are the materials provided by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE): Analyses of Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) questions and Point Sheets for Multistate Performance Tests (MPT). Here we’ll focus on how to use MEE Analyses effectively.

Each Analysis has three components: Legal Problems, Summary, and Discussion. Let’s take a closer look: [Read more…] about How To Use NCBE Information To Prepare For The Bar Exam

Memorize Efficiently – and Pass the Bar – with Critical Pass Flashcards

June 14, 2017 By Doretta McGinnis 3 Comments

  • Review: Critical Pass FlashcardsSeven MBE subjects.
  • Hundreds of rules.
  • How will you memorize them all?
  • Critical Pass can help.

Why You Must Memorize the Law

There are many components to success on the bar exam, but the most fundamental is memorization. If you don’t know the rules, you can’t choose the right answer on the MBE or write an adequate rule statement on the MEE. So, as you prepare for the bar, it’s crucial to develop a plan for memorizing the law. For many students, this plan includes flashcards. [Read more…] about Memorize Efficiently – and Pass the Bar – with Critical Pass Flashcards

How To Use MPT Point Sheets And Sample Answers To Prepare For The Bar Exam

May 24, 2017 By Doretta McGinnis Leave a Comment

How to Use NCBE Drafter's Point Sheets for MPTPractice exams are a crucial component of successful bar prep. While a bar review course may provide feedback on a limited number of practice essays and performance tests, you should do more and assess your own work. We’ve previously discussed how to do this using MEE Analyses. Here, we’ll explore how to use MPT Point Sheets and sample answers.

The key is to distinguish form from substance. A Point Sheet will not be in the form required for your answer, but it will contain the required substance. A sample answer should be in the required form, but it may not be complete in terms of substance. Let’s take a closer look. [Read more…] about How To Use MPT Point Sheets And Sample Answers To Prepare For The Bar Exam

Tips on How to Read the MPT Library and Save Time

February 7, 2017 By Doretta McGinnis Leave a Comment

MPT Library

For many examinees, the most difficult aspect of the MPT is time pressure. It’s challenging to confront a set of legal sources, extract the relevant rules, apply them to a complex fact pattern, and produce a professional caliber work product, all within 90 minutes. To optimize efficiency, we recommend that you (1) read the task memo, (2) skim the File, (3) read the Library and outline the law, (4) read the File to link the facts to the law, and (5) write your response. Let’s take a closer look at the third step – reading the Library. This is the point where the race against time is often won or lost. [Read more…] about Tips on How to Read the MPT Library and Save Time

Nine Elements to Review if You Failed the Bar Exam

November 17, 2016 By Doretta McGinnis Leave a Comment

bar exam

If you failed the bar exam, the last thing you want to do is relive the experience. But in order to pass the bar, you need to examine your process of studying and exam taking from start to finish to identify what went wrong and what you can improve next time. Take charge of factors in your control, and learn from past experience. To get started on your plan for bar success, consider the following: [Read more…] about Nine Elements to Review if You Failed the Bar Exam

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Want to pass the bar exam? Of course you do! We’re here to help. You’ll find lots of helpful free content at Bar Exam 101, in the Bar Exam Resource Hub, and on the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast. For more hands-on help, take a look at our courses and workshops and bar exam tutoring options. Please get in touch with any questions!

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