An excellent article in the WSJ today about the high failure rate of the California bar exam. Kathleen Sullivan, recent dean of Stanford Law School, failed this time around. Her soon-to-be employer, William Urquhart, ran interference:

"She is a rock star," says William Urquhart, who last year recruited Ms. Sullivan to join his firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP ... "The problem is not with Kathleen Sullivan, it is with the person who drafted the exam or the person who graded it."

Mr. Urquhart says he does not know Ms. Sullivan's score, but knows she spent little time preparing because she was inundated with work for the firm and Stanford Law School, where she now runs the school's constitutional law center. [Awww, poor little you. – Ed.] Ms. Sullivan plans to take the test again, according to Mr. Urquhart. "She'll prepare more next time," he says. "My advice to her is that she should look at 15 bar questions and 15 sample, perfect answers. That is all she'll need to pass."

Ah, the old 'blame the exam' trick. Does everyone at Quinn Emanuel who fails the bar exam get treated this well? No, didn't think so. Instead of the buck-passing Ms. Sullivan, take your inspiration from this gentleman:

Ms. Sullivan is unlikely to need as many attempts as Maxcy Dean Filer, who may hold the California bar endurance record, having passed in 1991 after 47 unsuccessful tries. The Compton, Calif., man, who says he'll practice any kind of law that "comes through the door -- except probate and bankruptcy," says he always tried to psych himself up before taking the test by repeating, "I didn't fail the bar, the bar failed me."

05 Dec 05