Hello aspirant lawyers,

I am strongly considering sitting the NY Bar Exam in July of this year, BUT I am uncertain as to which preparation course I should take. I reside in London; to the best of my knowledge, CLT, BPP and the New York Bar Commpany are the main providers of a preparation course. Has anyone out there completed a course with the aforementioned companies? If yes, please share your views on the quality of the materials, support given and any other relevant information.

I have contacted them, but as you know, each company will promote its service in a way that often does not reflect the true state of affairs.

I don't suppose you have access to Barbri, do you?

My advice would be to buy the BarBri (or some other providers) books on-line (from Ebay/etc) and use them, solely, skipping classes altogether. I sat the Bar this past July and paid for both books and classes (well, my firm did). I attended one class before realising they were useless and that I could pass the Bar fine without them. I'm sure my Common Law background (British LLB) and Masters degrees (to a lesser extent) helped. But the classes are just not worth the money. Books, on the other hand, are indispendable. Hope that helps.

besides Ebay, is there anywhere I can purchase the BarBri books? Interested to take the NY bar exam but not really looking paying a few thousand dollars to do it.

Thanks in advance!

If you contact Barbri, they have a program where instead of taking classes, they send you the books as well as an ipod loaded with lectures. Then after the bar, you just send the ipod and books back.

I suggest you check out their website or call them and see what would work best for you.

http://barbri.com/app.aspx?cmd=go_home

Not at all. I only conducted a research on the company and clearly it is the largest provider of the Bar preparation course. However, it is to be noted that the company was involved in a multi million lawsuit. Here is a link for your perusal:-

http://www.barbri-classaction.com/barbri/default.htm

If the link does not open, just type 'barbri class action litigation' in google.

Thank you guys for recommendations. I will give them my thorough consideration.

Hello Specialk,
If you dont mind, which class (BPP, CLT or NY Bar Company) did you attend albeit for a day?
Also, do you still have your materials? If yes, are you selling them?

Congrats on passing.... so are you currently working in the UK?

You do realize that class action is over stuff that happened over three years ago, right?

Doesn't matter, the fact is it happened, yes???

My point is, why skip one of the dominant U.S. bar prep programs and do some half ass bar prep program, just because they overcharged people three years ago, who, incidentally, weren't YOU?

I could care a less if anybody uses Barbri or not, it just seems like an invalid point to me to say they were sued over stuff that happened a while back. Obviously, they have adjusted their prices or else the class action would span to the present.

...go easy yow! All participants here are trying to make an informed decision that will affect their lives forever. I consider your argument mundane. If Barbri has been sued, which of course, did happen, it is relevant and ought to be mentioned here, irrespective of how long ago it happened. At the end of the day, as previous threads have indicated, Barbri is the largest company that offers the preparation course and they continue to do so. Thus, they must be doing something good.

Finally, the tone of your post could be misconstrued:

'...some half ass bar pre program.....I could care a less if anybody uses Babri or not....'

We are here to share ideas and learn new ones - right?

Bumping this thread up -

Is anyone considering to take the NY Bar Exam in July 2009? How long preparation does one recommend? Would starting now be too late? (Bearing in mind I am in full-time employment).


Cheers,
Greg

Whilst I don't doubt your ability, I would consider the February exam instead, particularly since you're in full time employment. Do not under estimate the volume of work you'll exposed to....

Yeah crm042, thanks - thought the February one would be better too.. Now the question is...which Bar Review provider? Micromash, Pieper or Bar Bri?

I took the Pieper Bar Review at BPP in Holborn, London. Great Course! I sat the bar exam in February, fingers crossed I pass. The BPP Course is aimed at non-US students, I used some of the BarBri materials in conjunction with the Pieper stuff and it was good for consolidation purposes.

Gregor,

If you are in full-time employment I would not consider doing the bar this July. You need AT LEAST 2 months of 8-10 hours a day otherwise you are going to struggle. I was doing 8-10 hours a day for 3 months before and when I sat the exam there was loads of stuff I didn't know...that is just my advice.

Damn, so is it possible to combine it with an LL.M. year? Probably not?

I hope so, because I will have to COMBINE it when I get my FAIL result next month ;) or I might just retake it at the end of July 09 and goto Cornell 2 days later...

Yeah but you already studied for it so :)