Starting July 2028, Virginia adopts the NextGen Bar Exam, but a separate Virginia essay exam testing state-specific law remains mandatory. Virginia’s legal principles often diverge significantly from general “black letter law,” meaning correct answers on NextGen could be wrong for Virginia. Dedicated study of Virginia’s unique statutes and procedures is crucial for success, even for overlapping subjects.
Category: Learning
What the Heck is a Demurrer in Virginia Civil Procedure?
Many out-of-state lawyers who are trying to obtain Virginia licensure encounter this strange legal term. A demurrer is still used in Virginia and California, but I do not know of any other state that uses this term for this type Read More …
Virginia Essay Exam Subject Changes in 2020
Has Virginia Changed the Topics Tested on the Essay Exam? In a rule change in 2020, the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners made some changes to the topics that can be tested on the Virginia Essay Exam. While these changes Read More …
Out-of-State Lawyers Have Options to Transfer to Virginia
Transferring a Law License to Virginia Recently the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners added new ways for attorneys licensed in other states to get licensed by the Virginia Bar. There are now enough ways to transfer to Virginia to be Read More …
The New Option 3 for the Virginia Bar
If you are in good standing and actively licensed to practice law in a state other than Virginia, the Board of Bar Examiners just made it a little easier to get your Virginia license. Under new rules recently enacted, attorneys Read More …
Hindsight Bias: Tricking Our Brains Into Remembering
You’ve done this. You’re sitting in class as the professor passes out your graded multiple choice tests. You think you did pretty well on the test. When you get your test back, you see that you missed question 3. You Read More …
Why Bar Exam Studying is Like Computer Programming
Computer programming has a lot of rules. And these rules have to be structured and applied in a specific order to make the computer do what the user would like. Bar exam study is the same. We have legal rules Read More …
Essay Question Analysis for February 2017 Virginia Bar Exam
After each administration of the Virginia Bar, students email me to ask questions. Most of the time, they just want to confirm an answer that they already think they got right. Sometimes, they want to tell me how the topics Read More …