Passing Other State Bars After Failing One State Bar?

Recently, I was of the 48-50% of CA Bar Exam takers that failed the CA State Bar. I know it was definitely within my ability to pass, and I missed it only by several points. However the embarrasment/shame of the experience (of failing) is considerable, to say the least. I was thinking, in order to effectively "redeem" myself, of taking and passing several other difficult bar exams in different states/jurisdictions (e.g. New York, D.C., etc.), just to prove myself and just to redeem myself. Even though many successful lawyers have failed their state bars the first time, I still feel like I need to prove myself. Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think this would prove to other attorneys or other employers that whatever happened to the CA Bar was a fluke? Do you think it is an affirmative positive way to redeem or prove my intelligence and/or legal capability, and do you think it is worth the time/effort to undertake in order to redeem or prove myself to my peers, law partners, etc

Are you planning to practice in any of those other jurisdictions? If not, then I don't see the point of taking the test to see if you can pass it and "redeem" yourself.

I don't know if it will be an affirmative/positive way to redeem or prove your intelligence by taking the bar exam in a place you never intend to practice in - some employers would wonder why you bothered doing that at all (especially if they see your employment history is all in California).

Plus, once you pass the bar in CA, as long as you have a high enough MBE score, you can "waive in" in DC (obviously, paying a high fee of $500-1000 to do so).

And, I understand that California and New York are the hardest bar exams to pass, so what if you take the NY bar and don't pass it either?

I think if you only plan to practice in California that you study for that exam only and take it on the next available date (in February 2008).

Good luck!

P.S. Not everyone passes the bar exam on their first attempt - those that do may not make good attorneys while those that have passed it after multiple attempts may make better attorneys (it's hard to tell). ^_^

The bar exam is something not to be taken lightly. Don't take the test just for the sake of taking it or proving a point. Take it because you want to practice law in that particular state. It's only offered twice a year. It's also very expensive and time consuming to study. Many who have taken it took about two and half months off work.