Qualifications

Bar Exam Tutor, Jan. 2005 – Present
In January 2005, I started my own private tutoring business. I have built a reputation as a well-rounded tutor with an ability to pay attention to detail while working toward the ultimate, big goal: passing the California Bar Exam. I help students improve their legal analysis and legal writing skills by teaching them how to expertly craft a well-balanced legal argument based on the applicable rules and relevant facts. Students frequently praise my ability to simplify confusing subject matter. I also help with all other aspects of Bar preparation, including time management, for both short-term and long-term goals, information management, and stress management. All of the work done for students is performed by myself; I don’t subcontract any of my work to others.

Consultant for UC College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) Academic Support Program, Oct. 2004 – Nov. 2013
I worked on two main projects at UC College of the Law (formerly UC Hastings): “Orientation to the Bar”, and a series of instructional workshops for First Year law students.

UC College of the Law created a program, “Orientation to the Bar”, designed to introduce a targeted population of 3L students to the various aspects of the California Bar Exam. I was hired by the Academic Support Program (ASP) to review their materials and advise ways to make their instructional activities more useful for interactive learning activities. This required me to read and analyze 25 years’ worth of California Bar essays and performance tests and their accompanying model answers. I identified patterns in the way issues were tested, as well as the qualities of a model answer. Based on these trends and patterns, I designed instructional materials and workshops to make their “Orientation to the Bar” more hands-on. As an instructor for this program, I also used student feedback to continue improving my materials and teaching methods.

After concluding initial work on the “Orientation to the Bar” project, I was hired again by the ASP to design and teach a series of instructional workshops for 1L students. The purpose of these workshops was to introduce them to the fundamentals of legal analysis and writing. I designed materials and offered workshops, teaching students such skills as briefing cases, outlining for final exams, issue-spotting on exams, and IRAC writing. Teaching these workshops required me to break down the often confusing task of writing a solid exam answer into a series of easily understood, discrete tasks.

Discussion Group Leader for the ASP, Sept. 2002 – December 2002
As a Discussion Group Leader, I designed and led a semester-long weekly class designed to help 1L students develop the analytic skills necessary to excel in law school. I used Tort law as a way to give context and meaning to learning exercises that taught skills for all law school classes. In addition, I worked one-on-one with students during my Office Hours, allowing me to give personal attention to individual students’ skill development.

The Bottom Line
Students’ scores on the Bar greatly improve when they follow my advice and implement the skills I teach them, and the majority of them pass after working with me.