... the final countdown ...

According to the State Bar of California there are now nine days until the July 2008 Bar Exam results are available to applicants who took the exam.

Of course I already know this to be true - November 21, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. has been on my mind daily since July 31, 2008 at 4:35 p.m.

I want to thank everyone for not asking me a lot of questions about how I think I did and why does it take so long to get results. I'm going to answer those questions for you now.

I have no predictions about my results and honestly I have no feelings either way. But how I did isn't really about the points I scored.

I completed law school. Via online study. I supplemented my studies with tutorials, lectures, seminars, workshops and review courses at various law schools in California. I flew no less than 164 flight segments or about 20 round trips for each year of law school on Southwest Airlines to attend these lectures and workshops.

I passed the California First Year Law Student Exam "Baby Bar" on the first attempt.

I began my bar review course the first weekend of March of 2008 and aside from one weekend in May I studied 7 days a week up to the bar exam.

I dedicated myself heart and soul to this bar exam and took no short cuts. I never gave in to the desire to pop smoke and run and followed on to complete the mission - which was completing all three days of the bar exam.

How did I do? I did just fine thank you. Regardless of the points I will not see anything as "failure" about this bar exam.

Why does it take so long to get results?

There were 8,486 applicants who took the July 2007 bar exam in California. Using last year's numbers lets look at whats involved in grading this bar exam.

Each applicant writes 6 essay questions, 2 performance test questions, and 200 multiple choice questions (except the attorney applicants do not take the multiple choice questions). The MBE is graded by computer so we need not consider that time.

In total there are 50,916 essay answers to grade and 16, 972 performance test answers to grade. These answers are graded by practicing attorneys in California who spend about 3 minutes on an essay answer and 5 minutes on a performance test. They read the answers and assign points based on an objectively subjective system. Don't ask.

There are 2,546 hours spent grading essays and 1,414 hours spent grading performance test answers. Thats just the first reading. Some of the answers are read by a second grader depending on the total scores. That is a total of 3,960 hours spent reading and grading the written portion of the bar exam - all in less than 4 months. Not considering the administration time spent getting the answers to and from the graders, the data collected and processed and the scaling of scores that no one really understands.

There are somewhere between 1500 and 2000 man hours expended in each of the 4 months between the bar exam and the release of results. Nearly a full year of work for most people.

Thats 4 full years of work total In 4 months time.

It takes a minute.

With nine days to go I am trying to not get too sideways thinking about the results. There are only two possible scenarios: I don't take the California Bar Exam again or I take the California Bar exam again. The end result will be I pass the exam and am admitted to practice law in California. I will not falter.

I have put together a list of people who have expressed that they want a phone call when I get my results. I will not be making the calls personally simply because the emotional influences tend to make it hard to speak.

I will post a blog a few days after results. If you do not get a call or hear from me please do not be offended. This is my bar exam and I will share it in my own way and time.

After I get results Daun is driving me to a particular Irish Pub where a small gathering will inbibe large amounts of Strongbow and Blue Moon. Send me a message if you are local and would like to join us...