Buyer Beware -- Celebration Bar Review Forum

[InterAlia1961]

Haha exactly, like I said in a previous post, the bias against the course in this thread is palpable.

What you see as bias, a "trigger" word usually used by the party whose argument is coming up short, is actually just critique of a poorly conceived, poorly drafted, utterly useless "bar review" program. Buyer beware. When you see this much criticism of a course, think twice. Stick with the professionals who know what they're doing. They may be expensive, but at least they contain correct statements of the law. CBR doesn't. I can document my numerous exchanges with Mumey's "assistant" regarding the blatant misstatements of law. Lot's of "thank you"s in return, no discount, though. Then when I questioned his pass rate, he went nuts. The guy's unstable. Maybe he should try politics.

[verejacob]

https://www.celebrationbarreview.com/or ... l-options/

Holosync, photoreading, paraliminal pack - anybody tried these? Do they really work or are these snake oil? They seem to be pricey.

[ur_hero]

I have no doubt that the account belongs to someone at Celebration, and it sounds like the service is a borderline scam, but to be fair, the post says they passed the CO bar exam, not the CBX.

I just got wrecked.

[9xSound]

Then when I questioned his pass rate, he went nuts.

This should be the red flag that everybody looks for when considering any bar review course, Celebration or otherwise. I don't know about Celebration - didn't take it - but for my first attempt at the bar, I hired another "alternative" bar review course, which also claimed a proprietary, time-tested system for writing essays, with 3+ decades of experience and lots of successful students over the years. But CRICKETS about how many unsuccessful students he had had, especially with recent bar exams. This was a couple of years ago. To this day, I still feel pretty damned bitter when I remember how he dodged my question about his pass rate (before I had paid the fee). I should have insisted on a firm, straight answer. I let him off the hook, and I paid dearly for it. Nothing sucks like spending thousands of dollars on bar prep and studying your ass off for three months, only to find that all of the methods you were taught were a game plan for success on a hand-written bar exam, circa 1986.

Moral: If you're considering a bar review course or a private tutor, insist on getting a written representation of their pass rate. If they go nuts (see above) or dodge the question, or if you simply do not get a straight answer to your simple question, run like hell. Find somebody who will be honest with you.

[MrSinister]

Yo,

I am a current Celebration Bar Review user and a Feb California Bar Exam candidate. To make a pathetic story short, I graduated from a miniscual ranked law school (New College, then JFK) and basically half-assed through the first two years, before earning at LLM from Golden Gate with good grades except for straight Cs in tax law courses. I'm not stupid. Lazy maybe but not stupid. I cannot take the Bar Exam in most states or else I would probably take it in Nevada, where the average IQ is far below the average temperature.

As far as my bar prep history is concerned, I took BarBri and continued with it for the first 7 tries of the California bar exam before I deciding I need more help. Yes, I said seven attempts and many years of sorrow! So I signed up for the basic mentoring course with Jackson Mummy and Baressays.com. I would have taken a more personalized course but that is all I can afford. I'd be happy to relate my experience and the February bar exam once I take it. It will be my last attempt at this career.

As far as the writing is concerned, Mummy stresses the importance of analysis and factual horse play, over fine recitation of rules. He doesnt believe in wasting a lot of time with rote memorization. He calls his style FLA or Fact-Law-Analysis. I dont really think it is that different from the traditional IRAC except it does force you to focus on the facts, the people and the events as opposed to quiefing a rule out and applying the facts. I havent tried every single writing method out there but from using baressays.com, I noticed that the best essays are usually the longest essays. This is also confirmed from the various (6?) essays which I did pass. Most of my passing essays were long-winded and almost academic sounding, as opposed to strictly rule/elements based approach.

That being said, I am not really a big fan of his substantive law outlines or lectures. I am sticking to my barbri outlines and lectures for that which I am more comfortable with. His multiple choice questions also seem very off to me but I did fairly well on my last bar exam multiple choice section (128 or something).

As far as the the other stuff- paralimnals, photoreading, memorization techniques, I started using that stuff before I took his course. You dont need to take his course for it. He uses material by Paul Scheele. I like to listen to paraliminals on youtube when I study. There are a ton of them and they help me relax and focus, as opposed to doing anything magical.

So in conclusion, I recommend Mummy's writing style at this point and not so much his substantive material. As far as, will it work, well he has a podcast with his passers and he claims to have had offers to teach big box reviews like Kaplan. So who knows or how do you know which one works? Why doesnt somebody sue the goddam California Bar? I bet we can find some hankey pankey going on during the discovery process. I mean a trained monkey can pass the essays in Nevada and Oklahoma.

[smokyriver]

Hi there. Concord Law School grad here, passed FYLSX 1st time self-tutored with various Reseller materials purchased on Ebay, and passed CBX 1st time with BarBri supplemented by various Reseller materials purchased on Ebay.

Facts: In Googling generically for "California bar review course scam" I got not one but *two* hits (this being one of them) for CBR, and not a single hit for *any* other CBX Review Course or tutor; my other hit was a 2010 blog at http://all4jds.com/forums/aft/13248 whose participants echoed the facts and sentiments provided here ... except that the 2010 comments indicate he was leading potential customers to believe "he" had a 90% pass rate on the (CA?) Bar whereas the comments here in 2016-2017 indicate he was leading potential customers to believe "his" pass rate was 80%. Despite those impressions as to "his" pass rates (or at least his currently claimed one), his website's discourse about Pass Rates, titled "The Truth About Pass Rates", which runs on for over 2,100 words(!), artfully dodges the factual question that its title raises!
https://www.celebrationbarreview.com/th ... ass-rates/

So, them's the Facts ... now on to the Rules!

So, now think to yourself, "What are the Rules-of-logic that I would apply to *any* Fact pattern involving an expensive investment for which:
[1] A well-accepted mainstream stylistic approach exists (here, IRAC-based writing style) and is available for purchase from a wide variety of mainstream Sellers, and where all well-reputed mainstream Sellers emphasize that the to be successful, the Buyer must supplement his monetary investment on their product with hundreds of diligent hours expended performing arduous, long, boring, repetitive, mind-numbing tasks (here, memorizing Rules, practicing Essays and MCQ's, etc.); and,
[2] One particular Seller promotes an alternative proprietary approach (here, Mumey's "anti-IRAC" approach) whose entire basis lies in his opinion that the mainstream approach is inherently flawed; this Seller somehow manages to give customer's the impression that his approach achieves a remarkably high success rate (here, 80%? 90%? Which jurisdiction? Which Nth attempt? ...), yet his public "advertisement" uses over 2,000 words to assiduously avoid providing any factual information while denigrating the mainstream competitors as "big box" and he relies solely on "Testimonials" to back up his success claims; he emphasizes "mental strategies" like positive thinking (Dale Carnegie), photo-reading (Paul Scheele), etc., and whose "draw them in Free Seminar" is titled (I kid you not!), "How to Make the NEXT Bar Exam Your LAST Bar Exam: The 4 Powerful Steps Guaranteed to Pass the Bar!"

OK, now, time for Analysis!

Apply the Facts above to the Rules above ... or, if you prefer, apply the Rules above to the Facts above (it works either way, i.e., the Commutative Law applies to Bar Exam Essay-writing, not just to Mathematics!) ... and then substitute "Proprietary Alternative Medicine Treatment" for "well-accepted mainstream medical treatment" (or, if you want, "Proprietary Alternative Investment Strategy" for "well-accepted mainstream investment strategy"; etc.).

Finally, using your Left Logical Brain (as opposed to your Right Fantasy Brain), draw your Conclusion!

[adellis]

https://www.celebrationbarreview.com/or ... l-options/

Holosync, photoreading, paraliminal pack - anybody tried these? Do they really work or are these snake oil? They seem to be pricey.

This is his whole game, the "upsell." I also fell prey to this useless "bar review" program full of inconsistencies and flat-out misstatements of the law. Their reply? "Our TOS states No Refunds for any reason." Well, providing factually incorrect statements of the law SHOULD be a valid reason, because (contract law) I am thereby not receiving the benefit of my bargain; ergo, breach. Seems like a simple enough concept for someone who claims to be teaching contract law.

Anyway, back to the "upselling," he sends endless emails trying to convince you that you need to purchase all these additional "proprietary" methods that only he can provide, for a serious upcharge of the "basic" program.

But yes, the original post (complaint) about the content being just plain factually incorrect, is 100% on point. Here's the one that prompted me to ask about a refund (which was answered as described above): "in an option contract, the offeree is purchasing the power of revocation." Huh?? Umm, no. The opposite, actually.

Like the OP, I have also been a practicing attorney for several years after passing UBE first try, and now sitting in a new jurisdiction which doesn't use the UBE (FL). This is the reason I was looking for a bar prep program, mostly for the FL distinctions. However, I cannot in good faith trust any content from this program, so I am not receiving what I paid for, actual bar review material. BREACH of K. Hey, as long as they remember that truth is an absolute defense to defamation . . .

[fearless16]

I'm honestly surprised this guy is STILL in business and still scamming people. I was gifted his course the first time I studied for the bar and I ditched it because the substantive materials were so bad. I'd rather just pay.