I passed the Illinois Bar in 2016, and I passed the Ohio bar in 2021, so I'm not hopeless. I want to get licensed in Florida for my family.
This is the third time I've taken it in a row. I think it's exponentially harder to pass when you're working full time (as a trial attorney, no less). Courses like Themis tell you that you should be studying 8 hours a day. (Yeah, right--just seems like CYA so they don't get sued.)
There are some silver linings to knowing I failed this early--namely more study time before February.
Here are the advantages I think I have at this point:
- I have 6.5 months of study time until the next exam.
Starting now, I can put in 3-4 hours of work a day leading up to the exam.
I have completed all of the Themis worksheets, so I can actually just cruise through the lectures at 2x speed without constantly rewinding to fill in the worksheets.
(Themis wouldn't provide completed ones when I asked, even though the real learning comes from completing as many practice questions as possible, from my experience. Excessive lectures just get in the way of that. I only took Themis for Florida because the online consensus appeared to be that they were the way to go.)
I turned the long-form Themis outlines into AI-voiced lectures, so I can actually skim them like they tell you to without it taking forever and a day.
(Yes, this did cost hundreds of dollars to do.)
I have the lectures, digital index cards, and practice questions from BarMax that I used to pass in Ohio in 2016.
(Can't praise BarMax enough. Unlike BarBri and Themis, they just get to the point. I have no doubt they'll become more of a CYA company like BarBri and Themis if they become more successful, but they're great as an up-and-comer company, IMO, and they're great for a person who has to work full time while studying).
I have access to the What's The Issue videos and have MP3 versions saved.
I have no real social life at the moment
.
.- I'm planning to use my "free" Themis course re-take, but they don't allow you to access the course until November. I'd rather not waste the three months leading up to then.
Right now, I'm just planning on using my BarMax materials and What's The Issue lectures until my Themis course opens up. Any constructive thoughts you have are welcome.
Should I look into AdaptiBar as well? I just emailed them to see if I would get immediate access to their course materials if I bought them now. They have an MBE simulator for $400, so that may be a great way to drill until I have access to Themis again. I've always found that it's easiest to learn black letter law by reading the explanations to practice multiple choice questions rather than trying to memorize parts of outlines. Maybe once I've honed that knowledge again, I can look into their $300 writing course to start practicing essays early.
