LEGAL CREDENTIALS
An aspiring attorney who has failed the licensure test four times challenges the state's limit, which gives him just one more try to pass
Should Texas lower bar exam standard?

By SALATHEIA BRYANT
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle


CLIFTON Eames moved to Houston with big plans. Having just finished law school in Washington, D.C., in 2002, he hoped to open a small practice here, specializing in civil rights and discrimination cases.

His dream of helping others right legal wrongs hit a snag, however, when he got the results from his Texas bar exam. Eames failed the test. Three subsequent attempts also have ended in failure, leaving him with a law school degree but no license to practice.

Now, Eames is in a quandary. The State Bar of Texas limits to five the number of times a would-be lawyer can take the bar exam. Worried he could find himself shut out from practicing law in Texas altogether, Eames has decided not to take the test again in February, the next time it is offered.

Instead, the 34-year-old, sounding like the attorney he wants to be, is making it his mission to get the Texas rule changed.

Frankly, five times is too many. If you can't pass it in three, you should find a new profession or figure out why your law school let you get that far. We have all had to deal with defense counsel who fall below an acceptable level of competency. If they managed to pass the bar, then imagine the guy who can't. Besides, the world needs truck drivers and insurance salesmen.

Geez, why didn't the article identify the law school? Seems to me the guy should be suing that place if they graduated him when he hadn't done well enough to pass a bar on four tries.

a. He should have gone to Baylor;
b. He doesn't have standing (I don't think) until
he takes it the 5th time and flunks it; and
c. Most of the truck drivers and insurance sales
folks that I know make more than most of the
lawyers I know.........

I knew of a guy up in Waller County who passed on his fifth time. Maybe this guy could take some tips from him...

I saw this guy testify in front of the legislative committee on this proposed bill. He's not the brightest bulb by any means. You kind of go, "Oh, no wonder." He was pretty uniformly spanked by the committee. Five times is too many tries. Who wants a lawyer who can't pass a test on the 5th try? I don't even want to go to one who couldn't pass on the first try.

So, you would have turned down JFK, Jr.?

At the risk of inviting total ridicule, I have to at this point defend those (ok, me) for whom it took a couple of tries (ok, three) Some of us just aren't good test takers! I can't judge how good a lawyer is by the number of times it took him/her to pass the bar. I've met too many awesome trial attorneys who didn't pass the first time and too many duds who aced it the first time.

Yes, but do you have the same opinion if it takes more than 5 times to pass the test?

I was prepared to take it 3 times. After that, I was prepared to bolt to somewhere south, with a beach, and become an expatriot bartender daring the student loan people to come looking for me.

I think alot of people take it 3 times b/c they almost pass it the first time and then just study a little bit more for the second stab at it. When I say a little bit more, I think they try to add to what they gleamed the first time. I don't think we comprehend just how much gets flushed out of the mind that last day of the essay exam portion (I don't think I'll ever know as much law as I did back in February '02 - I sure did used to be kinda smart).
Then, when the second has less than expected results, they buckle down and start over from scratch. I don't think I could take the stress after round 3.

The article doesn't say how the guy wants to change the rule. Unlimited tries? I guess they call the person who passes on attempt five "counselor" though........same as they call the gal last in her med school class "Doc."

Is that the corollary to the rule I used to hear in law school? You know, "A students make good law professors, B students make good judges, and C students make good money." Funny how it doesn't always play out that way.

Scott: You did notice the people who perpetuate that myth about "A" students are themselves law professors, right?

Jane: I know plenty of lawyers that didn't pass the first time who are far more competent than many or even most who did.

I guess my impression of people who fail the bar over and over is somewhat formed by observing this not-so-bright guy, Mr. Five-Plus who wants to change the law. I guess I just don't know anyone else (other than JFK, Jr.)who didn't pass on the first try, or at least no one who talks about it. I don't know if I'm just making the assumption that everyone I work with was a first timer, but I do know that I can't think of anyone I went to law school with who didn't pass on the first try, either. And I sure don't know anyone who has failed the bar 4-5 times. I just don't see how you make it through law school without learning how to study and take tests. What does that say about the law school if it didn't teach someone that? Like someone mentioned earlier, they didn't mention what law school Mr. Five-Plus went to in the article.

Well, sometimes, people have bad circumstances affect their ability to do well on any given day. Personally, I'm not ashamed that I didn't pass the bar on the first try. (I know of four other prosecutors in three offices that have similar stories.)

In my case, I made a poor decision the second night of the exam to allow a 'relationship discussion' which lasted four hours. Clearly I wasn't exactly in my best frame of mind the following morning.

When I did pass, I had five stitches in my writing hand from smashing my finger in a car door the day before. (I'll tell you the long version sometime over a drink. I actually like telling the story as I star as the central idiot, and self deprecating humor amuses me.)

My point is anyone can muck something up once. (or even twice) Often, the failure has nothing to do with whether or not they learned how to take a test in law school.

Now, five times? I mean come on. That's just someone who doesn't try or shouldn't be a lawyer.

Someone should tell this guy about the South Dakota law exam. I've heard that you can take the MBE only and get your results the same day. He should go test in another state, practice for five years, then apply as an attorney in good standing.