Case Studies Archives | Make This Your Last Time

July 3, 2026July 3, 2026 - No Comments

Passing the California Bar on His Second Attempt After Years of Panic Attacks and Classic First-timer Mistakes

N’s internal struggles were as much of an obstacle to his journey to passing the February 2026 California Bar Exam as the usual challenges of passing the bar exam.

💬 “I never struggled with text anxiety prior to taking the LSAT. However, I experienced a panic attack for the first time in my life the first time I took the LSAT.

My body began to shake, my heart pumped out of my chest, my brain stopped working, I started hyperventilating.”

💬 “I think most people feel an overwhelming sense of pride or joy or excitement about graduation. While I certainly felt those emotions, the one emotion that stood above the rest was relief — relief that I had completed three grueling years of law school and could put law school, like the LSAT, in the rearview mirror. I also figured that the panic attacks were a thing of the past.”

He dealt with panic attacks dating back to his first LSAT attempt, and they didn’t stop.

💬 “I experienced this while taking the LSAT (and other tests en route to get to the bar exam).”

To make things worse, he was devastated by the results of the July 2025 exam. He hit emotional rock bottom.

💬 “I opened the results page and saw ‘FAILED’ emblazoned on screen. Devastated, I shared the news with my employer, family, and friends.”

💬 “I struggled on the essays. I only had one essay scored 65 or better.

As you could imagine, the weekend the results were released, I went through a range of emotions. Anger. Sadness. Denial. Apathy. Disappointment. Bitterness. Jealousy. Grief. The list goes on. And so does life.

So, I went to work on Monday, kept my head down, and threw myself into work to distract myself from the pain.”

By the time N saw the word “Pass” on his screen in February 2026, 5.5 years had passed since he first sat down to study for the LSAT.

💬 “I shook and cried when I saw ‘Pass’ on the screen. I couldn’t believe it. And, in some ways, I still can’t believe it.”

💬 “I started working toward this goal of passing the California Bar Exam in December 2020 when I made the decision to study for the LSAT and go to law school. So much had happened — and so much had changed — in the five and a half years it took to pass the California Bar Exam.”

N sent me a 13-page document detailing his struggles, the mistakes from his first attempt, and what changed in this second attempt. (I’ll link you the full story below, including his top 10 insights.)

How did N pass the California Bar Exam despite his conditions affecting his test-taking abilities? What happens when you design your studies rather than following defaults out of fear?

June 26, 2026June 26, 2026 - No Comments

Canadian Lawyer Thought the UBE Was “10000x Harder.” She Still Scored a 331 on Her First Try.

Megan passed the Illinois Bar Exam as a foreign attorney on her first attempt.

💬 “I am happy to report that I passed the Illinois bar with a score of 331 as a first time test taker. I studied on a full(ish) time basis while caring for my 6-month old son, who is now almost a year old.”

331 is an excellent score, especially for a first attempt by a foreign-trained lawyer!

It doesn’t sound like Megan had the best study environment, but it turned out to be a different animal entirely.

💬 “I am a Canadian trained lawyer so while I have experience with bar exams. I can say without hesitation that the UBE was 10000x harder than the Ontario bar.”

What did she change to make it work anyway?

June 19, 2026June 19, 2026 - No Comments

She Failed the Oregon Bar Exam Twice. After Her Father Died, She Scored a 320 (from 250s).

Maria passed the Oregon Bar Exam (UBE) on her third attempt at 45, five years after finishing law school, after a transition from medicine.

💬 “My background was in healthcare as a naturopathic physician. I worked in global health in Tanzania and other countries as both a doctor and professor. Law wasn’t on my radar. Over time, though, I found myself doing more advocacy and education than direct patient care. After nearly dying from malaria, I made what I now recognize as a PTSD-driven decision to attend law school.”

Her first two attempts at the bar didn’t give her the proper space to focus on the exam.

💬 “The first time I took the bar exam was not a serious attempt. I was in a hotel room in Mexico during the height of COVID.”

💬 “The second time, I was sick and carrying a lot personally. My father’s Parkinson’s disease was worsening, and eventually I became one of his caregivers until he passed away in 2024.”

Her third time was a turning point, as it often is for repeaters who finally find a reason to pass.

💬 “It took everything I had to sit for the exam again. But this time was different. This time, I wanted it. Not just to pass the bar, but to become a lawyer. Everyone talks about finding their ‘why,’ and I don’t think I truly had mine before. My why was my dad and everything I had been through. I was absolutely determined to pass.”

She then scored a 320, up nearly 70 points from the 250s.

💬 “For me, the jump from the 250s to a 320 wasn’t about discovering some secret study method. It was about finally having a reason powerful enough to persevere and building a study plan around how I actually learn.”

Everyone can talk about being “determined to pass.” Self-motivation is only one of three base requirements for bar prep. All your passion is useless if you don’t know where to apply it.

Today might be the day you make a switch that finally frees you from what you knew was wrong for you.

June 12, 2026June 12, 2026 - No Comments

From 40% on AdaptiBar to Passing the California Bar Exam (First Try)

Theodore had a pretty chaotic start to bar prep.

A job, a baby incoming (or outcoming lol), and a trip to the ER on Christmas Day. And bar prep to figure out.

💬 “I’m a California part-time law student working full-time in Benefits, and I really couldn’t start my Themis Bar Prep wholeheartedly until the baby was born so I could start my parental leave.”

💬 “My wife was scheduled to deliver our baby on December 12th, 2025, but we were about a week past the expected date. . . . Thankfully, my wife’s water broke around 3am on December 19th and off to the hospital we went.”

Theodore passed on his first try anyway, starting from a discouraging 40% AdaptiBar score.

June 5, 2026June 10, 2026 - 1 Comment

How Waylon Finally Beat the Utah Bar Exam (UBE) After Years Away from Law

Waylon took the Utah Bar Exam (UBE) four times, from 2020 to 2026. His first two attempts ended with him giving up on law altogether.

💬 “I took the July 2020 bar exam in the middle of the Covid pandemic and came up short by ten points. Rather than get back on the horse, I gave up on the idea of being a lawyer. I ended up finding a decent job in banking compliance but the ghost of the failed bar exam kept haunting me and I could never really let it go. Fast forward to 2022 I succumbed to the pressures of other people and the nagging feeling from failure and took another half-hearted (probably more like quarter-hearted) attempt at the bar. This time I did even worse than the first time.”

What eventually pulled him back to bar world was that very nagging feeling. (Your bar nightmares might last for months or years btw)

He came back differently for his third attempt in, three years later. He was confident!

💬 “Again, the demons would not leave me alone so, I decided I would take that damn test one more time. I signed up for the July 2025 exam. . . . All this while working full time, and raising a family. I walked into that exam more confident than I ever had been for any exam.”

He improved but still missed the mark.

💬 “When the dust settled and the scores came out, I missed it by four points. Four points! Some people would have been discouraged, and my old self would have given up, but those four points unlocked something in me.”

What did those four points unlock in Waylon?