+ Who have you worked with?

I am proud to say I have helped many students from across the country and all over the world achieve exam success. Since 2010, I have been privately tutoring students in-person and through e-learning. I have worked with a diverse range of clients including law students from ivy league universities to non-ABA accredited schools, first-time takers, repeat bar applicants, LLMs, foreign qualified attorneys, out-of-state attorneys, full or part-time working professionals, students afforded special accommodations, and students with disabilities, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, and/or depression.

My previous law students hail from Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, UCLA, UC Hastings, Loyola University, Golden Gate University, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, McGeorge, Seton Hall, Seattle University, Notre Dame University, University of Minnesota, Howard University, University of New Hampshire, San Francisco Law School, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Northwest California University School of Law, BPP University Law School (England), Liverpool John Moores University (England), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), University of Toronto (Canada), University of Montreal (Canada), University of Chile (Chile), University of Manchester (England), Camillas Pontifical Universidad (Spain) and Queensland College of Law (Australia).

+ What types of services do you offer?

I offer one-on-one tutorials, essay review and/or performance test review. I cover all aspects of the California bar Exam including the MBEs and all subjects tested. I further provide strategies to address time management, information management and stress management. For law school exams, I give detailed feedback on students' essay exams and help them properly address the academic and nonacademic factors that may affect one's performance in law school.

+ Where do you provide tutorial services?

I offer tutorial services via videoconferencing with constant email exchange of questions and answers.

As most clients prefer not to waste valuable study time, money, and effort on traveling to places to meet with a tutor, all of our tutoring is done online. For example, clients who are busy working full-time are able to schedule tutorials during their lunch break without ever having to leave the office. Students have also signed onto our tutorials while studying in the law library. In fact, all private tutorials were completely done over videoconferencing with great success. Your time during bar prep is valuable and I will work with your preferred method of contact to make the most efficient use of your study time.

+ Do you provide exam materials?

The materials I provide consist of questions and answers of past California Bar Exam and Baby Bar Exam spanning the last 20 years. All of the materials have been pre-selected or created for your specific needs. I also provide complementary outlines and attack sheets for all California Bar Exam and Baby Bar Exam tested subjects to assist with essay preparation. For the MBEs, I use previously tested questions for tutorial purposes and homework assignments.

For students wishing to do MBEs online, I highly recommend the Adaptibar program. For those students wishing to view actual scored essay answers by students who've previously sat for the bar exam, I also highly recommend the BarEssays program.

You may use the promo code "BPCB50" for $50 off Adaptibar and "GINA" for $25 off BarEssays.com.

+ Can I combine your services with another bar course?

Many students have commented on how pivotal it was to receive individualized attention and feedback on their essays and overall performance while taking a general bar review course or studying on their own. I help students identify their individual strengths and weaknesses while also suggesting solutions to maximize point potential. As such, my tutorial services are a great addition to any bar course and can also be utilized as a standalone bar program.

+ What makes you different from other tutors?

Over the years, I've worked with hundreds of students to achieve success on their exams. I've led skills-based workshops for first year law students and LLMs to help them with case briefing, exam outlining, exam taking, and time management. I have guest lectured for both undergraduate and graduate courses on Legal Analysis and Business Law. I have also advised law students on curriculum, coached them on mastering test-taking skills and helped them navigate the exam preparation process. Most importantly, I employ active learning techniques and will teach you how to evaluate your own answer based on the IRAC method.

My teaching experiences have shaped my values which encompass three simple ideals: individuality, honesty, and investment. Each student is unique with different attributes and learning styles. To address these differences, I employ various teaching methods with an emphasis on active learning. I also promise to place you in the best position to succeed by providing honest feedback while highlighting your strengths and improving upon your weaknesses. I truly am invested in the success of each of my clients. I'll work with you to develop a study plan of action that meets your personalized needs, and I'll be your personal bar coach, helping you navigate through the highs and lows of bar prep.

+ How many students do you take on each bar prep season?

Unlike other private bar tutors who take on anywhere from 20 to 40 students at a time, I only select a handful of students each bar exam season (no more than 8-10 students at a time). This is to ensure that each student gets the most individualized attention and makes the most effective use of our time together.

+ What type of student benefits most from your program?

Students who benefit most from my program generally garner the following characteristics: active learners, planners, meticulous in detail yet flexible in approach, highly organized, committed, sensible, focus on collaborative efforts, ability to practice self-evaluation, ability to pivot the course of direction when needed, good judgment exercised under test taking conditions, proper communication of a step-by-step process/approach, capacity to swiftly implement suggestions or different tactics/strategies and those with little to no other time commitments.

Students who gain the least amount of benefit from my program generally fall into one or more of the following categories: poor time management skills, disorganized, distracted, contentious attitude, passive learners, looking for the "right" answer rather than reasoning out a logical analysis, procrastinators, rigid and not adapting to change, unable to make necessary adjustments for improvement, implementation of the same bar study approaches which have not proved successful on previous exams, the unwillingness to try new strategies or tools to improve performance during bar study and those with other time commitments impeding upon their studies.

I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason at any time.

+ Do you personally provide feedback on the essays/performance tests?

All feedback is done by me personally. I provide line-by-line written feedback as well as a feedback report highlighting your strengths and resolving any potential weaknesses. My feedback is done by redlining a word document in track changes. The average time to review an essay or PT ranges from 45 to 90-minutes depending on how much feedback is necessary to properly critique an answer. Note a well written answer will take much less time to review whereas a poorly written answer will take much longer to review.

Although there are other bar tutors and programs offering essay/PT reviews at a discounted rate, their feedback is generally not as extensive as my redlined feedback. Rather than just identifying where your answer needs improvement, my goal in providing feedback is to place the student in the seat of the bar grader by giving them the tools and skills necessary to critique sample model answers and conduct self-evaluations on his/her own answer.

To place feedback into context, let's go to the numbers!

Statistics demonstrate there may be around 5,000 California bar exam applicants seated for each exam cycle. In July 2017, however, there were approximately 8,500 applicants that sat for the exam since the transition of the bar from a 3-day to a 2-day exam. With this number in mind, each of the 8,500 students must submit 5 essays and 1 performance test. This equates to roughly 51,000 (8,500 x 6) answer booklets to be graded within a 2 to 3 month turnaround time, depending on the exam cycle.

Of the 150 bar graders, only 112 people are picked to grade these answers. The bar graders are a mixed group composed of attorneys, law professors, full-time professionals and/or part-time professionals; generally, people with other time, work and familial commitments.

Each bar grader is given a schedule that requires one to spend at least 2 hours every night grading 25 answers. This equates to about 12.5 answers per hour, and approximately 5 minutes per answer.

However, as the deadline for grading approaches, some graders have a lot of catching up to do which results in quickly scanning answers. Thus, a grader may only spend 1 to 2 minutes on each answer. Couple this with the fact the graders are roughly paid around $3.20 for each essay read and $3.50 for each performance test read according to February 2016 rates, this gives each grader far less incentive to spend more than 2 minutes grading your answer.

A key component of writing a passing answer is to organize your answer so that the grader can read with ease and speed. By working with me, I will show you how to write an organized answer that will get you the most amount of points allocated in a 2-minute read. Please see samples of my feedback listed on my services page.

+ Do you assign homework?

I believe in a comprehensive and holistic approach to passing the California Bar Exam which will involve more than just putting in the hours and memorizing the law. Many students have come to me with a great command over the law yet are still unable to pass the exam. As such, I may assign homework to a student on an as needed basis. The homework is designed to actively engage the student in the materials provided.

Ultimately, my goal is to give students the tools to be able to critique their own essays and performance tests, thereby by placing the student in the seat of a bar grader. The best method of delivering these tools is by having the student complete a homework assignment which may take anywhere between thirty (30) minutes to two (2) hours to complete. Homework is optional yet quite beneficial to those who partake.

+ I have a job and/or family obligations. Do I have enough time to prepare for the exam?

I have helped both first-time and repeat takers who were working full-time (some with additional family obligations) successfully pass the exam. As each client has a different situation, please contact me so I may better assess your particular needs.

+ Should I sign up for your services if I'm unsure of taking the exam?

Undertaking the California Bar Exam requires significant investment in time and money, and you will need to be highly motivated during bar prep. It is wise, then, to consider thoroughly all aspects and implications of the bar exam, should you decide to go ahead and take the exam, you can do so with the confidence that you have done the necessary groundwork to succeed. Thus, it is best to start preparing for the exam when you can fully commit to the endeavor. I will certainly customize my services to fit your unique and individual needs but that may not be enough if your heart and mind are not into it. As each client has a different situation, please contact me so I can help you assess your needs.

+ What is your refund policy?

If you have yet not started your bar program, then you will have 30 days to cancel your purchase. The amount paid less a $500 nonrefundable deposit will be refunded to the client within 30 days from the date of cancellation. You also have the option to rollover your unused package or program to the next scheduled bar exam. However, if you chose the rollover option yet ultimately decide against sitting for the next scheduled bar exam, then such package or program will be forfeited entirely and no refund will be issued.

If you have already started bar prep, then any remaining reviews or tutorials left on a package or program will rollover to the next scheduled exam date. Any remaining reviews or tutorials must be used in such bar exam prep period or within 6 months, otherwise, they will be forfeited.

I reserve the right to refuse service to any client and may cancel such client's program or package at anytime. In such circumstances, any services rendered therewith will be converted into an hourly rate to be deducted from the total amount paid along with a $500 nonrefundable deposit. Any remaining amount will be refunded to such client within 30 days from the date of cancellation.

+ Do you have any payment plan options?

Payment plans are offered to a select few who can demonstrate a financial need. A deposit is required initially, and the remainder of payment is due within 30 days of the deposit. Please contact me to discuss payment plan options that may work for you.