• STUDENTS
  • ALUMNI
  • FACULTY
  • STAFF
  • LIBRARY
Cooley Law Logo
MENU
  • APPLY
  • J.D.
      • J.D. Program
      • Prospective Students
      • Apply Now
      • Tuition & Financial Aid
      • Scholarships
      • FAQ
      • Contact Admissions
      • Campus Locations
      • Course Catalog
      • Schedule Options
      • Study Abroad
      • Our Student Body
      • Academic Calendar
      • U.S. Legal Studies for Foreign Attorneys
  • EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
      • Social Justice Clinics
      • Community Service Clinics
      • Externships
      • Simulation Courses
      • Competitions
  • MAKE A GIFT
      • Giving Tuesday 2021
      • Annual Fund
      • DEI Champions
      • Merit Scholarship Fund
      • Planned Giving
      • Cooley Society Membership
      • Donor Honor Roll
  • ABOUT
      • Mission, Values, and Vision
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Home of the National Legal Mentoring Consortium
      • Commitment to Social Justice and Access
      • Leadership & Administration
      • Blog
      • Campus Locations
      • Title IX and Campus Safety
      • Media Requests
      • Consumer Information
      • Jobs

Search

High Performance In These Two Classes is Best Predictors of Bar Success

CooleyLawAuburnHills10292015-425-1

The recent National Jurist article called What it takes to pass today's nasty bar exam didn't surprise Cooley Law School Professor Mark Cooney. Not one bit. 

The article states that, "The study found that a student's performance in two first-year courses in particular – civil procedure and legal research and writing – were highly predictive of bar exam performance."

Award-winning Research & Writing Professor and legal writing expert, Mark Cooney, agrees.

"One big reason, in my opinion, is that you simply cannot fudge the writing courses. They measure a student's diligence – his or her attention to detail, willingness to put in the time, concern over refinement and details. These are habits, and they are the habits that produce bar passers. Nothing passes the bar except time and diligence. There's no magic strategy: Put in the time. Learn the rules of law. Answer the question. (Practice.)

"We teach our law students to improve how they apply the law to facts in a meaningful fashion through the written word. Our newly designed curriculum, to address changes on bar exams across the nation, can improve a students' performance in school, on the bar, in externships, and in practice." 

Cooley Law School's program is designed to start with a student's first day in law school and continues through graduation. The law school implements strategies to improve the learning experience for law students, provide actual practice experience through clinics and externship opportunities, and ultimately prepares them for the bar exam and to be outstanding attorneys and leaders in our global community. 

More on Teaching Outside the Box

Tags: Legal Education
Back to Blog
  • Tweet

Related Articles

Lawyers Publish or Perish. Is Legal Writing An Essential Skill?

Yes, that statement exaggerates—but only slightly. Academics must publish or perish, meaning to...
Read More

Cooley Law School Tampa Bay Student Receives Ms. JD “Inspiration” Award

Law school is a big commitment. So is being a parent. Ditto for a full-time job. But what happens...
Read More

You can do anything; it all comes down to what you want

To say Victoria McCormick is dedicated to her country, her legal studies, and to service is to...
Read More

Subscribe to Email Updates

Recent Posts

Posts by Topic

  • Cooley Faculty (135)
  • Cooley Alumni (123)
  • Cooley Students (84)
  • Legal Education (78)
  • Faculty Experts (73)
  • Tampa Bay Campus (27)
  • Diversity (24)
  • Cooley Law School Students (21)
  • Dean's Fellow (19)
  • From Where I Stand (18)
  • Awards (13)
  • Faculty Research & Scholarship (12)
  • Innocence Project (12)
  • Military Students (11)
  • Plain language (11)
  • Study Abroad (11)
  • Multicultural Lawyering (10)
  • Michigan Lawyer Employment Data (7)
  • Cooley Law School History (6)
  • Lansing Campus (5)
  • Library Blog Series (5)
  • Weekend Program (5)
  • Equal Access to Justice (4)
  • Kimberly O'Leary (4)
  • Legal Ethics (4)
  • Bar Exam Advice (3)
  • Externships (3)
  • International Law Faculty Experts (3)
  • Resiliency (3)
  • Continuous Improvement (2)
  • Cooley Career Office (2)
  • Service & Integrity (2)
  • online learning (2)
  • Cooley Mission (1)
  • Homeland & National Security Law Review (1)
  • LL.M. (1)
  • LSAT Prep (1)
  • Tribute (1)
see all
Cooley Law Logo

Cooley Law School
300 South Capitol Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933
Tampa Oaks I, 12802 Tampa Oaks Boulevard, Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33637
(517) 371-5140

Contact Us

Contact Admissions

Read Our Blog

Full Sitemap

Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

Consumer Information

In corde hominum est anima legis. | The spirit of the law is in the human heart.

Cooley Law School is an independent, private, non-profit educational institution accredited by the American Bar Association and the Higher Learning Commission. 

Read non-discrimination policy

If you encounter accessibility barriers while on our website, please notify our Accessibility Office using the Inaccessible Content Notification Form.

© 2024 Cooley Law School
Designed By InVerve Marketing