From Faculty Workshops to Community Support, Bar Prep Program 2025 Stronger Than Ever

Students studying for the bar exam benefit from getting together for meals, such as at this ice cream social.

For law school graduates across the country, the lead-up to the bar exam is an especially intense and stressful time. But Brooklyn Law School’s Summer Bar Initiative, now in its third year, is proving that with the right support, students can approach bar preparation with greater confidence and well-being, all key to performing at their best on the exam.

Led by Associate Dean for Academic Success and Associate Professor of Clinical Law Karen Porter and Director of Bar Preparation Robert Fisher, the 10-week program has this year continued to expand, offering a full spectrum of targeted study sessions and workshops; financial assistance to help ensure access to commercial bar programs and to defray housing expenses to allow students to devote more of their time to studying; and informed advice, guidance, and counseling. Sustenance and a sense of community through shared meals are also part of the equation.

In light of 2024 Brooklyn Law School graduates achieving the highest bar passage rate in more than a decade, the bar prep initiative is proving to be invaluable.

The Bar Exam Prep Fund has from its inception been fully supported through the generous donations of alumni and friends, most recently through proceeds of the 2025 Brooklyn Law School Alumni Dinner, where $345,000 was raised through a combination of sponsorships, ticket sale and live auction proceeds and additional donations. At the same time, the effort has now “moved from a ‘bar initiative’ to a full-fledged ‘bar program,’” Porter said. She credits a great deal of the forward movement to the 2024 addition to the team of Fisher, who assumed the leadership role from associate professor of legal writing emerita Linda Feldman ’83. “Linda expertly handed off the baton, Rob extended the receiving hand, and he has taken off at top speed,” Porter said. “He sends out weekly emails that provide essential information, and, more importantly, he manages to help students with the inevitable anxiety and emotional stress of an intensive 10-week study program.”

One of the keys to the program, Fisher said, is combating the isolation many students face during bar prep. “Bar study these days is a somewhat lonely exercise of watching videos and practicing multiple choice and essay questions at one’s own pace and in one’s own space,” Fisher said. “What we have tried to do this summer and the last two is create more community and support for the students.”

Whether gathering at mid-day to eat lunch and review materials along with faculty, grabbing a Monday breakfast together to start the week on a positive note, or attending workshops where they can learn and practice responding to the form of questions on the exam, students gain strength from sharing the experience with their peers and with supportive faculty. Dean of Students Sarah Jean Kelly and Arthur Pinto & Stephen Bohlen Associate Dean of Inclusion & Diversity Dominque Fowler have hosted dinners for the students after long days of study. “We also regularly advise students about their studying and progress and try to keep them as calm as possible through what is an extremely stressful process,” Fisher said.

Faculty have been all in. Focused sessions on highly tested material have been held in key subjects and skill areas with participating faculty including: Assistant Professor of Legal Writing Alissa Bauer (Essays); Anita and Stuart Subotnick Professor of Law Anita Bernstein (Torts); Centennial Professor of Law Dana Brakman Reiser and Assistant Professor of Law Michael Haber (Property); David M. Barse Professor of Law Edward Janger (Secured Transactions); Professor of Law Vijay Raghavan (Contracts); Associate Professor of Law Jayne Ressler (Civil Procedure); Les Fagen Professor of Law Alice Ristroph (Criminal Procedure); Dean’s Research Scholar and Professor of Law Anna Roberts (Evidence); and Assistant Professor of Law Naveen Thomas (Business Associations).

“Additionally, we have worked with Themis and BARBRI to host full-day simulated exam sessions, workshops on maximizing the utility of their course materials, and webinars on studying for students with accommodations on the exam,” Fisher said. “We have also offered academic assistance in the form of tutoring sessions available through Themis and BARBRI to students with questions about how to approach areas of the exam.”

During a recent afternoon snack break in the student lounge, we caught up with some of the students to ask them about what has been most valuable to them as they cram for the exam. “It’s all about the camaraderie,” said Josh Bender ’25. “Otherwise, it’s just you and BARBRI all day.”

For Fiona Kim ’25 and Stephanie Argueta ’25, the faculty workshops were a bonus, and Rob Fisher’s newsletters and regular emails to keep students informed and supported have helped tremendously. “Rob has made this time easier,” Kim said. Added Argueta, “He has helped to normalize the weirdness of it all. And the multi-performance testing was really helpful.” Students like John Godoshian ’25 and Olivia Perkins ’25, who are both taking the Themis bar prep, said that the alumni who came into the school to give real-world advice about what to expect on test day was invaluable and helped to take away some of that test-day anxiety. And those lunches, dinners, and snacks were a gift, said many of the students.

When learning and studying is your full-time job, that support means a lot, students said. “I did the lunches,” said Jenya Damsky ’25. "In the middle of intense studying you sometimes forget to eat. These meals together force you to remember, and they were really helpful.”

And when the exam day comes, the support continues, Fisher said, with lunch to be ordered for students at the major testing centers, and Fowler supplying test-takers with pencils, erasers, water bottles, and other test supplies.

“Ultimately, we know that it is up to the students to do the hard work, and the results are to their credit,” said Fisher. “But we have tried to show that all facets of the school are supporting them in their studying.”

Learn more about how to join in support for the Bar Prep Program here.