After you take the bar exam, do not expect to get your results back quickly. Many states take up to 3 months to return your results. This is often agonizing to the applicant test taker. It may also be difficult to obtain a legal job during this timeframe if you do not already have a job lined-up. This is because many legal employers will now wait to see if you passed before they offer you a job. We like to think of this timeframe as the legal profession’s last attempt to place anxiety in the minds of aspiring lawyers (and they do a pretty good job at it).

Okay. The big day arrives – you get your bar results. Either you pass or you don’t. If you do, congratulations! All those who successfully complete the bar exam are then sworn into the state where they took it as a member of that state’s Bar. This means that the state has now officially recognized them as licensed attorneys. The Bar of each state is a self-regulating body, which means that lawyers within the state regulate themselves and must report any misconduct they witness. If you don’t pass the exam, you can take it again.

So, you have passed the bar exam. What is next? Well, if you still don’t have a job, we’ll show you what your options are.

Next, we’ll discuss legal jobs and salaries.