She's Not A Lawyer

 

trump's new press secretary has gotten caught with her pants down in her claim that she is an attorney. As she has not passed the bar, she is not an attorney, not even in China as she has also presumably claimed.

When I was a student at Howard University, I had a brilliant professor. She holds four impressive degrees including a JD. She has it all. So when I failed the bar the first time I was devastated and of course, I sought her out for comfort. That's the beauty of attending an HBCU, the ties are strong, always available, and never broken, they are for life! So, of course I reached out for encouragement. 

I had failed only by a few points which made it just that much more devastating because I've got to do this shit all over again for maybe three points, I don't remember exactly, but it was miniscule. 

So, when I called my brilliant professor, I couldn't believe my ears when she told me that she, too, had failed it the first time. After processing the shock of her admission, I felt less ashamed, and less critical of myself. I appreciated her being forthright and felt consoled knowing that I was in good company. 

My professor went on to tell me the only person who never passes the bar is the person who stops taking it. She told me to take it again. I heeded her advice, took the bar exam again, and rode that horse right across the finish line to victory. 

Failing the bar, however, was a humbling experience because it is so very public. Everyone who goes to law school is thought to be "smart", if for no other reason, because you got in. It doesn't help that law school culture feeds this stereotype. 

Wallowing in embarrassment and self-pity, one can easily lose sight of the significant accomplishment of having survived law school and forget that you are smart and capable. Now you have to contend with everyone knowing you did not pass the bar, your law shool professors and colleagues, your family, friends, and all too happy enemies, and anyone else who wants or needs to know. Membership in the bar is public information and all too easy to access which makes it even more bizarre that this woman would not be forthcoming about not passing.

I never did pass the Pennsylvania Bar, however, which was the one I really wanted. Taking the bar is an exhausting experience. You have to really want to do it. I guess I didn't really want to do it...

Sometimes I admonish myself in self-talk that until I actively engage in the practice of law, I shouldn't allow me to call myself an attorney, figuratively because literally, of course, I'm an attorney and have the bar number to prove it. I beat myself up because I truly believe that not practicing is a disservice to my community, not to mention to myself because I'm still paying for this shit. But my community needs people like me to vigorously practice law and I know that. 

This chick, however, makes me wear my Esquire badge even more boldly. Yes, I'm an attorney, practicing or not, I completed law school, passed that stupid ass bar exam, and I should not take those successes lightly.

It's amazing to me that so many people who have never taken a bar and who probably couldn't pass a bar if their life depended on it, sit in judgment of those who don't pass. That some of us respond, internalizing not passing as a failure that somehow negates or discounts that they've just completed three rigorous years of law school, which is no easy task, is sadly, also amazing. Block out the noise, which is probably mostly in your head, stand tall, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and take the exam again! 

I was so impressed to read in Michelle Obama's book that she had not passed the bar the first time (Becoming, p. 154). I had to read it again. With that admission, I was even more sold that our forever First Lady, is a strong and confident Black Woman. Society has taught lawyers, no matter our success, to not talk about not passing the bar. 

Passing the first time has ridiculously been equated to some status of honor. Law schools use first try passage results as a marketing tool. Lay people, who again, have never sat for a bar exam, will sometimes ask the question too, as if an attorney who had to take the bar more than once is somehow less competent or less qualified. Make that make sense...

The bar exam, as with most standardized tests, in no way predicts one's ability to apply the skill and perform the profession. The tests are often criticized for being culturally biased and some folks have been trained to test well. These exams were implemented as barriers to keep certain others out of said professions. The bar exam is intended to keep the practice of law white and male. Blacks nor women were welcome. 

trump's press secretary got ensnared in the net cast by men like him, her brethren, if you will. 

Until she passes the bar, according to the rules of her tribe, she cannot call herself an attorney. She simply holds the title of JD, which, by the way, is a very impressive title and degree that opens many doors affording one several distinctions of credibility. Deserved or not, one is stereotypically assumed to have a capacity for intellectual and mental stamina and the ability to think quickly, logically and critically in many subjects, even beyond the study of law. It's actually quite fascinating to witness.

Folks also get stuck on which law school did one attend, as if that matters. It's just another ridiculous qualifier that, at the end of the day, is less relevant than believed. You're a lawyer! Nobody much cares where you went to law school when you win their case. 

If you didn't pass the bar, take it again and again until you conquer that last hurdle in the game of becoming a lawyer but don't hold yourself out as an attorney unless and until you pass the bar.

This woman does not appear to be the sharpest knife in the drawer and she took one of the hardest bars. The California bar exam ain't no joke, ask kim kardashian who might consider attending law school first since passage credentials are not for sale, no matter the bidder. I digress... 

trump's new press secretary omitted a truth that is too easily discoverable, which makes her obviously incompetent, even at lying. So far, she's just another "dumb blonde" who will fit right in with the trump administration.

~ Miss Higgi Says