Academic and Bar Exam Success Program

ABES Program

1L & 2L Support

Co-Director and Professor Katie Moran leads the 1L and 2L support through a required 1L class in the fall called Skills for Future Lawyers which teaches students the necessary skills and mindsets to be successful in their substantive law classes. Students learn how to create outlines, use hypotheticals as study tools, and engage in the cycle of self-regulated learning. Support continues in the spring of students' 1L year through skills sessions linked to Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Students needing extra academic support after their 1L year complete Academic Foundations in their 2L fall semester with Professor Moran. Each 1L and 2L bar class has an assigned ABES tutor who holds office hours and supports students in that class.

Throughout the course of law school, Professor Moran uses the ABES Canvas pages to send out timely information about the following:

• ·         USF’s bar pass results by bar preparation company to help USF students make informed decisions about the best company for them;

• ·         The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE);

• ·         Applying for accommodations on the MPRE and bar exam;

• ·         Filing for the Moral Character determination on the bar exam; and,

• ·         California Bar Examination deadlines.

3L & Bar Support

Co-Director and Professor Jonathan Chu teaches a required 3L class called Advanced Legal Analysis which teaches students how to write essays for the California Bar Exam and how to take bar multiple choices questions (MBEs).  Professor Chu provides students with personalized feedback on their essay submissions.  During bar study, ABES provides comprehensive programming, grading, feedback, and a suggested bar study schedule to all graduates to supplement their chosen bar preparation company.

Individual Meetings

Upper-division students can arrange individual meetings with ABES faculty to discuss their bar preparation plans anytime during the second, third, or fourth years.  If a graduate does not pass the exam on their first attempt, ABES provides support to repeaters through intake counseling sessions that help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and focus their study strategies.

Contact Information

General Inquiries
ABES@usfca.edu

Jonathan Chu
Assistant Professor & Co-Director of ABES (Bar Success)
Zief Library, 008
jchu13@usfca.edu

Katie Moran
Assistant Professor & Co-Director of ABES (Academic Foundations)
Zief Library, 007
mdmoran@usfca.edu 

Sebastian Letheule
ABES Law Faculty Fellow 
Zief Library, 006
sletheule@usfca.edu 

Matt Ostrander
ABES Program Assistant
mtostrander2@usfca.edu