---------------------------------------------------- law blog --------------------------------------------------------------
- I have completed my articling with PerrinAhmad LLP, which was started on June 10, 2024.
- The call to the bar is scheduled on Monday June 16
How to pass the Ontario Bar Exam
See my thoughts below on the Ontario Bar Exam, please let me know if there are further subjects you would like to see addressed here. Feel free to email me at evan.kilroy01@gmail.com
Reasons why you should trust me
I took both the February 2025 bar exams and I passed both on the first try. After the sheer amount of preparation that I completed, the exams felt very easy. After I passed, I had a fairly stress-free and enjoyable and predicable remainder of my articling experience. I prepared for 8 months for the bar exam. I passed despite the fact that I completed all my education in another language (French) and got my degree outside of Ontario (New-Brunswick).
If you ask most people, they will say that they studied 3-4 months part-time for this exam, and in my opinion, this is not enough. I studied 6-7 months and put in at least 400 hours of work. My strategies for the exam are tried and tested over 2000+ practice questions, and my results were all above 90%. I've received advice on this exam from a dozen lawyers from my home town and a number of anonymous posters on r/onbarexam. I am confident that my approach to this exam is superior to most of the opinions out there.
I decided to write this post because I have a lot to say about the exam, and I have heard a lot of bad advice and wrong information. I could have followed some of the advice, and if I did, I could have failed. I was so stressed about this exam and could not have been happier when I passed. This exam can send you into a stress spiral if you let it, your friends and fellow exam takers will make you doubt yourself. I want to give people the confidence they need to tackle this exam properly.
Disclaimer
The opinions in this post are my own, some information may be incorrect.
Why the Bar Exams are important
The bar exam is the most daunting step in the licensing process. It should be treated with the upmost seriousness. If you fail, it will mean months of lost income from not being a lawyer, you will have to repay the $1,000 examination fee, costs of practice tests and the hotel stay to write the exam, more time off work, less time with family, and more stress. It will hurt even more when you see others pass and move on with their careers. You will never know what questions you got right, whether you pass or fail.
While it can be an easy exam if you put the right work in, there is a real risk of failing. NCAs aren't the only ones who fail the bar exam. Graduates from Ontario and elsewhere in Canada, who have done well in law school, and yet failed 3+ times. This is rare, but it does indeed happen.
It should be clear that while the bar exam is a serious matter, it will not ruin your life if you fail. Becoming a lawyer in Canada while still be possible if you can't pass the Ontario Bar Exam. You can become licensed in another province. Upon licensing out of Ontario, you can request a transfer into Ontario. You would have to retake your articling and pay into another provincial licensing program. You may have difficulty getting hired in another province if you fail out of Ontario. I would assume your employer might want you to pass their jurisdiction's bar exam before they hire you. All this to say that there will be a path to becoming a lawyer, even if you can't pass the Ontario Bar exam.
The Bar Exam is a systemic barrier to the practice of law
It is somewhat ironic that an institution as progressively minded as the LSO requires that you pass a standardized test to gain entry into the practice. This exam discriminates against people whose first language is not English, most importantly French language speakers. Yes, the materials and exam are fully available in French, but the main resources which will ensure you success on the exam (paid practice exams and forums such as r/lawcanada and r/onbarexam) are all in English. 4/5 of those who wrote the June 2024 exam from my law school (Université de Moncton), failed at least one exam on their first write.
The exam is especially difficult if you are short on funds. You NEED to spend money to get the right practice questions. Lots of people can't pay the money required to practice for the exam (buying the practice questions, spending around $1.5k to buy all the practice questions you need). A lot of articling students are short on cash. You just have to understand that you will pay much, much more if you fail. Spend the money. Take the time off of work (preferably 1 month). Take out a loan if you have to, it is way cheaper than failling.
Exam question style
Post COVID cheating scandal
You will see a lot of posters claim that since the COVID cheating scandal, the exam is more knowledge based and the questions are more abstract than the "find and seek" style questions in previous years. I can confirm that this is not true.
Style of questions
In both February 2025 exams, 90% of the questions are word for word in the book. 99% of the subjects tested in the exams are covered in the materials. All of the subjects in the exam are listed on LSO website (see entry-level solicitor and barrister exams). You should be able to fully discuss any of these subject at length by the time you write the exam. The questions do not require any level of understanding beyond what is written in the book.
Why the Solicitors Exam is harder
From anecdotal experience, most people who fail, struggle with the solicitors. Most people agree that the solicitor exam is harder. I can confirm that this is true. Even if you have more practice experience in solicitor subjects (real estate, wills and business), there are reasons why the solicitor exam can be harder.
1- The solicitor materials are longer by approx 200 pages. There are more pages to flip through.
2- The subjects in the solicitor materials are covered much more in depth than in barristers (approx 400 pages per subject compared to approx 200 pages per subject in the barrister). This makes it much harder to find the answer.
3- The subjects overlap. During the real exam, some of the answers in the business law section can only be found in the real estate section and vice versa. It takes a much more comprehensive review of the materials (memorization by practice) to ensure you can find the right answer.
4- The chapters overlap (i.e. if you are asked a question about a real estate transaction, the question could be in any number of chapters in the real estate section)
Read the materials
Pre-exam prepation
How to take the practice exams
My schedule leading up to the exam
The 2 months before the exam I tried my best to complete at least half a practice exam a day, timed, even thought I was working full time.
Completing half an exam (including time for pausing and review, which will be necessairy sometimes