BARWINNERS: Pass the Bar
Faculty
BARWINNERS Expert Team
We Care About You
Our professors are experts in helping you PASS the Bar Exam—teachers extraordinaire. Our faculty not only knows the material, but they have the gift of teaching.
Because we believe so strongly in personalized attention and assistance, every one of us on the BARWINNERS TEAM, from Shari Karney to our faculty, staff, tutors and mentors are personally available to you in person, by e-mail and/or phone to answer your questions.
We are here to help you get through this stressful time in your life easily and successfully.
BARWINNERS' Faculty and Staff have been helping students pass the California Bar since 1981 using compassion, motivation and "tough love."
Because we believe so strongly in personalized attention and assistance, every one of us on the BARWINNERS TEAM, from Shari Karney to our faculty, staff, tutors and mentors are personally available to you in person, by e-mail and/or phone to answer your questions.
We are here to help you get through this stressful time in your life easily and successfully.
BARWINNERS' Faculty and Staff have been helping students pass the California Bar since 1981 using compassion, motivation and "tough love."
Meet BARWINNERS Creator and Owner, Shari Karney
With 28 years of experience and one of the highest pass rates in California (94% 1st Time- Takers, 87 % repeaters), Shari knows what need to be done to make sure you pass the bar. She is the author of the BARWINNERS' APPROACH BOOK, (The "Bar Exam Bible,"). Essays are her special strength. She loves showing students how do-able the essays are if they use the right study materials and follow her format laid out in the Approach Book (click here to sample Approach Book). The Approach Book is the foundation of BARWINNERS and one of the keys to her high pass rate.
BARWINNERS APPROACH BOOK is the answer blueprint to passing the Bar Exam. It is a programmed Approach designed to take you step-by-step through every issue and area tested on the Bar Exam so you will be able to write exceptional answers to essay exams or whatever is presented to you.
Professor Karney has taught Legal Writing and Analysis, Professional Responsibility, Evidence, Constitutional Law, Torts, Contracts, Remedies, Community Property, Legal Writing and Analysis, and Lawyering Skills, for BARWINNERS and for a variety of law schools in Southern California.
As a Bar Exam Consultant to several major law schools in California, Shari has been able to work with students and faculty with outstanding results. Bar passage rates at these schools dramatically improved.
Through her life's experiences, Shari has learned compassion and understanding. Because of this, she is able to understand each and every one of you on a personal level. Where you are now and where you would like to be. Shari makes passing the Bar easy and do-able. It's another reason why BARWINNERS' pass rate is so high.
Shari started out tutoring bar students one-on-one in 1981 and went on to create BARWINNERS/The Karney Course. Shari has been grading and teaching how to pass the California Bar since 1981. She has reviewed every question that's been on the Bar since 1972, and every Performance Test. She has identified what issues the Bar tests most frequently and she knows what the graders are looking for. With compassion, intensity, humor and energy, she is committed to doing whatever it takes to help you reach your goal.
Shari believes great teachers are born not made. She enjoys getting to know her students and diagnosing what they need to do differently. Shari has the ability to see who and what you are and your special unique gifts that others may not see. She believes in you with all her heart. Her goal is to guide you to be what you were born to be. She helps you uncover who and what you are so you can get out of your own way and pass the Bar.
Many of her students have overcome serious obstacles such as learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, English as a second language, physical and medical impediments, and other difficulties that have gotten in their way of passing the bar.
Shari graduated with the highest honors from UCLA, Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Loyola Law School. She is licensed to practice law in California and before the Supreme Court.
She devotes her time exclusively to BARWINNERS and does not maintain a law practice anymore.
However, when Shari was practicing law she was a civil litigator for 10 years representing victims of child sexual abuse. She changed the law in California so that victims now have rights. Once the law changed in California, Shari worked with other states helping them change their laws. Now 40 states have implemented laws giving abuse victims more rights.
Her legal work was the subject of an NBC Television movie "Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story".
She has also kept her hand in the "real world" by serving as an expert media commentator for Fox TV, CNN and NBC. Shari has covered practically every major media trial in America in the last fifteen years, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Michael Jackson molestation case, and the Jon Benet Ramsey Case. She was one of the lead attorneys on Fox TV's syndicated court show, Power of Attorney, which featured the 10 most influential trial attorneys in the United States. Shari has appeared on Oprah, ABC Primetime, The Today Show, Larry King Live, and Court TV.
She has also been the subject of numerous articles in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, The Los Angeles Business Journal, The Los Angeles Times Profiles; New York Times Sunday Magazine Section article; TV Guide; Variety Magazine; Los Angeles Times View Section; Los Angeles Daily Journal; California Magazine; Women's World Magazine and much more.
Today, Shari focuses her time, energy and attention on BARWINNERS' exclusively. She loves teaching and working with Bar Students.
BARWINNERS is thrilled to have Shari Karney as our Team Leader. She is an inspiration to us all.
Professional Responsibility
Jean Boylan - Loyola Law School
Jean Boylan proudly states "she loves teaching!" For the last thirteen years, Jean has taught Early Bar Program, Ethical Lawyering, Fundamentals of Bar Writing, Legal Drafting, Legal Research and Writing at Loyola Law School. Before starting her teaching career, Jean practiced with the Century City law firm of Gibbs, Giden, Locher and Acret. She made partner in 1991. Since beginning her teaching career, she has been a National Speaker on "Designing Programs to Improve Bar Passage," been a presenter for Legal Writing Institute and a Presenter, Academic Support Conference on Early Bar Programs. Jean not only has taught as a Clinical Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, but she has also mentored, supported, taught and trained a cadre of students to pass the bar exam and become outstanding lawyers. She specializes in teaching students lawyering skills and legal writing and drafting. She is a cum laude graduate of Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School.
Trusts and Wills
Judith F. Daar
Business Associations
Theodore P. Seto
Professor Seto, a Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, graduated with the highest honors from Harvard University (Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude) and Harvard University Law School magna cum laude.) While in law school, Theodore Seto served as executive editor of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Walter Mansfield on the Second Circuit. He then practiced for 14 years as a civil litigator and tax attorney with the firms of Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston and Drinker Biddle & Reath in Philadelphia before joining the Loyola faculty in 1991. He teaches courses in Partnership, Corporate Taxation, International Taxation, and Property Law.
Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law
Marcy Strauss
Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, Marcy Strauss teaches and writes in the field of Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Sexual Harassment, Hate Speech.
While in law school, Marcy Strauss was a member of the Georgetown Law Journal. After graduation, she served as law clerk to the Honorable James B. Moran of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois from 1981-83. Professor Strauss joined the Loyola faculty in 1984. She writes on the freedom of speech and other constitutional issues.
Evidence and Civil Procedure
Martin Pritikin
Professor Pritikin is committed to developing future lawyers' advocacy skills. He has been the faculty advisor and head coach for Whittier's Trial Advocacy Honors Board and was recently appointed Director of the newly formed Institute of Trial and Appellate Practice.
Professor Pritikin has extensive experience in both the practice of litigation and in teaching others how to litigate. His involvement in oral advocacy began at Harvard Law School, where, in addition to serving as a member of the Harvard Law Review, he was the regional champion in the ATLA Student Trial Advocacy Competition, and a semi-finalist in Harvard's prestigious Ames Moot Court Competition.
While in full-time private practice, Mr. Pritikin was also an adjunct coach of the highly successful Byrne Trial Advocacy Program at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. The team raised its U.S. News & World Report national ranking from 11th to 5th during his first year as a head adjunct.
In 2004, Mr. Pritikin entered academia full time. As an Associate Professor at Whittier Law School, he brings his litigation experience to bear in teaching Evidence, Criminal Law.
Prior to attending Harvard Law School, Mr. Pritikin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's of Arts in English.
Professor Pritikin has extensive experience in both the practice of litigation and in teaching others how to litigate. His involvement in oral advocacy began at Harvard Law School, where, in addition to serving as a member of the Harvard Law Review, he was the regional champion in the ATLA Student Trial Advocacy Competition, and a semi-finalist in Harvard's prestigious Ames Moot Court Competition.
While in full-time private practice, Mr. Pritikin was also an adjunct coach of the highly successful Byrne Trial Advocacy Program at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. The team raised its U.S. News & World Report national ranking from 11th to 5th during his first year as a head adjunct.
In 2004, Mr. Pritikin entered academia full time. As an Associate Professor at Whittier Law School, he brings his litigation experience to bear in teaching Evidence, Criminal Law.
Prior to attending Harvard Law School, Mr. Pritikin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor's of Arts in English.
Community Property and Real Property
Jennifer Mertus
Jennifer Mertus is an Associate Professor of Legal Writing at Whittier Law School. She has taught Early Bar Program, Legal Writing I and II, Professional Skills II, American Legal Research and Writing, Moot Court. Professor Jennifer Mertus is the stateside director responsible for planning and overall administration of Whittier Law School's Summer Abroad Program in China, 2009.
Jennifer has mentored, supported, and helped students pass the CA bar exam. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Whittier Law School.
Jennifer has mentored, supported, and helped students pass the CA bar exam. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Whittier Law School.
Performance Exam Workshops
Christine Kelton
As a result of her experience, Professor Kelton brings a specialized knowledge of the skills required to succeed on the Performance Exam.
Her expertise is in Performance Exam techniques, strategies, and Legal Writing. As a full time Legal Writing Professor at Whittier Law School for the past twelve years, Professor Kelton teaches students the skills essential to passing the Performance Exam. In addition to the Performance Exam, Professor Kelton also teaches Legal Writing, Legal Research, Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation, and Professional Skills.
In addition to her academic expertise, Professor Kelton practiced law in Los Angeles and Orange County. Professor Kelton worked as a trial lawyer in both the Los Angeles and Orange County Public Defender's Offices. She also has extensive civil litigation experience specializing in defending mental health professionals. She graduated from Loyola Law School.
Combining her academic expertise with her professional experience, Professor Kelton will show you exactly how to succeed on the Performance Exam.
She will show you how to read, organize, outline and write a passing Performance Exam in the allotted three hours. Unlike other Bar Performance instructors who tell you "there is no way to get better at the Performance Test," we show you exactly how to pass the Performance Tests on the Bar Exam. We care and are here for you.
MBE Workshops
Paul Fredrix
He is an expert on the MBE and will show you how to immediately eliminate two of the four choices and then, out of the remaining two, how to easily pick the correct answer.
Professor Fredrix also lectures BARWINNERS' students on the substantive law for every Multistate subjects while going over practice MBE questions. He is thorough and precise.
Professor Fredrix has been teaching and privately tutoring Bar students for the Multistate for the past 20 years.
BARWINNERS is privileged to have Professor Fredrix teaching our Multistate (MBE) Workshop for the last 10 years.
Bar Exam Stress Specialist
Leonard Ludovico
Whether you are a first time taker, repeater or multiple time- taker, Leonard will help you through the Bar Exam.
The eight weeks of preparation time leading up to the bar exam is more than likely the longest period of unrelenting and intense psychological pressure an examinee will ever have to deal with.
During this entire time, an examinee needs to be completely on top of his or her game, in order to accomplish all of the work that needs to be done to properly prepare for the California bar exam. Unfortunately, the usual methods we may have developed to cope with our daily roadblocks simply aren’t up to the task, and many examinees find they are, for the first time in their lives, unable to handle the sheer volume of work and the unrelenting psychological pressure. To make matters worse, most examinees aren’t even aware their roadblocks exist, and can’t figure out why they tried so hard, yet failed the bar exam, or have failed over and over again.
Leonard Ludovico is able to pick up on an examinee’s roadblocks to success by paying close attention to their body language and voice. He works with our Barwinners students to help them deal with and dissolve their roadblocks. He is available to help students reduce test anxiety and improve their memory, concentration, time management, and study skills.
We want you to pass the bar easily and be happier and more productive when you study. Therefore, we have retained the services of Outside Consultant, Leonard Ludovico. Leonard is highly trained in transpersonal psychology with 18 years experience and training* in working with test takers. With Leonard's and BARWINNERS' help, the bar exam can be one of the most positive and successful experiences of your lifetime.
BARWINNERS is blessed to have Leonard Ludovico on our team helping students pass the California Bar Exam more easily.
*Certifications, Education & Training
2005, Advanced Certification, Training in Managing Test anxiety for all exams: Mr. Ludovico has worked helping examinees with the Bar Exam, LSAT, G4 & G5 Promotional Exams and Judicial Exams
2004, Advanced Certification, Training in Treatment of Panic Attacks, Memory, Concentration, and Sleeping Problems
2003, Essential of Mastery, Business Principles, Interviewing, Motivation
2002, Advanced Certification, Medical Transpersonal Psychology
2001, Master, Advanced Certification, Transpersonal Psychology
2001, Advanced Certification, Clinical Hypnosis
1998, Certification, Emergency Room, National Guild
1998, Certification, Pain Management, Stress Management
Alumni Professors
Radha A. Pathak
Assistant Professor of Law
Whittier Law School
Susan Smith Bakhshian
Clinical Professor of Law
Loyola Law School Los Angeles
Brietta R. Clark
Professor of Law
Loyola Law School Los Angeles
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