The School of Law creates new Director of Bar Exam Success position
June 13, 2024
The School of Law has created a new staff position dedicated to helping students prepare for the bar exam. Patrick Lopez, who served as the School of Law’s Associate Director of Career Services, has been promoted to Director of Bar Exam Success, a new position created by the School of Law. Lopez earned his J.D. in 2008 from Arizona Summit and his L.L.M. in 2016 from the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law at Arizona State University. Before the creation of the Director of Bar Exam Success, one staff member was responsible for academic and bar passage support for over 300 students.
With the addition of this position, the School of Law enhances its support for students and recent graduates as they prepare for the bar exam. The addition of Lopez’s position allows the School of Law to expand the provision of academic success services to students throughout their time in law school.
Initially, Lopez will teach Legal Analysis for the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) in the fall and spring, giving third-year law students flexibility to take the course when it best fits their schedules. Legal Analysis for the Uniform Bar Exam will focus on bar exam tips and strategies and will review commonly tested UBE subjects with a significant amount of class time spent on reviewing practice questions, engaging in good legal reasoning, and developing effective exam taking strategies. Students will develop competency and confidence in answering bar exam questions and gain a strong legal foundation in the commonly tested rules. Lopez will transition the class focus to the NextGen bar exam which will be administered for the first time in New Mexico in the summer of 2027.
Lopez will also assist students with their bar exam applications and serve as a liaison to the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners.
Lopez offered these thoughts about his new position: “I am deeply honored to begin serving as the School of Law’s new Director of Bar Exam Success after serving as Associate Director of Career Services for nearly five years. With the New Mexico Bar Exam transitioning to the NextGen Bar Exam in 2027, this is a particularly exciting time to work on helping the Law School’s uniquely diverse graduates achieve success on the bar exam. I have been inspired by the grit and determination I’ve seen from UNM law students and I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity to continue working with these wonderful individuals along with the exceptional staff and faculty at the School of Law.”
