47 Bar exam failures before passing
Taking tests can be dreadful; can you envision taking a test 48 times? Also, imagine that test was a 3-day affair. It took Maxcy Filer that amount of attempts and 25 years to pass the Bar exam from California. He failed his first one in 1966 and had been testing once or twice annually. In between all the failures, Maxcy became a councilman. The funny thing is two of his sons passed the Bar exam on their first try and became lawyers before Maxcy finally succeeded.
Quotes
I already do briefs, complaints, interrogatories, and appear at administrative hearings, I’ll be able to do something I’ve always wanted to do and that’s go to court.
Maxcy D. Filer
If he tells a client he is going to take a case all the way to the Supreme Court, I’d be inclined to believe it.
Charles S. Vogel
References
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Advice from one who failed bar exam 47 times: Try again, again and again
But whatever the reason for passing, he said, he's living proof that persistence pays off. "When I was sworn in, the young man who was an appellate court judge said, 'Three words about Maxcy Filer: perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.'"
California Bar Journal
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At the Bar; A Man's Pride and Persistence Conquer the California Bar Exam's Most Famous Losing Streak.
Along the way Mr. Filer took every bar review course on either side of the San Andreas Fault, dropping $50,000 in fees. He journeyed around California like Father Junipero Serra, taking tests in San Francisco, Glendale, Oakland, Riverside, Carson, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The New York Times
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Passing the Test of Time : After 48 Tries, Compton Man Masters Bar Exam
His 48 tries is a record, at least as far as anyone at the Committee of Bar Examiners can recall.
Los Angeles Times
