The July 2008 Bar exam has just ended in the U.S. -- for many people it ended yesterday and for most, I expect, it was today. That means that some members of this site probably need some congratulations (and perhaps encouragement and consolation, though you probably did better than you think you did.)
This item is to let people check in post-exam and for the lawyers among us -- and non-lawyers who want to kibitz -- to let their hair down and talk about the legal process and what it means to be a lawyer today.
The first thing I have to say is, again, congratulations. You've just been through our profession's most universal torture test. If you're like most people, you are still having flashbacks to questions on the MBE (the mutiple choice Multistate Bar Exam, which, to my knowledge, is used in every state but Washington.) Please put them out of your mind if you can; I've taken and passed three bar exams and I could probably count the number of MBE questions I felt confident about on my fingers and toes. They are not written for you to figure out perfectly; they are written so that the people who generally know their stuff will generally get the most right. So don't worry about the ones you got wrong; they will stick in your memory if you let them, but they are now dead and buried.
If you took the New York Bar and therefore the New York State Multiple Choice questions, any memory you have of those atrocities after finishing this sentence is wasted. Move on.
If you're like most bar applicants, one thing you've learned about yourself is that it's really hard to concentrate on one exam for 2+ months. If you're kicking yourself for the times you screwed around this summer, stop. Pretty much everyone does it at some point, just like pretty much everyone goes freaky in the final two weeks or so. A lost weekend or two is not likely to have made the difference.
If you don't pass this time, and if you have the time to study as hard next time, you will probably pass. I have tutored for the bar, so this may sound self-interested, but if you can afford it, it's worth getting a tutor (or at minimum a study group.) Force yourself to explain legal concepts to people -- ideally to other students, but sanitation workers and waitrons if you must. You often don't realize that you don't understand something until you try to explain it -- just as you often don't see the weaknesses in a diary until after you post it. Let the struggle to communicate be your friend.
As for what happens to you after you pass the bar, well, I'm still figuring that out myself. I could give a long rant on what awaits people in the legal profession, but I think I'll leave that to commenters.
Remember, you won't hear about the results for weeks, or even until almost Thanksgiving if you're in New York or California, so you need something to distract you. Luckily for you, I understand that there's an election this year.