Nobody worked harder than I did over the eight weeks leading up to my first attempt at the CBX. When I didn’t pass, it mystified me more than anything else. I mistakenly believed that I had hit the written portions of the exam more or less out of the park. Steve Zikman showed me why I had not. Foremost, my analyses lacked depth. I was hurling issues at the wall just to see what would stick, but I wasn’t delivering enough meaningful factual analysis. Steve taught me how to write essays that had substance, essays that focused on answering the call of the question. He showed me what factual analysis is all about. It was exciting. Steve did not teach me the law: he taught me how to exhaust the facts. With every essay that I wrote and rewrote, he opened my eyes to something new and fine-tuned my application of his methods, line by line. His “elementized” approach required some effort on my part before it became second nature, especially since I had to work full time during my prep. But Steve kept me focused. He pays strict attention to the business of passing the bar, and didn’t let me waste time on distractions that would have impeded my progress. Happy to say, it worked. I committed to his method, embraced it, and applied it on my second attempt at the bar. And I passed! I cannot recommend Steve Zikman highly enough. He is simply an outstanding coach, tutor and mentor for passing the California bar exam. Steve Zikman gave me the game plan for success that put my name on the pass list. Thank you, Steve!
