ProfessorTommy.Tips

Happy National Donut Day! Before anyone emails me: Yes, I realize that a "donut" and a "do not" are two completely different things. But if you've spent any amount of time reading ProfessorTommy.tips, you know there was no chance I was letting a perfectly good pun go to waste. Today, people across the country will celebrate with glazed donuts, chocolate donuts, powdered donuts, jelly-filled donuts, and perhaps even a dozen donuts. Since donuts are traditionally sold by the do

One of the most overlooked aspects of bar preparation is learning how to take the exam in the format in which it will actually be administered. Many students spend hundreds of hours learning substantive law and completing practice questions, but very little time becoming comfortable with the testing environment itself. Yet familiarity with the testing platform and testing procedures can reduce anxiety, prevent avoidable mistakes, and improve efficiency on exam day. The specif

I have always had an appreciation for spelling bees. Part of that comes from personal experience. Years ago, I competed in a spelling bee, and my run ended on the word pneumatography. I can still remember standing there on stage trying to work through the spelling and realizing that I had missed it as I was still saying the letters. And at that moment, my spelling bee journey ended. Picture of me during a middle school spelling bee competition in 1987 (The Dallas Morning News

From ABA Law Student Division's Student Lawyer, April 24, 2026: Every year on May 4, fans celebrate Star Wars Day with the familiar phrase, “May the Fourth be with You.” For me, this is more than just a clever pun. I have been a long-time Star Wars fan, and I have found ways to bring that enthusiasm into my teaching. Across the prequels, originals, sequels, and standalone films, Star Wars offers a series of lessons that translate surprisingly well to bar preparation. Each qu

This photo popped up in my Timehop memories recently. Nine years ago, a former student took a picture of me during class and added devil horns and a tail. With all the early buzz around The Devil Wears Prada 2, which is scheduled to be released in U.S. theaters on May 1, the timing feels about right to turn this photo into a blog post! Apparently, not only does the devil wear Prada, the devil teaches bar prep, too. At the time, I laughed. Looking back, I still laugh at the ph

Today is Superman Day , and there’s a reason Superman has endured for generations. He’s strong, fast, and nearly unstoppable. But he’s not invincible. He has a weakness: Kryptonite. And when it shows up, everything changes. Bar prep works the same way. Source: www.dc.com Most students don’t fail the bar exam because they lack intelligence or work ethic. They struggle because of a few consistent, identifiable weaknesses—their own version of kryptonite—that quietly undermine th

The 2026 Masters is underway. If you’ve been watching the tournament, you may have noticed something unique. The people walking the grounds at Augusta National aren’t called spectators . They’re called patrons . That choice of words isn’t accidental. A patron isn’t just someone watching from the outside. A patron is part of the experience. A patron is someone who belongs, someone who carries themselves with a certain level of respect for the tradition and the moment. That su

If you've been watching sports on television lately, you may have seen the Eli Lilly commercial centered on the scientific method . It's a memorable ad because it presents progress as a process rather than a single moment. The commercial focuses on observing, questioning, testing, analyzing, and then beginning again. Its core message is simple: Sometimes progress requires you to start over. That idea is especially useful in bar preparation. One of the biggest mistakes student

It is sad to learn today the passing of Chuck Norris , man whose name became bigger than movies, television, or even martial arts. For many people, he wasn't just an action star. He was a cultural icon whose toughness became the stuff of legend, and whose persona somehow managed to be both admirable and fun at the same time. That is what makes him such an interesting bar exam tie-in. The bar exam has a way of making people feel small. It can feel overwhelming, unpredictable,

It didn’t take long. Day one of the NCAA Tournament , and my bracket was already done. Not “in trouble.” Not “hanging by a thread.” Done. I had BYU winning it all—an unorthodox pick, a little bold, definitely outside conventional wisdom. And within hours, it was over after the AJ Dybantsa -led Cougars lost to the University of Texas 79-71 . That’s the appeal of March Madness. A bracket pool isn't usually won by simply picking every favorite. If you want to separate yourself f