Play
free-association
with
an
attorney
and
the
word
“BARBRI”
likely
draws
a
Pavlovian
wince
and
a
bad
joke
about
the
UCC.
During
that
window
between
law
school
and
practice,
bar
prep
courses
become
your
only
window
onto
the
world.
After
it’s
over,
you
remember
the
key
takeaways
about
“hearsay
exceptions,”
or
“adverse
possession,”
or
“the
history
of
Penne
alla
Vodka,”
but
we
more
or
less
move
on
from
our
relationship
with
the
company
that
put
all
that
into
our
heads.
But
that
may
be
a
mistake.
The
Instant
Pot’s
manufacturer
filed
for
bankruptcy.
Jarring
transition,
I
know,
but
stick
with
me.
The
culprit,
as
always,
was
a
bunch
of
private
equity
leeches.
But
the
fundamental
issue
with
the
Instant
Pot
that
drove
its
owners
to
make
a
mess
of
the
company
was
the
product
was
too
good.
People
got
one
pot
at
their
wedding
shower
that
would
last
them
their
whole
lives.
Other
than
men
having
to
buy
a
new
one
after
the
inevitable
divorce,
there
wasn’t
really
a
growth
strategy.
What
they
needed
and
could
never
pull
together
was
another
offering.
BARBRI
isn’t
following
the
Instant
Pot
model.
Through
acquisitions
and
expanded
offerings,
the
company
is
branching
out
from
coaching
prospective
lawyers
through
the
bar
exam
into
coaching
lawyers
throughout
their
career.
Law
school,
in-house
training,
CLEs,
and
even
AI
readiness
(because
it’s
2025).
BARBRI
for
Professionals
aims
to
bring
the
BARBRI
touch
to
the
whole
lifecycle
of
the
practice.
If
they
could
help
you
remember
the
Rule
Against
Perpetuities
enough
to
joke
about
it
for
the
rest
of
your
life,
then
why
not
leverage
that
talent
for
practical
education
into
the
job
itself.
Who
is
going
to
train
first-year
associates
in
an
AI-infused
landscape
to
provide
actual
insight
once
firms
can
no
longer
justify
keeping
people
on
board
to
churn
on
brute
force
tasks?
Probably
not
the
octogenarian
partner.
Even
if
the
firm
has
its
own
training
materials,
BARBRI
can
come
in
and
customize
that
material
and
make
it
stick
the
way
they’ve
successfully
made
obscure
bar
exam
lessons
stick.
Justin
Hummel,
BARBRI’s
VP
of
Product
for
Professional
Education,
laid
out
the
strategy
to
bring
BARBRI’s
expertise
to
more
legal
professionals
built
on
expanding
its
tentacles
into
LSAT
prep,
acquiring
the
old
West
Academic
empire,
eDiscovery
specialist
training,
CLE,
and
paralegal
courses.
With
SkillBurst,
BARBRI’s
digital
learning
subsidiary,
they
can
deliver
education
right
to
the
busy
audience
“in
meaningful,
salient,
single
source
solution.”
Training
is
increasingly
relevant
as
the
lateral
market
builds
a
more
fluid
profession
(or
“mercenary”
depending
on
your
feelings
about
it).
Firms
pride
themselves
on
having
a
“way
we
do
things”
and
while
a
lot
of
that
is
pretentious
faith
that
their
firm
is
a
special
snowflake
that
does
work
differently
than
everyone
else,
there
actually
are
a
lot
of
often
unspoken
nuances
in
how
a
firm
works.
Add
in
AI
tools
threatening
to
upend
the
whole
nature
of
junior
associate
work,
and
“training”
isn’t
an
HR
line
item
as
much
as
a
survival
tactic.
Barring
a
total
AI
collapse,
the
whole
nature
of
hiring
will
change
over
the
next
few
years.
Firms
can’t
justify
keeping
warm
bodies
at
the
bottom
of
the
pyramid
scheme
if
they
can’t
find
a
way
to
leverage
them
into
billable
work
and
AI
promises
to
soak
up
many
of
the
traditional
chores
of
a
junior.
Spinning
up
future
juniors
into
a
full
billable
resource
in
this
landscape
presents
a
challenge
law
firms
haven’t
really
faced
before.
Which
is
why
a
name
that
lawyers
remember
from
their
most
desperate
hour
of
learning
is
swooping
in.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.