I am eternally grateful to John Pieper - his course was the reason I passed the NYS bar exam. I had a toddler at home, wasn't a serious student in law school and had trouble concentrating on learning the material. Taking the bar exam was just daunting to me! I can still hear John's voice in my head saying "bear down" so that I'd concentrate when I was feeling too overwhelmed to move forward and the mnemonics were probably the reason I passed. I can't say enough good things about Pieper Bar Review and am grateful to have had them on my side during one of the most important and stressful times of my life. read more

1984 John Pieper taught my mother the informkation that shee needed to take the NY State Br exam and she was successful on the first try. 34 years later he taught me everything I need to know to do the same. Pieper's course was amazing. They are very family oriented and they treat all of their student like members of that family and are as invested in our success as they would be their own blood relatives. I could never thank Mr. Pieper and his sons enough for the confidence and information that they gave me to wake in that exam and walk out successful. If you want to pass the bar TRUST THE PIEPER SYSTEM !!! read more

First I want to say what an amazing family the Piepers are. This is not just a bar review company its a family run entity that truly cares about those enrolled in its program. I was a repeat bar taker and knew I was doing something wrong. Troy and Damian stood by me from the very beginning. I took their course and then utilized their services for tutoring for both the MPT and the essays. It made the world of difference and now I will be admitted in both NY and NJ. What sets them apart from the big bar courses , is their kindness, compassion, and professionalism. For them its not just about business, it about understanding the individual needs of their students. Thank you John, Troy and Damien for your time and prompt responses to my emails. I couldn't do it without you Jordan W read more

Today, I found out that I passed the July 2017 New York bar exam (two years ago, I passed NJ). I did so on my third attempt without taking any commercial bar courses (I did take Mary Campbell Gallagher's MPT class which was semi-useful). I passed the exam by buying some used Barbri books on Amazon and printing out free outlines from the internet. I then used those materials to make my own outlines. I also purchased Emanuel MBE Bootcamp (which tells you how to approach MBE questions for every MBE subject except civ pro) Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, Strategies and Tactics Finz, and Kaplan's infamous red book. My MBE was a 149.3 (when I first took NY in July 2014, my MBE was a 118.6). My overall UBE was a 278. I passed the bar exam despite having a low LSAT (151) and finishing at the bottom of my class. As I said in my previous review, during the last semester of my 3L year, I took a course taught by Pieper at my law school called Core Doctrine and received a C. Needless to say that I was pissed off. Neither Pieper nor his two sons, Mutt and Jeff, teach the material. Instead, they spend the entire lecture regurgitating rule statements. During my first two NY bar attempts, I took the full Barbri course and got nothing out of it, except a $3,000 bill. If you want to waste your money on Pieper's inane course and listen to his stupid ass mnemonics, be my guest. If you want to pass the bar exam in the most efficient manner, send me a PM and I'll be happy to give you some tips. read more

Pieper's UBE Course was excellent. I cannot stress enough the importance of their mnemonics as well as the substantive depth of their lectures. The team is readily accessible and always willing to answer any and all questions their students have. I really preferred their course as opposed to the standard commercial courses. I also worked one on one with Damian which was very beneficial. He would explain in depth the concepts I needed further clarification on. He was patient throughout the whole process. They truly care about their students and as long as you put the work in and focus all of your energy into their schedule, you should be successful with their help! I CANT THANK THE PIEPER TEAM ENOUGH! read more

I highly recommend Pieper Bar Review. I took Barbri and failed on my first attempt with the New York bar exam. Pieper is far more concise in terms of focusing on what will be tested on the exam. The outlines that I produced from their lectures were gold. I'm not a person who learns anything from a lecture. I have to process my own outlines and teach the material to myself. Pieper does a great job of providing all that you need to pass. Barbri, on the other hand, burdens students with way too many books. Also, they don't teach from a hard rule perspective - they provide way too many hypothetical scenarios in the lecture books as opposed to black letter of the law. Barbri is akin to a shotgun; Pieper is a sniper rifle. As the other reviews mention, Pieper has plenty of mnemonics - you'll use those that you find helpful, and those that you don't. Also, Pieper does work you very hard, but let's face it, passing the bar is hard work. The course is taught by the founder of the business - John Pieper and his sons, Troy and Damien. John tends to talk very fast during lectures which requires considerable rewinding of the lecture tape (at least, that was my experience). Otherwise, the trio are great at their craft. I highly recommend Pieper, particularly as I'm now preparing for the Virginia Bar exam and have no choice other than using secondhand Barbri books. (I'm not interested in paying four-figures to study with local bar courses). Fortunately, having passed both New York and New Jersey exams, I'm better prepared to sift through Barbri's material to organize it in a professional rule-driven manner. (Barbri actually refers to money as "dough" and prison as the "slammer" in some their childish hypos. They also use celebrity names in hypos when P and D, or X,Y, Z is much easier to follow). In New York, Pieper explains the law, and when they use hypos, it's done in a manner to support the law. read more

I really can't say enough wonderful things about the Pieper Bar Review team which, if you didn't know, is a course taught by a father and his 2 sons. There's something about consistency in lecturers and content of materials that makes the whole course flow with an ease that, trust me, speaks volumes on those days when you don't think you can go another minute. I previously took Barbri and was not successful. Pieper raised my MBE by 15 points, my only regret is that I didn't take Pieper first!! Pieper have great practice MBE questions and they also provide real NCBE-released questions which are built into the final weeks of the course. These were a real kicker for me, the structure just works. If you are looking for a course that takes a considered and purposeful approach to what you need to know to pass the bar - take Pieper. read more

Just adding a little extra perspective to this page, which I wish I'd had when I chose a course for February bar review. If you are a visual learner (as I am) I strongly recommend that you try out the Pieper method before you purchase the course. The lectures are entirely oral, and they don't track with the written outline materials that the Piepers provide (which are themselves thousands of pages in length, expanding two volumes)--so if you need a visual anchor in order to retain information, it can be extremely difficult to follow along. The only visual anchors provided are the company's numerous mnemonics, some of which were useful and a lot of which felt very strained. After a few weeks, I started having to teach myself the material prior to the lectures in order to retain anything from them, which created 2 extra hours of prep per day, in addition to the 4 hour lectures. As noted in several reviews below, the lectures are primarily reading and repetition of rule statements, with occasional anecdotes or examples (some of which are recognizable supreme court cases but never presented or referenced by name), a style that may work for some but which I personally found difficult to digest. I also feel that some of the selling points of Pieper--that it's small, that you get personalized attention, etc.--did not hold up in my case. I don't feel like the feedback I got from Pieper on sample essays was especially helpful, and twice the company lost my essays over email for over a week (to Pieper's credit, Dee, the company's main point of contact, was very helpful in both cases.) Additionally, our "February" course was actually just a republication of the course the Piepers taught in July (including advice and reactions to the Covid-19 bar exam adjustments). In other words, no one actually bothered to teach a course or adjust the materials for the February bar takers, but our course cost the same as a course that was actually taught (in person or online). And then a few weeks before the bar, we received an email offering us extra tutoring and support....for $300+ an hour. It all just left a bad taste in my mouth. A lot of people have had positive experiences with Pieper, so take this all with a grain of salt. But definitely try before you buy (for all bar companies), especially if you are a visual person. read more

I took the NYS Bar exam 4 times and used 3 different courses and failed every time making minimal improvements, then on my 5th time I was told about Pieper Bar Review and it made a world of difference. The workload is heavy and intensive but it gives you every ounce of information you will ever need to pass the Bar. After devoting 2 months to lectures, questions, outlines, flash cards, and other various review techniques I am happy to say I pulled my score up by 32 points and passed the NYS Bar exam. The most helpful aspect to Pieper was their essay tutor and their review books. Their essay tutor walked me through every essay and MPT we did and showed me how to improve my writing, and the review books were incredibly helpful especially over the last few weeks when I was stuck on various theories. If you take Pieper and truly immerse yourself in their course and study schedule you will not only pass the Bar you will destroy it. Do yourself a favor and save years of stress and loads of money and take the only Bar Review Course you'll ever need! read more

What a first class organization and group of people. I took Pieper after first taking Barbri and there is no comparison between the two bar prep companies. The attention to detail, energy, and knowledge of the subjects that John, Damian and Troy have is what separates them from Barbri as you are not just another student to them as they are there for every student. The classes are very well structured and they are always available to answer any questions and there is a big benefit in having the three of them teach the class as opposed to Barbri which brings in 20+ experts as you are able to get consistency from them and they are always available. I also did private tutoring with Damian and he was remarkable. He helped me focus on properly structuring my essays and made sure I knew what key points to hit on with every topic. I can't say enough good things about this company and in closing PEOPLE PASS WITH PIEPER! read more

Pieper People Pass. I didn't go through traditional law school like almost every other student in NY. I gained admission through the Rules of the Court of Appeals § 520.4 Study of Law in Law Office/Clerkship program. This means that I spent the 3 years leading up to the exam in a law office where I worked instead of a classroom setting. To any person who says that Pieper doesn't help--you are delusional. I began preparing for the bar exam after 3 years of working in a law office and no previous bar exam experience The first day of class he literally says "if you do everything in this class you will pass" and with that I put my trust into his teaching style and followed the steps he laid out in front of me. I studied as a full time student for a total of 83 days and I passed my first time around and I credit Mr. Pieper for changing the course of my life. Passing the bar and becoming an attorney has had an incalculable impact on my life. He has helped me get over a huge obstacle. By the end of the exam I walked out thinking "I know I gave that test EVERYTHING I learned and left nothing behind" and with a smug grin on my face. To put it in perspective, I grew up in the North East, I had mediocre grades in high school and college, and passed only when I studied intensively. Take this review course while Mr. Pieper is still around in the game. He is a good one. Don't miss it. To this day I still recall Mr. Pieper saying his mnemonics while in court. The main difference between Kaplan/Barbri and Pieper is that Pieper lays out all you need to know. Pieper's class is tailored to NY, not some generic fill-in the blank books with an entire section just for NY law. *****To the reviewer who got "massacred" what book were you reading?***** read more

I took the bar course from May-July 2011, and PASSED! Mr. Pieper has been teaching the New York bar-review course for almost three decades. His two sons, who also teach some of the bar review classes, started learning the law before they entered first grade. Pieper notes are thorough (but not overwhelming) and are taught in such a way that you can prepare an outline as you type. Being more thorough than the competitors, their classes are longer (which for me was a plus). It is worth staying an extra hour in class knowing that you are better prepared. Their numerous examples simplify the complex legal concepts which we, as law students, struggled with during law school or did not even learn (because we did not take certain classes, etc.). The other thing I loved about Pieper Bar Review is that the Piepers and their staff promptly respond to questions via telephone or email. They also require students to write a dozen or so practice essays which are graded by attorneys working at Pieper who also provide feedback on how to improve essay writing skills. Learning how to write bar exam essays is crucial to passing the bar; and Pieper Bar Review dedicates a great amount of time to teaching those skills. When taking the class, you realize that not only you are learning from the best (when it comes to learning New York and New Jersey law), but you are also dealing with amazing people. Speaking for myself and my friends taking the class this past summer, I can easily say that the Piepers became part of our family and us part of theirs. As insane as this may sound, I loved seeing Mr. Pieper almost every night, making the painful bar exam learning experience much more easier. I have friends who have taken Mr. Pieper's class about a decade ago, and they recommended it. I recommend this same course to anyone I would encounter who is looking to take the bar. It is money well-invested. It is your future; keep it in good hands. read more

I guess I should start with the obvious that I passed on the first try (February 2012) but even if I didn't pass I would still write an excellent review. It was amazing how well the course was taught (I took the full course), I was really able to focus on what I needed to remember and in some instances learn for the first time, and even though I really didn't think I would remember the mnemonics (there's a lot of them) it's amazing how it popped into my head while I was taking the exam. John was dead on in terms of predictions for the NY essays which by itself was worth the money, it eased my stress level when I looked at the essays and saw that this was exactly what he discussed in class. the schedule for self study during February helped me to keep going when I was ready to give up and the night before phone call/pep talk was excellent. As they say Pieper people pass! So glad that I dropped BarBri and took Pieper instead, I would definitely recommend it to all first timers and definitely to all retakers. read more

I highly recommend Pieper Review. I took BarBri for California and Pieper for NY and Pieper is the superior program. The lecturers are fantastic and the material is comprehensive. read more

Three words... PIEPER PEOPLE PASS! I recently graduated in December and studied with Pieper for the February 2012 NY and NJ Bar Exams. Needless to say, I passed both exams on the first attempt. If you're willing to put in the time and energy to study, Pieper will give you tools necessary to get the job done. Obviously I have never taken another Bar Exam course, but from my experience I would recommend Pieper to anyone sitting for the NY Bar Exam. If you're reading this review it's most likely because you are planning on taking the bar exam in the near future, so GOOD LUCK! Go Pieper! read more

Simply this..Pieper People Pass. I would not have passed the NY Bar or felt so prepared if I had not taken Pieper. I just wish they were in other states like California and Louisiana. To anyone who doesn't like mnemonics or writing your own outline during a lecture, this may not be for you. Me? I don't remember by filling in the blanks of an outline (eh hem Barbri). The classes had the right amount of humor and everyone at Pieper including the family are knowledgeable about the law and getting you to pass the bar exam. I was not a straight A student in law school but when I walked out of the Convention Center after taking the bar, I thought well that wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Why? I was well-prepared by Pieper. Put in the time and you'll pass, regardless of your GPA in law school. read more

Pieper is worst course you could ever take. I do not have "i failed the bar" bitterness, but I simply attend a school where they force you to take a class with them and it's the biggest waste of my time ever. The father is the only knowledgeable one, and the two sons are puppets that have no brains of their own and simply read off the script the father gives them. They have no knowledge, they're rude, they're boring and I learn nothing from them whatsoever. I listen to Barbri lectures to prep for their exams because my notes are all regurgitated statements. It's like listening to a machine..."rule: ___, now skip a line, close parentheses" literally like that. Nothing made up my mind to do bar review with Barbri more than taking this class with Pieper. If you want rude professors who don't know anything and teach you nothing (Because the dad is never there and the sons are idiots) take Pieper. read more