Tomorrow I will be tested to see if I am ethical enough to become a lawyer. I don't imagine chefs are screened for possible anorexia when attempting to get a license, but what can you do.
You would imagine that the bar is rather low in this regard. And indeed, everyone who has passed the MPRE (the exam) or teaches about it will fall all over themselves to tell us that we too shall pass.
But goddamnit, being ethical is hard. Every fiber of my being resists the urge to choose the answers that the people on their high horse want us to choose. An opportunity to make more money? Don't take it. A chance to screw over the opposition? Let it be.
Like Tom Haverford, I am a fan of telling other people to take the high road. That way, there's more room for me on the low road.
Which is why I have adopted the following strategy: Read the question and look at the answers. Find the answer that makes the most sense to me. Pick the answer that directly contradicts that.
Even then there's no guarantee. I took a practice exam and took an ultra-cautious approach, nitpicking over the tiniest details, going out of my way to be ethical. This Rainbow Brite approach has me barely passing. Or perhaps not.
Then I took the lawyer approach -- look for loopholes that would allow me to engage in whatever conduct I felt was most appropriate. This common sense approach served me better than the Rainbow Brite plan, but not by much.
I am still very far away from being comfortable enough to take this test. Not being allowed to be a lawyer because I'm too unethical seems the ultimate slap in the face. It would be like keeping Darth Vader out of the Evil League of Evil because, you know, maybe he could take it down a notch.
I am not panicking, not quite yet. But give me a few more hours. And, in the meantime, pray for me.
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