About the Instructor
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Tesdahl's Bar Review is proud to have as its sole instructor D. Benson Tesdahl, Esq. Mr.Tesdahl holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Science Degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He earned his J.D. Degree from the University of Oregon Law School, where he was a member of the national law school honor society, Order of the Coif, and an Associate Editor of the Oregon Law Review. He later earned a Master of Laws Degree (LL.M.) in Taxation, with distinction , from Georgetown University. |
Mr. Tesdahl has devoted the past 15 years of his life to developing
techniques for mastering law examinations and teaching those techniques to others. As a law student, he developed exam-taking techniques and a time management study system which enabled him to
earn five American Jurisprudence Awards for Academic Excellence. He graduated sixth in his law school class and was selected to the Order of the Coif. After completing his law degree, Mr. Tesdahl took the Washington
and the Oregon bar examinations back-to-back during the same summer and passed them both.
Proven Exam-Taking Expertise:
Broad Legal Expertise:
Most bar review lecturers have expertise in only one or two subjects. But Mr. Tesdahl's broad legal experience has enabled him to develop concise outlines and lectures for all 20 subjects tested on the Washington Bar Exam. While in law school, he took courses covering every subject tested on the Washington Bar Exam. And he not only took those courses, he mastered them, receiving A's and A-pluses in several subjects. Among his five American Jurisprudence Awards were awards in Torts (both fall and spring semesters), Wills and Trusts, and Professional Responsibility, all of which are heavily tested on the Washington Bar Exam. He also has tutored law students in the subjects of Torts and Property Law, and he has previously taught six subjects for another bar review company in Washington (see description below). As a prosecutor for the government, he also became intimately familiar with criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. He then entered private practice, where he gained valuable experience giving corporate law, contract law, and tax advice to corporations.
Proven Expertise in Preparing Applicants for the Washington Bar Exam:
In 1986, while developing his own tutoring program for law students, Mr. Tesdahl was asked to teach one subject for another bar review course in Washington. Over the next decade, he was asked to take over several additional subjects. Eventually, Mr. Tesdahl was teaching: Torts, Products Liability, the Consumer Protection Act, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, and Zoning/Land Use and Environmental Law. As a result of his concise outlines, exam-taking techniques, and unique "one-page bar exam checklists," Mr. Tesdahl has helped hundreds of students pass the Washington Bar Exam. Now, you can have the benefit of his expertise and his unique checklists for all subjects tested on the exam.
Proven Writing Ability:
Because the Washington Bar Exam is entirely an essay examination, any successful bar review program must have talented writing instructors. Mr. Tesdahl excels in that category as well. As a student in law school, he received an A-plus in his Legal Writing course. As noted above, he was also an Associate Editor of the Oregon Law Review and received both of the Law Review's annual awards for Editorial Excellence and for Outstanding Achievement. Since graduating from law school, he has published numerous legal articles and has contributed chapters for three treatises on tax law published by John Wiley & Sons of New York. In addition, over the past decade, he has analyzed hundreds of actual Washington State Bar Exam questions and sample answers in order to determine the most efficient way for applicants to address typical bar exam issues in the limited answer space provided.
Personal:
Mr. Tesdahl is retired from the U.S. Army Reserves with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is a graduate of the Army's elite Airborne and Ranger schools. His hobbies include running ultramarathons.
