Gallagher, Mary Campbell
Trained as a lawyer at Harvard and as a linguist at the University of Illinois, Dr. Mary Campbell Gallagher is a nationally-recognized authority on the bar examination. She is the author of the book and CDs Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays, originally published by Simon & Schuster in 1991, and now out from BarWrite Press in a Third Edition. She is president of BarWrite®, which offers large courses and coaching preparing law school graduates for the bar examination, and of BarWrite Press. She is an Adjunct Instructor in the New York University School of Continuing & Professional Studies. She originally introduced her Under-Here-ThereforeTM legal writing system in Scoring High in 1991. Teachers of bar-preparation courses have adopted Scoring High as a textbook. Dr. Gallagher's ongoing research aims to make a major contribution to lawyer proficiency through work at the intersection of logic, linguistics, and law. She quotes Peter Drucker: "You cannot improve what you cannot measure." In addition to devising the Under-Here-ThereforeTM legal writing system, she has developed new methodologies for raising bar candidates' scores on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) and for increasing efficiency in accomplishing common law-office tasks, as measured by the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Her book Perform Your Best on the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) is scheduled for February 2010. Dr. Gallagher is a widely-published professional writer. Her essays and reviews have appeared in The Weekly Standard, The New York Observer, The Nation, Legal Times, Newsday, The Brooklyn Papers, Commonweal, and Metro New York. Her articles on legal writing and the bar exam have appeared in National Jurist and Student Lawyer. A graduate of Barnard College, which awarded her the Montague Prize for distinction in philosophy, Dr. Gallagher also attended St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, on whose Board of Visitors and Governors she has served. She has received many awards and honors, including four fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Dr. Gallagher is a professional speaker, and a popular guest-lecturer in law schools. She served on the Board of Directors of the National Speakers Association New York City Chapter, 1998-2004, and rejoined the board in 2009. In 2002, the chapter awarded her the Alan Cimberg Award for her dedicated service and lifetime achievement, and in 2004 it honored her with a special Award of Merit. Dr. Gallagher is a member of the Committee on Legal Education and Admission to the Legal Profession of the New York State Bar Association. She passed the New York bar examination in July of 1989, and she is a member of the Massachusetts and District of Columbia bars. She is a member of the Federalist Society, the National Association of Scholars, the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the New York City Bar Association, the Harvard Club of New York City, the National Arts Club, and numerous other professional, civic, architectural and planning organizations. She is active in the Architectural Committee of the National Arts Club.