Adurakoya Dorcas A. Esq.

The Dorcas Diaries

Law, travel, tea and the pursuit of something bigger.

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Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

The Refund They Will Never Give Me (And What I Think Should Change)

Let me give you the numbers. Original registration fee for the California Bar: over three hundred US dollars. Moral character determination processing fee:...

April 14, 20267
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

The United States Visa System Is a Scam and I Said What I Said

I am a lawyer. I choose my words carefully. So when I say the United States visa system is a scam, I mean it in the most precise, considered, legally informed...

April 14, 20267
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

What If I Just Let It Go

I have been thinking about quitting. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a way that requires an announcement or a press release. Just quietly. The way you put...

April 14, 20266
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

They Said No.

I got the denial. I sat with it for a while before I could even type those words. I have been sitting with it, actually. Not dramatically. Not crying on the...

April 14, 20265
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

I Am Starting a Study Group (And You Are Invited)

Studying for the California Bar in Lagos is lonely. Let us fix that. Here is the truth about prepping for the California Bar Exam from outside the United...

April 4, 20264 min
#BarExamPrep#StudyGroup#CaliforniaBar
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

Day 5: The Reality of the Grind

"Just study for a few hours a day," they said. "It will be fine," they said. We need to talk about the reality of bar prep. It is Day 5. I have been at this...

April 4, 20264 min
#BarPrepLife#FutureLawyer#Motivation
The Osogbo Experiment
The Osogbo Experiment

I Am Moving Back Home. And I Want to Bring 7 People With Me.

I grew up in Osogbo, Osun State, a small, quiet city in southwestern Nigeria. I am moving back. And I am running an experiment. I want to invite 7...

April 3, 20265 min
#Osogbo#Nigeria#DigitalNomad
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

The Logistics Nightmare (Visas, Fingerprints, and Panic)

They do not tell you that half of studying for a foreign bar exam is just fighting with logistics. I thought the hardest part of the California Bar Exam would...

April 2, 20265 min
#BarPrep#CaliforniaBarExam#InternationalLawyer
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

The Decision (and the Real Price of a Dream)

Is a dream still a dream when it costs everything you have just to try? For weeks, I had been staring at the California State Bar payment page. Not clicking....

March 31, 20264 min
#CaliforniaBar#ForeignAttorney#LawyerLife
The Osogbo Experiment
The Osogbo Experiment

Beyond Lagos: Why Smart Investors Are Missing Nigeria's Best-Kept Secret

Everyone talks about Lagos. But Nigeria has 36 states, and some of them are extraordinary opportunities hiding in plain sight. Osun State, home to Osogbo, the...

March 27, 20265 min
#Nigeria#Investment#OsunState
Travel Lawyer Diaries
Travel Lawyer Diaries

LinkedIn Is an Island of Opportunities (If You Pay Attention)

This challenge is actually working. I connected with someone yesterday who I never would have met if I was not pushed to be here for 30 minutes a day. We got...

February 4, 20263 min
#LinkedIn#Networking#LawyerLife
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

My Word for 2026: Impact

My word for 2026? Impact. As I look at my goals for the new year, everything comes back to that one word. Performing exceptionally well at work. Expanding my...

January 4, 20263 min
#2026Goals#LawyerLife#JurisCafe
Chasing the California Bar
Chasing the California Bar

Four Years Called to the Bar

Today marks four years since I was called to the Bar. Four years. I am not going to pretend it has been easy. There were moments in law school when I thought...

December 19, 20254 min
#CallToBar#NigerianLawyer#FourYears
Travel Lawyer Diaries
Travel Lawyer Diaries

Tea in Incheon with a Retired Lawyer (Who Shattered My Expectations)

Her name is JiYeon. And she completely shattered my expectations. She is my neighbour, and we only met because of a false fire alarm at my apartment building...

December 11, 20256 min
#CoffeeChat#Korea#TravelLawyer
Travel Lawyer Diaries
Travel Lawyer Diaries

I Landed in Incheon Airport and I Was Terrified

I landed in Incheon Airport, and I am not going to lie, I was terrified. What am I doing here? I do not speak Korean. I do not know anyone. And I am supposed...

December 9, 20255 min
#Seoul#Korea#TravelLawyer
In the Office
In the Office

In the Office: Day 1 (The Real Version)

In the Office. I have a slightly crazy idea. But hear me out. For the next 7 days, I am taking you inside a law firm. The real one. Not the polished version...

November 30, 20255 min
#InTheOffice#WorkplaceDrama#LegalLife
Travel Lawyer Diaries
Travel Lawyer Diaries

What Is a Travel Lawyer, Really?

When I tell people I want to be a travel lawyer, they usually picture someone arguing cases on a beach. That is not quite it. The term travel lawyer is not a...

November 19, 20255 min
#TravelLawyer#InternationalLaw#LegalCareer
The JurisCafe Files
The JurisCafe Files

I Am Not a Lawyer Who Writes. I Am a Writer Who Practices Law.

I have stacks of diaries bigger than trial binders. They are filled with ideas. Creative ideas. Book concepts. Movie plots. Blog posts I wrote at midnight...

November 4, 20255 min
#JurisCafe#LegalWriting#Ghostwriting
The JurisCafe Files
The JurisCafe Files

The Day I Became a Lawyer (Alone, Outside the Supreme Court)

I remember the exact moment it dawned on me that I had become a lawyer. I was standing outside the Supreme Court in Abuja, still processing what had just...

October 31, 20256 min
#CallToBar#NigerianLawyer#SupremeCourt
The JurisCafe Files
The JurisCafe Files

Why I Started JurisCafe

Lawyers are some of the best storytellers in the world. Most of them just do not know it yet. I started JurisCafe because I kept having the same conversation...

October 14, 20255 min
#JurisCafe#LegalGhostwriting#LawyerLife
In the Office
In the Office

Sometimes, I Wish I Could Just Give Up Trying

Sometimes, I wish I could just give up trying. As a young, ambitious lawyer and entrepreneur, growth is very slow. There are days when I put in the work, the...

September 30, 20254 min
#LawyerLife#Entrepreneurship#MentalHealth

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