BarMax Bar Exam Instructors

BarMax Content Director Celeste Pagano Boles holds a B.A. with High Honors from the University of California at Berkeley and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

After five years of transactional practice, Celeste completed a teaching fellowship at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and became a professor at two other law schools, teaching Contracts, Property, Legal Writing, and other courses.

Celeste passed the bar in three states before the UBE was an option, clerked in two federal courts, and tutored the bar exam privately before joining BarMax full-time in 2019. Now, she leads a talented team of content creators and instructors working together to help BarMax students achieve their dreams.

Jennifer Carr, an attorney licensed in California and Nevada, graduated cum laude from UNLV-Boyd School of Law in 2006. Shortly thereafter, she began teaching law, focusing on academic success and bar readiness in addition to subjects like criminal law, remedies, and products liability. In the intervening years, Jennifer has taught at three law schools and helped hundreds of applicants prepare for the California, Nevada, and Florida bar exams, as well as the Uniform Bar Exam and the MPRE. Jennifer believes it isn't enough to simply learn the law; one has to also learn how to convey knowledge of the law in a way the examiners will reward. When not helping applicants pass the bar exam, Jennifer enjoys reading, playing softball (badly), and fostering pets through the SPCA.

Keith earned a B.A. in English from East Tennessee State University and was awarded a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Tennessee. He has practiced law in Tennessee for 25 years, focusing on commercial law, bankruptcy, and law enforcement liability. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th and 6th Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.

Keith was a bar examiner with the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners for 7 years, where he wrote questions tested on the bar exam and graded more than 7,500 essays of bar examinees during his tenure. As a former bar examiner, Keith has great insight to share with students.

Since 2019, Kieth has been a bar exam instructor and a tutor for law students. When Keith is not teaching, he enjoys spending time with his children and cultural activities such as plays and museums.

Allison Tait is a an associate professor of law at the University of Richmond where she teaches trusts and estates, family law, estate planning, critical theory, and feminist legal theory. Professor Tait joined the University of Richmond Law faculty in 2015. Before coming to Richmond, she was an Associate-in-Law at Columbia Law School. She also clerked for the Hon. Richard Palmer of the Connecticut Supreme Court and spent a year as the Gender Equity Postdoctoral Fellow for the Yale Women Faculty Forum.

Melissa Allsteadt graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelors of Arts with a concentration in History. She received her Juris Doctor from Wayne State University and graduated cum laude. She is an active member of the Michigan State Bar and the California State Bar and has been admitted into the Eastern District of Michigan and the Central District of California Federal Courts. In private practice, she was a prosecutor for several municipalities and was Lead Corporate Counsel for a private mortgage lender. Currently, Mrs. Allsteadt has focused on tutoring for the Bar Exam for over the past two years.

Whitney Shirley, a Maryland licensed attorney, obtained a B.A. in Sociology and Criminology from the Pennsylvania State University and earned her J.D. from Howard University School of Law. Whitney excelled on the Uniform Bar Exam with a score of 313. She understands that studying for the Bar Exam is a unique experience for everyone because people learn differently, so she does not employ a one-size-fits-all approach. Whitney is highly passionate about helping students reach their fullest potential.