Passing the California Bar Exam (Circuitous Route to Winning the Game!)

An Historic Day in California for Same Sex Couples

2012-02-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

Proposition 8 overturned in California. An historic day! For more about the ruling, read the opinion. (Good fodder for the bar exam, too!)

Boning Up on Searches and Curtilege - U.S. Supreme Court Opinion

2012-01-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

The following is an excerpt from a just published opinion from the U.S.Supreme Court; U.S. v. Jones makes excellent fodder for a bar exam relating to Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure.

"The Government obtained a search warrant permitting it to install a Global-Positioning-System (GPS) tracking device on a vehicle registered to respondent Jones’s wife. The warrant authorized installation in the District of Columbia and within 10 days, but agents installed the device on the 11th day and in Maryland. The Government then tracked the vehicle’s movements for 28 days. It subsequentlysecured an indictment of Jones and others on drug trafficking conspiracy charges. The District Court suppressed the GPS data obtained while the vehicle was parked at Jones’s residence, but held the remaining data admissible because Jones had no reasonable expectation of privacy when the vehicle was on public streets. Jones was convicted. The D. C. Circuit reversed, concluding that admission of the evidence obtained by warrantless use of the GPS device violated the Fourth Amendment.

HELD:
The Government’s attachment of the GPS device to the vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment."

MBE Game Plan and an Unusual Offer

2012-01-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I receive comments on my blog that are worthy of posting more than once. Having (obviously) improved my MBE scores over the my past two attempts (but more than likely scored the highest on the essays and PTs), I attribute my MBE improvement to a few things:

1. Taking the pressure off and not doing MBE's under timed conditions. Instead, I focused on one MBE at a time, and looked up the answer whether I got the question right or wrong. In so doing, I learned the black letter law quite well AND I also began to understand the nuances in the manner in which the questions were asked. I worked subject by subject - painstakingly - and I gave up my self-talk. You know, the kind which goes, "I hate, really HATE MBEs." Instead, I invented new self-talk. "I love my MBE improvement!"

2. I heard such things as "Do 3,000 MBEs and you'll do fine!" Well, I did 4,000 MBE's over two exams and I did not do fine. In fact, I did very poorly indeed. For this past exam which I (thankfully) passed, I focused on QUALITY and NOT quantity. Although, I did do about 1,500 MBEs across all six subjects, I learned that my pace picked up and by the time that I sat for the actual exam, I had sufficient time to do 200 questions.

While my private tutor for my 2nd exam was excellent as it related to essay writing, his advice was not as helpful for MBEs. Instead, I followed the proven method and result of my 2nd bar study partner (thank you, Eric!) and that of the Bar Exam Guru whose link in posted here under "Blogs I follow."

The Guru's MBE study plan and essay templates are excellent and, while I'm not endorsing their program per se, based on their posts, study plans and templates, they seem to resonate with my own game plan to out-strategize the exam. See an excerpt of Lisa's comment below:

"We are giving away more handouts (essay templates and sample study plans) and we are offering scholarships for the February 2012 and July 2012 bar exam. . .The scholarships are based primarily upon financial need."

So, you why not give them a try!

July 2011 Cal Bar Exam Essay Answers Posted - Really!

2012-01-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

See link to the California Bar Exam Essay Answers ... now what's available is consistent with the state bar intent.

Yeah!

July 2011 Cal Bar Exam Essay Answers Posted!

2012-01-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

Yes, well, unfortunately the link at the State Bar web site is currently incorrect (but the intent was obviously to post the answers.)

The link to the PT's and answers is correct. So, at least you can examine the model answers for the PT's!

See link on the right bar of my blog to California Bar Exam essays and answers.

California Passes New Law Prohibiting Discrimination Based on Genetic Information

2011-12-17T08:44:00.001-08:00

http://blog.ceb.com/2011/12/16/protection-against-discrimination-based-on-genetic-information-is-coming-soon/

Shattered Glass

2011-12-17T08:22:00.000-08:00

Genius and alcohol - a dangerous combination. "The Fabulist" attempts to enter the profession of lawyer even though he sailed through the California bar exam...

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/16/justice/stephen-glass/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

Preemption

2011-11-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

Utah Immigration Laws Draw Latest Legal Challenge From Federal Government

Mind Over Bar?

2011-11-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

Although I no longer need this, at least not for California's exam, I thought that this program may be of interest to all bar exam takers. If you subscribe, let me know how this program worked for you.

http://mindoverbar.com/course/

Hiding Out and Swearing In

2011-11-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

I swear-in to the bar on Friday. I might "go it alone," unless one or two friends come to support me. Most of my friends are "repeaters," and it may be too painful for them to come because they are not swearing in, too. I understand. It's a bitter-sweet moment for them.

I was not able, financially, to keep repeating the bar exam every 6-months. Thus, having taken the bar exam once a year, for the past three years, I have realized - as of now - that I have lost many friends, friends that I thought would be friends for life. I have lost these friends not due to anything that they did, but due to solely to me. I hid out from them because I was ashamed and demoralized at my failure to pass the bar exam. I did not want to discuss why I had not passed the exam. I did not want to be patronized by someone who hadn't walked in my shoes.

Now, having sent out invitations to my swearing-in celebration, and watching the "No" I can't attend as the RSVP's arrive, my friends are probably wondering why they have received an invitation after three years of near silence. It stings a bit, but perhaps it's also time to make new friends. My life is no longer "hanging in the balance." Instead, my life is going down a brand new path. . .

Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken."

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Hypnosis

2011-11-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

Having read a 2007 article about hypnosis and the bar exam, and having met an attorney who employed a hypnotist for her repeat performance at the exam, I was "primed" for the same. My second bar study partner gave me some CD's to copy - which I am presuming he received from someone else - and which I played every evening beginning in February 2011 up until and through the bar exam.

At first, the old man's "creaky" voice bothered me until I found his voice soothing; This past bar exam, everything in my life had set me up to fail; I was working but poverty-stricken, my mother died, and I was bordering on living in my car with my cat. I was scared, really scared. But, every night I listened to this faceless old man say, "Do not let someone else's negativity affect you...you are a winner!" until I came to believe this myself. I began to be able to examine my life from a distance, and if living in my car was temporarily required, I had planned to speak with the local police to find a safe place to park at night, and I found a gym that, for $29.00 a month, would afford me a place both to exercise and to shower. It would be OK. Everything would be OK. Everything WAS okay.

I believed that -- no matter what - I could survive. No matter what - I had the "stuff" to pass the California Bar exam.

Not knowing who this marvelous hypnotist is who helped me to turn my life around, I have provided a link to the 2007 article on hypnosis and the bar exam and a link to the hypnotist employed by Bar Winners, in the hopes that this may help you calm your own anxiety and fears. Believing in yourself is a large part of the passing equation, and this belief must come from within you.

http://www.masterthepast.com/test-taking/

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/11/prweb565676.htm

"Google" bar exam and hypnosis and you should be able to discover a hypnotist in your area, or a set of CD's that works for you and that is affordable.

Tutoring Repeaters

2011-11-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

Throughout law school and my three attempts at the bar exam, I have coached fellow students and examinees and found it immensely rewarding. I was a peer mentor in law school, won two Witkins, and a CALI award for my first appellate brief. I was a student representative for Flemings Fundamentals of Law and served on the Student Bar Association.

Since law school, in between bar exams, I provided contract legal research and writing services for licensed attorneys, won my first appellate brief under attorney supervision, wrote many winning motions, provided litigation support, and assisted law firms re-structure their business operations and market their services. More recently, I performed legal research and wrote judicial opinions and orders for a supervising state court judge in Illinois. I have experience in both California and Illinois state court, and in the federal bankruptcy court of both the Northern and Eastern Districts in California.

Prior to attending law school, I attended a well respected university in Chicago, and graduated with honors with an MBA in marketing and statistics. One year of my education was funded by a scholarship; I was a graduate assistant to the former chair of the marketing department and analyzed marketing strategies.

My corporate career was as a high level manager for international firms, where I managed a team and conducted market research for leading UK and US firms in the consumer packaged-goods industry.

This serves as an introduction to an offer. . .

For those repeaters who need assistance with their writing skills both for the essay exam and the PT's, I will offer one-on-one coaching for a nominal fee for one to three candidates only.

If you are interested in my services, and if you are comfortable with the Game Plan that helped push me into the passing range, please contact me by email and we can arrange to meet or to consult by telephone. I'd like the satisfaction of helping other repeaters make taking the California bar exam "a thing of the past" and to add the title "lawyer" to their name.

My email is:kstudylaw@gmail.com

The Game Plan

2011-11-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

The OBJECTIVE of the bar exam is to OUTPLAY THE GAME.

The key to passing the bar is knowing the exam itself. Next, after knowing the exam, it's knowing the law.

Materials:

You only need a few materials to pass the exam:

1) Copies of every essay exam and model answer that you can access.
2) Copies of every PT and model answer that you can access.
3) A book that synthesizes the rules for each area of the law tested. Conviser was my "go to" source.
4) Strategies and Tactics for the MBE.
5) Purchase the NCBE on-line MBE practice tests.
6) Bar Bri MBE's or MicroEdge or Adaptibar. I used Bar Bri's MBE's.
7) PMBR CD's or Flemings CD's and Outlines.

Here's how I began:

I developed a study schedule and stuck to it. I studied 8 hours a day and got a good night's sleep.

I studied early and I studied two subjects per week.

Once I developed my schedule, I listened to PMBR's CD's for each MBE subject to review the law. I scheduled 1 Day per subject for review only. Once I had completed my review of all subjects, I studied one subject for 2-3 days and rotated through all subjects at least 3 times. With each rotation, I did more practice and less review of the law.

Knowing the California Bar Exam Essays:

It's more important to understand HOW the model answers are written and WHAT subjects are tested. There's a formulaic way to write the essay answers in IRAC form and simple rule statements that are typically written in the model answers that the bar examiners expect.

I developed a grid of EVERY subject tested over the past 15 years. I organized every essay and model answer into 3-ring binders for EACH subject - Torts, Con Law, etc. And, then I wrote 60 essays and formally outlined another 40. I skimmed each essay to ensure that I KNEW each sub-subject that the bar examiners had tested.

For example, in Con Law, not only did I develop a 1st amendment templated answer, and a Commerce Clause template, but I also knew zoning law and some of the more obscure sub-subjects tested. GO AHEAD, I thought, throw something at me that I don't know!

Adachi's "Bar Breakers" book is helpful but I don't like his answers. Bar Bri model answers are helpful to ensure that the rules you get from the model answers are correct. Answers from "The Recorder" are helpful but they are not simplistic like the model answers. The model answers from the bar exam are not always correct so I wanted to ensure that I knew the black letter rules.

Always IRAC - Issue, Rule, Analysis, Conclusion.

TIP - PLAY THE GAME...and don't be a perfectionist.

Knowing the California Performance Exams:

My strength is writing; I have been doing legal research and writing for licensed attorneys and judges in between three bar exams. Performance exams are fun for me, because case analysis is what I do for a living. That said, I took Essay Advantage offered by Bar Bri and found it immensely helpful. However, what they offered for a small fortune was pretty simple. I summarized my approach to the PT's in an earlier post.

http://changingvenue.blogspot.com/2011/01/performance-exams-tips.html

To prepare for the PT's, I wrote 4 PT's under timed conditions and analyzed my answers against the model answers. I used a grid of all PT's tested during the past ten years to ensure that I knew the expected approach to all types of PT's - objective memorandums, persuasive memorandums, opening statements, closing statements, appellate briefs.

If PT's are your weakness, I've also heard great things about Holtz'es seminars.

The MBE's:

Although I nearly passed the July 2010 exam, the scores were due to my writing and not to the MBE's. In fact, in Feb. 2009 (my first abysmal attempt at the bar), I scored 103 on the MBE's after having taken PMBR's 6-day course and done 750 MBE's.

For the July 2010 exam, I did 2,250 MBE's under timed conditions, reviewed each question that I got wrong, and developed a journal of rule statements and MBE "triggers." In July 2010, my MBE score was 106.

Thus, I knew that none of my methods worked. So, I followed the advice of a friend who raised his MBE score from 107 to 139. Here's how:

My friend began his studies early and took one MBE subject at a time. He used MicroEdge. Beginning with Contracts, he made sure that he understood how the MBE's tested each sub-subject. For instance, offer, acceptance, consideration, third party beneficiaries, assignment. He did NOT focus on how many questions he did - his focus was on the QUALITY of his understanding. All told, he did 1,500 questions and rocked the MBE's. (His weakness was his essay writing.)

This past exam, I studied Strategies and Tactics for each subject area, spending one day outlining each S&T section for each subject area. I did 10 to 15 questions a day, and after answering one question, I then examined the answer and the explanation. I journaled any rule and trigger statement that I got wrong. As I got nearer the actual exam, I focused on my timing. But, I began to study the MBE's without a focus on my time. My focus was on understanding HOW the MBE's were tested.

In essence, I followed Bar Guru's Attack Plan and found that it worked well for me. Instead of flashcards, however, I journaled my rule statements and trigger facts.

http://barexamguru.com/category/mbe-study-tips/

Mock Exams:

PLAY the game. Schedule at least 3 mock essay exams and at least 2 full day mock MBE exams. Do mock PT exams. Do all mock exams under timed conditions and spend time analyzing what you did wrong and what you did right.

Study Partners:

I've been fortunate to have study partners. We scheduled time to outline essays once a week and did mock exams together. It's not necessary to have a study partner, but it's a heck of a lot less lonely. However, if you and your study partner conflict, ditch your partner and go it alone.

Mental Edge:

Throughout my life, I have had difficulty with standardized tests. In fact, I scored so poorly on the PSAT's, that my high school supervisor told me that I was "too dumb to go to college."

Having read some nasty comments on repeater's blogs and Bar Exam JD, I have to laugh at the insensitivity and bold, egotistic statements from people who have passed the bar exam the 1st time and who state, "You're too dumb to pass the bar exam on your first try." It takes particular tenacity to repeat the exam and to face and calm one's own anxiety about one's ability to win the game. Many of us who may lack the straight linear thinking that seems natural for some people, are hardly "dumb." We are different. Viva la difference!

Although I was "too dumb" to go to college, not only did I receive a one-year's scholarship in a well respected MBA program and graduated with honors, I rose to the level of VP in a leading international corporation, made more money than most attorneys, and went to law school at night to pursue a second career. Although I was "too dumb" not to pass the bar exam on my 1st or even my 2nd try, I was "smart enough" to pass the exam on my 3rd try. So, to my fellow repeaters, my hats off to you for your tenacity. FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS and let nasty comments fall by the wayside.

Hypnosis:

The same friend who crafted his success to winning the MBE game, gave me tapes designed for the California bar exam which were developed by a hypnotist.

Every night, I played a CD which lulled me to sleep and reduced my anxiety. When I went to the exam, I repeated to myself, "You're a winner. You are confident, cool, and collected."

And when I faltered and couldn't remember the rules, I rubbed my thumb and forefinger together and repeated three times, "Memory, recall. . ." and let the issue rest, moving on to the next issue. I let my subconscious work and the rule statement for the issue rose to my mental surface and was available to me.

If you can, beg or borrow a good hypnosis program. I attribute the hypnosis tapes to helping provide me a mental edge.

Mom:

This past year has been extraordinarily difficult for me. In May, my mother died. In May, I was so poverty stricken that I had faced, for a few days, a reality of living in my car with my cat, Sherlock. My friends - real friends - came to my rescue. They sheltered me and Sherlock until I could find a new room to rent. I had so little money, that I lost weight because I could not afford much food. I am burdened by debt, that I am slowly paying down. And, I used my last $400 to find a Motel 6 for the bar exam, and to pay for gas to get there.

When I wanted to simply to cry...when I wanted to give up and give in. . .I thought about my Mom. I heard her saying, "This time is your last time at the bar exam. It's your last time because you will pass and move on with your life. Don't give up. I will die, but don't let that stop you. Do this for me. Do this for you."

I took my Mom's favorite ring to the exam. It sat on the desk in front of me. And when I was too tired to go on, I stopped - for a minute - and I took the ring in my hand and said, "Mom, give me courage." And, like the lion in the Wizard of Oz, I gathered the courage that I had all along.

YOU can do this, too!

More Thoughts on Passing the Bar Exam

2011-11-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

Seeing my name on the pass list was surreal. I was so prepared for the news that I failed the bar exam, that I was unprepared for a different reality that I actually succeeded in passing the exam.

So, because my mail goes to a Post Office Box, I was now terrified that there could be yet another issue preventing me from pursuing my dreams. Arising from a massive hang-over and a rebelling stomach, I pulled on my clothes and drove 30 minutes to the post office. I opened my PO box with trepidation and pulled out mounds of mail.

And, there, in the midst of my mail was a letter from the State Bar Admissions Office. My stomach rolled over...and my heart pounded as I tore open the envelope to find the following letter:

"Dear Counselor:

Welcome to the State Bar of California.

I congratulate you. Admission to the California Bar requires applicants to meet the most demanding professional standards in our nation, and you have demonstrated that you meet these standards. You passed the most difficult bar examination in the country, satisfied one of the most stringent ethics tests, and met each of the State's moral character requirements....You have reason to be proud of your hard work and accomplishments..."

This is what I have lived for the past eight years - five years in an evening law school program, the death of my father, the death of my mother - expenditures of thousands of dollars and enduring -- for the first time in my life -- poverty.

And, yet, I had faith in myself and in my dreams. . .

And, yet, despite all the odds against me, I succeeded in accomplishing my dreams. Now, I shall look forward to journaling the creation of my own practice. . .

But, before I write about being a lawyer -- now that I can call myself that -- I will, as you have requested -- write about my game plan to passing the bar. However, tonight, tonight I shall revel in my new reality and in setting my dreams in motion as the news of passing the California Bar exam sinks in and overtakes my soul.

Ah, and for those of you who are facing score reports and a different gut-wrenching reality, take heed and know that you CAN do this. You CAN see your name on the pass list. It takes hard work and it takes faith in yourself. Believing is a good part of the passing equation.

What They Don’t Teach Law Students: Lawyering

2011-11-20T08:48:00.001-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/20/business/after-law-school-associates-learn-to-be-lawyers.html

Follow your dreams

2011-11-20T05:08:00.000-08:00

Last night, after a bottle of wine and a good dinner fixed by a friend, and my computer waiting near by, I felt sufficiently inebriated to deaden any pain. My friend, another "repeater," looked up my results and exclaimed, "You passed!"

"What?" I asked. "What did you say?"

"You PASSED!"

She hugged me and I screamed and screamed and screamed.

And cried...

And looked at the screen for confirmation many times.

And this is what I saw. . .

The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2011 California Bar Exam.

For those of you who also saw the sentence above, CONGRATULATIONS!

For those of you who did not, believe in YOU. It took me 3 attempts - You CAN do this, too!