The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success

by Friedland, Steven I.; Shapiro, Jeffery Scott

• ISBN13: 9780314176783
• ISBN10: 0314176780
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-18
• Publisher: West Academic

Summary

You've graduated from law school and you may even have your first job lined up - Congratulations. But, you can't rest on your laurels yet. What very well might be the hardest two months of your life are still ahead of you - studying for and passing the Bar Exam. You need that license to practice your livelihood. No pressure. A former Assistant US Attorney turned professor, Prof. Friedland has spent years tutoring bar takers in the south Florida area. In the process, he devised a method for teaching students to pass the bar that is easy to learn and implement. It is this method he and Mr. Shapiro share with you in this book. You will learn how to: - Dissect any Multistate question, - Study actively rather than passively, - Think, read, and write critically, - Make the most of the weeks before the Bar, - Prepare, attack, and even endure the bar exam on test day, - Cope with pressure, and - Choose study partners that will help, not hinder, your studying. Rely on the experts and learn the essential rules for Bar Exam success so you can pass the first time.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. iii
Acknowledgements	p. v
About the Authors	p. vii
A Note From Steven I. Friedland	p. ix
A Note From Jeffrey Scott Shapiro	p. xi
Prologue	p. xiii
Introduction	p. 1
One Cruel Trick	p. 1
Bar Prep Blues	p. 1
What Makes the Bar Exam So Tough?	p. 2
No Real Professor	p. 2
No Casebooks	p. 3
No Loose Requirements of Conciseness and Precision	p. 3
No Accompanying Law School Course	p. 4
No Total Focus on Issue-Spotter Essays	p. 4
No Essays Containing a "Discuss" Call of the Question	p. 5
Supersized: Not Just One Course at a Time	p. 5
It's All or Nothing: No Easy Electives to Balance the Schedule	p. 6
Familiarity With the Bar Exam	p. 7
The Test on Paper - The Multistate Exam	p. 7
Some Highly Tested Topics	p. 8
Scoring	p. 9
The State Components	p. 11
Essay Questions	p. 11
Multiple Choice Questions	p. 12
Performance Testing	p. 12
The Basics of Multiple Choice and Essay Questions	p. 12
Dissecting Multiple Choice Type Questions	p. 12
Components	p. 13
Sample Stems	p. 14
Stem Tasks	p. 14
Three Primary Multiple Choice Question Types	p. 16
Dissecting Essay Questions	p. 17
Common Mistakes Bar Takers Make	p. 19
Not Studying	p. 20
"I can always take it again."	p. 20
"I'm not sure if I am going to practice law."	p. 21
"I'm just not motivated."	p. 21
"I am the master of the universe!"	p. 22
"My family and friends need attention."	p. 23
Letting Time Slip Away	p. 23
Wasting Precious Time	p. 23
Substituting the Main Course for Side Salads	p. 24
Location, Location, Location: Finding a Place to Go to Work	p. 25
Working While Studying	p. 26
Adopting A Passive Studying Approach	p. 28
Making the Connection Between Reading and Applying	p. 28
The Wrong Kind of Reading	p. 29
Digesting and Comprehending	p. 29
Reading for the Wrong Reasons	p. 30
Illustration: Training for a Marathon	p. 30
Skimming the Rules and Principles	p. 31
A Skimmer's Approach to Reading and Understanding the Rules	p. 31
Illustration: Tommy the Skimmer	p. 32
Over-Studying	p. 33
Illustration: Danni, the Queen of Coverage	p. 34
Letting Negativity Get the Best of You	p. 35
Illustration: The Allure of the Unknown	p. 35
Quick Tip: Unrecognizable Answer Choices Are Almost Always Wrong	p. 36
Failing to Create Exam Strategies and Tactics	p. 37
Mistake #1: Not Having a Strategy For Responding to Multiple Choice Questions - Don't Go to Vegas, Go to Hawaii	p. 37
Mistake #2: Not Having a Strategy For Writing an Effective Essay	p. 38
Test-Taking Judgment Errors	p. 39
Personal Maintenance	p. 39
Other Distractions	p. 40
Things to Watch Out For - Catching a Last Minute "Redeye" to Vegas	p. 40
Qualities of Successful Exam Takers	p. 42
Introducing the Successful Bar Examinee	p. 42
The Skills You Need Now	p. 42
Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing	p. 45
Critical Reading - The Whole Package	p. 45
Critical Thinking - A Learning Pyramid of Skills	p. 50
Critical Writing	p. 54
The Question Asked	p. 54
What Contract Law Applies?	p. 55
Was a Contract Formed?	p. 55
Commitment to Passing the Bar Exam	p. 55
Get Disciplined!	p. 55
How Badly Do You Want It ... Really?	p. 56
Treat the Exam as a "Big Rock"	p. 57
Illustration: Well-Rounded Ted	p. 57
Every Day Counts	p. 58
Here is the Real Question: How Much Does It Cost to Fail?	p. 58
Illustration: "Time is a Jar of Marbles"	p. 59
Remove Temptations	p. 60
Dedicate a Study Place	p. 60
Go ahead and do it!	p. 61
Display the "Do Not Disturb" Sign	p. 61
Treat Bar Prep as Your First Law Job	p. 62
Exercising Judgment	p. 63
Managing Time Effectively	p. 64
A Failure to Prioritize: Thinking All Topics Are Created Equal	p. 65
Illustration: The Big Rocks	p. 66
Big Rocks for the Multistate Bar Exam - What You Really Need to Know	p. 66
Evidence	p. 66
Torts	p. 67
Contents	p. 67
Criminal Law	p. 67
Property	p. 68
Constitutional Law	p. 68
Poise	p. 68
Goals Are Everything - A Schedule for Bar Exam Success	p. 70
Goals	p. 70
Timing	p. 71
When	p. 71
What	p. 71
Where	p. 74
How	p. 75
Schedule Output, Not Input	p. 75
Studying Blocks	p. 76
McNuggets	p. 76
Variety	p. 77
Test Yourself	p. 77
Feedback	p. 78
Sample Schedule - Two Months Away	p. 78
Sample Schedule - Two Weeks Away	p. 82
Techniques for Success	p. 85
Frameworks and Protocols: Learn a Dance, Not A Pose	p. 85
Frameworks and Protocols-Travel Maps for Courses and Legal Rules	p. 85
Essay Questions	p. 92
Whole Rule Analysis	p. 94
Funnel It	p. 95
The Right Direction	p. 97
Critical Reading Techniques	p. 98
Practice Reading Critically: Apply Active Studying Techniques	p. 98
Step #1: Understanding That Not All Words are Created Equal	p. 100
Step #2: Spotting Important Words	p. 100
Technique #1: Practice Translation	p. 101
Technique #2: Identifying "Real" Issues	p. 106
Critical Thinking Techniques	p. 111
Critical Thinking Techniques	p. 111
Technique #1: Aim for Mastery	p. 111
Technique #2: Funnel	p. 112
Technique #3: Practice Thinking Out Loud	p. 113
Technique #4: Make Flash Cards	p. 114
Learning the Vocabulary of Bar Prep - The Elements	p. 114
Technique #5: Make Car Tapes	p. 115
Technique #6: Repetition-Recapturing Rules and Elements	p. 115
Technique #7: Magic Opening Phrases	p. 115
Technique #8: Memory Enhancers	p. 116
Technique #9: Doctrinal "Triggers"	p. 117
Critical Writing Techniques	p. 118
Critical Writing Techniques	p. 118
Technique #1: Identifying and Emphasizing Real Issues	p. 119
Technique #2: Mind the "Big Picture" and the Details	p. 120
Practice, Practice, Practice	p. 121
Ditch Irac	p. 121
Box It Up	p. 125
Use Anchor and Trigger Words	p. 127
The Approach to Game Day	p. 131
Three Weeks to Go	p. 131
Schedule	p. 131
Nerves	p. 132
Cool as Ice	p. 132
Avoid Quicksand	p. 133
Natural As Granola	p. 134
Stay the Course	p. 134
Do You Feel Lucky?	p. 135
Take a Walk	p. 136
I Have Studied and I Have Learned	p. 136
Toxic People	p. 137
One Week to Go	p. 138
Keep Staying the Course	p. 139
Focus	p. 139
The Day Before the Exam	p. 140
The Night Before the Exam	p. 141
The Exam is Now - Strategies and Tactics	p. 143
Dismantling Pressure	p. 143
Clothing	p. 143
Food	p. 144
Housing	p. 144
The Exam Itself - Time, Tools, Temperament, Reading, Frameworks	p. 146
Post-Mortems	p. 150
After a Question	p. 150
After a Day	p. 151
After the Exam	p. 152
The Workbook Chapter: Applying Your Knowledge	p. 155
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