5 days to the February 2014 Bar Exam: Using Facts for Your Essays

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Most lawyers know that the facts of their case will win or lose their argument.  The law remains static.  The elements of a cause of action are always the same.  A contract is always formed with the same elements of offer, acceptance, consideration and no defenses.  Negligence is still a breach of a duty that caused an injury.  What turns the case is the facts.  One set of facts show a clear case of a validly formed contract, another set of facts show there was no meeting of the minds and  no contract was formed.  This is where a lawyer’s “bread and butter” lies – it’s what we get paid to do – make distinctions between a set of facts.

A good lawyer can articulate the facts as it relates to the law.  That is what you are being tested on in your essay questions.  The bar exam graders are looking to see how you take the facts they give you and relate it to the elements of the law.  That is why you must blend the law with the facts.  Do not just repeat the facts of the essay question.  That is not your job.  You are to take those facts and apply it to the law for complete analysis.  Tell the bar examiners why these facts point to a certain legal issue.  For example, if you see a formation of a contract, tell the bar examiners why you see a contract.  Patiently, discuss why there is an offer, who accepted the offer, if there was a bargained for exchange and if defenses apply.  Take each element separately.  As a rule of thumb, for every element of the rule, state a corresponding fact.  Take you time to discuss the facts, but only in context with the law.

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Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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6 days to the February 2014 Bar Exam: Analyzing the Answer Choices For the MBE

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Since the MBE is so important  for your overall score, it is essential to recognize that analysis of the answer choices deserves as much of your time and attention as the fact pattern or story.

You first must identify the issue in each answer choice. Each answer choice has one.  Once you recognize the issue then you can choose between the answer choices. Only the issue that addresses and answers the one presented in the fact pattern can be the correct answer choice.

Sometimes, despite all you best efforts to work through a question according to your process, you may find that the only way to arrive at the correct answer choice is through the process of elimination.  You’ll have to examine each of the answer choices and eliminate those that can’t possibly be correct.

When can’t an answer choice be correct?

The first rule for eliminating incorrect answer choices is that an answer choice must be entirely correct or it is wrong.   Don’t be misled simply because the statement is partially correct.  Look for misstatements or misapplication of a rule of law. You need to know the law to distinguish between answer choices that misstate or misapply the law.  Also, look for answer choices that mischaracterizes the facts. Look for contradictions between the facts in the story and the facts as characterized in the answer choice.  Such an answer choice cannot be correct.  Nor can an answer choice that requires you to make assumptions that go beyond the facts in the fact pattern.

Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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1 week to the February 2014 Bar Exam: Keep Your Focus

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Your goal for this last week is to keep your focus while you solidify your knowledge of the black letter law and improve your timing. The week before the exam is a time when you should be cool, collected and confident.

Don’t let anyone or anything distract you this week.  It’s not worth it.  You only have a week left to go and you can relax later,

Remember to take care of your body and mind.  This means eating well, getting some sleep and working on self-confidence.

As to practical things, make sure you have confirmed your travel plans or hotel stay, make sure you have packed what you need to take with you for the bar exam, including your admission ticket, your identification, your watch, etc.

Now that you know the law, make sure your timing is correct, i.e. complete 17 MBE questions in 30 minutes; 34 MBE questions in an hour and complete an essay in the time allotted for your jurisdiction.

It isn’t uncommon to start running out of energy this week.  So take some breaks to energize yourself.  You need to keep your mind focused on bar material.   Your focus is critical to success.

Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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The February 2014 Bar Exam: Thanking Your Loved Ones

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For those students who are taking the February 2014 bar exam, take the time today to wish your loved ones a happy Valentine’s Day  Those that really love you want to see you pass the bar. Know that with certainty. Look at those that are supporting you in ways you may not even realize. Maybe your mom makes you breakfast every morning before you leave to go study. Maybe your spouse is doing the heavy lifting as you study. Let them know you appreciate their support, even if they are just getting out of your way during this period before the bar exam. No person is an island. You need your family and friends during this stressful period of bar exam studying. Thank them today for supporting you through this journey.

 Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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2 Weeks to the February 2014 Bar Exam: Keep Practicing

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You have 2 weeks until the bar examination. Instead of spending the day getting nervous about the time, concentrate on what you have left to do.

By this time, you should have pretty much memorized as much black letter law as you can cram into your brain. It is now time to put away the books and stop studying the law.

What you need to do in these final 2 weeks to prepare yourself for the bar exam is to practice, practice, practice. You are now familiar with your state test and the MBE  questions and what to expect from the bar exam.

Try to do an essay or two every day, testing yourself on a variety of subjects that you know your state tests. Do the essays under test conditions. Once you finish your essay under time constraints, spend an equal amount of time reading your essay and comparing it to the model answer. Read for comprehension, also. There might be a point of law that you did not know that you can learn from reading the model answer.

For those states who  have the UBE, and California or New York who have performance tests, you also must include taking the time to do the performance test also. Try doing 1 performance test every other day. This way you can probably get 5 or 6 performance tests in to your practice sessions prior to the bar exam. On the days you do not do a performance test, practice your essays.

In between the essays and performance tests, you also need to work on questions for the Multistate. Try to get in at least 50-100 MBE questions per day, if you can. This way you can really be sharp when exam time comes.

Don’t waste the time to panic, but do take the time to practice. You will be more prepared than ever if you follow this schedule.

Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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The February 2014 Bar Exam: 3 Weeks to the Bar Exam

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Three weeks to the bar exam is a good time to evaluate how you are doing. You have enough time to now pinpoint your weak areas and enough time to change your schedule if you feel you’re spinning your wheels. Consider this day your line in the sand.

By now you should have done several hundred multistate questions, at least 15 state essays and at least 4 performance tests.

If you haven’t done it, get busy. Change your schedule if you need to, work on your weak areas and keep testing.

If you have, you are ready for the bar exam. You just need to keep working, stay cool and continue to test yourself.

Make sure you are peaking on exam day. If you are like some of my students who study all night, stop it today. Get up at 6 am or 7 am and start studying at 9 am until 12 pm, with no breaks, then study from 1 pm to 4 pm, with no breaks,  You want to mimic the bar exam hours so you are at your peak at 9 am every day.   .

Don’t pretend you’re not nervous. Accept that it’s okay to be nervous. Channel that nervous energy properly by attacking your study schedule and transform your nerves into confidence. But, remember, you do not want to be overly tired for the bar exam.  Try to sleep through the night or, at least, take some cat naps during the day to catch up on missed sleep.

One of the most important things to do during this 3 week period is not to doubt your abilities. You can pass this bar and you know it.  You just need to be in the top 2/3rds of your state. Don’t stress too much about what you don’t know – you are not expected to get a 100% on this test – it’s more like 60%. The examiners expect that you will have weak areas.  Go into the bar exam with the knowledge you will pass the bar exam. 

Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

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The February 2014 Bar Exam: It’s a Marathon of Study

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I always tell my students that studying for the bar is more like a marathon than a sprint.  I want you to compare it to your favorite sport that you play.  Do you remember how hard it was to pick it up in the beginning?  You had to keep at it and practice every day before you started to improve and get better at your game.  You worked at that game until you became a true proficient at it.

That game you mastered long ago is similar to how you must master and pass the bar exam.  Every day you chip away at the large amount of material, taking manageable bites until you have mastered that bite and go onto the next one.  As someone has once said, how do you eat an elephant – with one bite at a time.  In other words, take smaller sections of the vast material, learn it and then take another section of the bar exam and learn that section, until, before you know it, you have learned the law, practiced your questions and are ready to sit for the bar exam. 

Always stay in the moment of that day, because if you look too far ahead, you will waste precious time worrying about the large amount of material you must learn or how fast the time is ticking before the bar exam.

I tell my students that taking the bar exam is not a sprint.  You cannot do everything in one day.  Do not drive yourself to exhaustion thinking that you must skip meals, skip the gym, skip sleeping in order to prepare yourself for the bar exam.  You cannot run down your body or your mind.  Take regular breaks so that you can come back refreshed and ready to learn.

Remember, it was the tortoise that won the race, and not the hare.  And to quote the tortoise, “slowly does it every time”.

Contact us at http://barprofessors.com for more information.

Bar Professors provide private bar exam tutors for repeat takers who have difficulty with the MBE, MEE, UBE, Florida, California, and New York bar exams. You can find us at http://barprofessors.com, like us on facebook at BarProfessors, follow us on twitter @BarProfessors or email us at pass@barprofessors.com.

We can help you succeed!