The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success, 2007
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.\ That's where The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success comes in. A former Assistant U.S. Attorney turned professor, Prof. Friedland has spent years tutoring bar takers in...
Search in google:
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.That's where The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success comes in. A former Assistant U.S. 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.
Preface iiiAcknowledgements vAbout the Authors viiA Note From Steven I. Friedland ixA Note From Jeffrey Scott Shapiro xiPrologue xiiiIntroduction 1One Cruel Trick 1Bar Prep Blues 1What Makes the Bar Exam So Tough? 2No Real Professor 2No Casebooks 3No Loose Requirements of Conciseness and Precision 3No Accompanying Law School Course 4No Total Focus on Issue-Spotter Essays 4No Essays Containing a "Discuss" Call of the Question 5Supersized: Not Just One Course at a Time 5It's All or Nothing: No Easy Electives to Balance the Schedule 6Familiarity With the Bar Exam 7The Test on Paper - The Multistate Exam 7Some Highly Tested Topics 8Scoring 9The State Components 11Essay Questions 11Multiple Choice Questions 12Performance Testing 12The Basics of Multiple Choice and Essay Questions 12Dissecting Multiple Choice TypeQuestions 12Components 13Sample Stems 14Stem Tasks 14Three Primary Multiple Choice Question Types 16Dissecting Essay Questions 17Common Mistakes Bar Takers Make 19Not Studying 20"I can always take it again." 20"I'm not sure if I am going to practice law." 21"I'm just not motivated." 21"I am the master of the universe!" 22"My family and friends need attention." 23Letting Time Slip Away 23Wasting Precious Time 23Substituting the Main Course for Side Salads 24Location, Location, Location: Finding a Place to Go to Work 25Working While Studying 26Adopting A Passive Studying Approach 28Making the Connection Between Reading and Applying 28The Wrong Kind of Reading 29Digesting and Comprehending 29Reading for the Wrong Reasons 30Illustration: Training for a Marathon 30Skimming the Rules and Principles 31A Skimmer's Approach to Reading and Understanding the Rules 31Illustration: Tommy the Skimmer 32Over-Studying 33Illustration: Danni, the Queen of Coverage 34Letting Negativity Get the Best of You 35Illustration: The Allure of the Unknown 35Quick Tip: Unrecognizable Answer Choices Are Almost Always Wrong 36Failing to Create Exam Strategies and Tactics 37Mistake #1: Not Having a Strategy For Responding to Multiple Choice Questions - Don't Go to Vegas, Go to Hawaii 37Mistake #2: Not Having a Strategy For Writing an Effective Essay 38Test-Taking Judgment Errors 39Personal Maintenance 39Other Distractions 40Things to Watch Out For - Catching a Last Minute "Redeye" to Vegas 40Qualities of Successful Exam Takers 42Introducing the Successful Bar Examinee 42The Skills You Need Now 42Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing 45Critical Reading - The Whole Package 45Critical Thinking - A Learning Pyramid of Skills 50Critical Writing 54The Question Asked 54What Contract Law Applies? 55Was a Contract Formed? 55Commitment to Passing the Bar Exam 55Get Disciplined! 55How Badly Do You Want It ... Really? 56Treat the Exam as a "Big Rock" 57Illustration: Well-Rounded Ted 57Every Day Counts 58Here is the Real Question: How Much Does It Cost to Fail? 58Illustration: "Time is a Jar of Marbles" 59Remove Temptations 60Dedicate a Study Place 60Go ahead and do it! 61Display the "Do Not Disturb" Sign 61Treat Bar Prep as Your First Law Job 62Exercising Judgment 63Managing Time Effectively 64A Failure to Prioritize: Thinking All Topics Are Created Equal 65Illustration: The Big Rocks 66Big Rocks for the Multistate Bar Exam - What You Really Need to Know 66Evidence 66Torts 67Contents 67Criminal Law 67Property 68Constitutional Law 68Poise 68Goals Are Everything - A Schedule for Bar Exam Success 70Goals 70Timing 71When 71What 71Where 74How 75Schedule Output, Not Input 75Studying Blocks 76McNuggets 76Variety 77Test Yourself 77Feedback 78Sample Schedule - Two Months Away 78Sample Schedule - Two Weeks Away 82Techniques for Success 85Frameworks and Protocols: Learn a Dance, Not A Pose 85Frameworks and Protocols-Travel Maps for Courses and Legal Rules 85Essay Questions 92Whole Rule Analysis 94Funnel It 95The Right Direction 97Critical Reading Techniques 98Practice Reading Critically: Apply Active Studying Techniques 98Step #1: Understanding That Not All Words are Created Equal 100Step #2: Spotting Important Words 100Technique #1: Practice Translation 101Technique #2: Identifying "Real" Issues 106Critical Thinking Techniques 111Critical Thinking Techniques 111Technique #1: Aim for Mastery 111Technique #2: Funnel 112Technique #3: Practice Thinking Out Loud 113Technique #4: Make Flash Cards 114Learning the Vocabulary of Bar Prep - The Elements 114Technique #5: Make Car Tapes 115Technique #6: Repetition-Recapturing Rules and Elements 115Technique #7: Magic Opening Phrases 115Technique #8: Memory Enhancers 116Technique #9: Doctrinal "Triggers" 117Critical Writing Techniques 118Critical Writing Techniques 118Technique #1: Identifying and Emphasizing Real Issues 119Technique #2: Mind the "Big Picture" and the Details 120Practice, Practice, Practice 121Ditch Irac 121Box It Up 125Use Anchor and Trigger Words 127The Approach to Game Day 131Three Weeks to Go 131Schedule 131Nerves 132Cool as Ice 132Avoid Quicksand 133Natural As Granola 134Stay the Course 134Do You Feel Lucky? 135Take a Walk 136I Have Studied and I Have Learned 136Toxic People 137One Week to Go 138Keep Staying the Course 139Focus 139The Day Before the Exam 140The Night Before the Exam 141The Exam is Now - Strategies and Tactics 143Dismantling Pressure 143Clothing 143Food 144Housing 144The Exam Itself - Time, Tools, Temperament, Reading, Frameworks 146Post-Mortems 150After a Question 150After a Day 151After the Exam 152The Workbook Chapter: Applying Your Knowledge 155
