Bar Exam

Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

Gillsie's Bar Exam

BAR EXAM

As you know, each state sets various standards for admission to the bar. A good source for these standards can be found on the commercial site of Bar/Bri. I am most familiar with Massachusetts, having sat for and passed the 1998 exam. Essentially, the Bar Exam is composed of 2 parts: a 200 question multiple choice exam covering 6 topics (Constitutional Law, Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, and Evidence) called the MBE - or Multi-state Bar Exam. This portion of the Exam is given in most other jurisdictions and is a significant portion of the Massachusetts Exam, comprising of a morning and afternoon session. In addition, there is an Essay component to the Exam which also comprises of a morning and afternoon session. Here, one will be given approximately 10 essays, 5 in the first session and 5 in the latter, where one must quickly read, analyze, outline, and write a clear, correct and succinct response. Topics covered here include all the Multi-state topics (with significant attention paid to the Massachusetts distinctions) plus Civil Procedure & Jurisdiction (both Federal & Massachusetts), Agency & Partnership, Wills & Trusts, Commercial Paper & Secured Transactions, Corporations, Domestic Relations and Professional Responsibility (beyond that which is covered in the MPRE - Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam which is a separate exam required for admission to the Bar). One does not need a perfect score to pass, but one does need to attain about 60% of all possible points. Therefore, it is almost more important to know how to test that it is to know the law. A good place to look for Massachusetts Bar Exam Information is the Board of Bar Examiners.

The Bar Exam, in my opinion, is nothing more than a ritualized form of professional hazing. In essence, it exists because our predecessors endured it and, therefore, we must. Sure, it weeds out some potentially incompetent attorneys who can not recite with precision the Rule Against Perpetuities. However, this exam does not measure professionalism, client relation skills, or most forms of legal reasoning (other than coming up with a canned 7 paragraph response to an outrageous set of facts on the essay portion of the exam). In addition, the exam does not test business generating abilities, case management, human resource management, research or drafting abilities, or, in short, anything relevant to modern practice. Nonetheless, it is something that all attorneys (outside those in Wisconsin and a few other jurisdictions) must endure.

So, how should one face this out-dated behemoth? Well, there is no one perfect way of preparation. I can only tell you what worked for me. When I sat for the exam, the bar exam consumed my life. Although I am a movie junkie, I did not go to the cinema or the Blockbuster for the duration of my preparation. Plus, I essentially quit reading most parts of the newspaper (except for the Sports pages... I can't live without them) and stopped reading everything not related to the Exam. And, of course, I got on the wagon. Though seemingly monkish and unappealing, you must remember that the Bar Exam is basically a state of mind. You must enter that examination hall knowing you have prepared to the utmost of your ability and certain that you will kick the exam's ass! And, remember, it's only 8 weeks. That's nothing compared to the 3 years of a so-called life you lived while in Law School. As you have probably heard, you are not really studying the law, you are studying for a very specific exam with clearly defined material and you must know the testable topics cold. Although most of your career will place you in situations where the problem involves several areas of the law and several shades of gray, the bar exam is really about seeing things in black and white and being able to place them in a neatly defined box. Therefore, KNOW EVERYTHING COLD!!!

Although things are changing a bit, most people attend a structured review program like Bar/Bri. I did, and it worked. Of course they give you tons of material that you cannot possible memorize. Nonetheless, you feel the need to go through it in case you get a question about some obscure topic that's in the readings but not covered in the lectures. However, the lectures are where you will find the meat of the exam. These lecturers are usually pretty good and have the ability to add some humor to an otherwise dreadful time in your life. I basically drafted my entire outlines from these lectures, with some material from PMBR and the Bar/Bri readings mixed in. FYI, PMBR, though expensive, is worth it. The review is usually several weeks before the exam, and consequently, you have not reviewed every topic before you sit for one of their practice exams. Nonetheless, the post-practice-exam analysis is EXCELLENT. This session not only gives you the 411 on law and the subjects that will be tested on the Multi-state part of the exam, but it also informs you of various tricks the testers use in order to trip you up. These little tidbits are worth the price of the review and can save you many points. Plus, the book PMBR gives you with all those practice questions is excellent and you should do dozens of these every day throughout your review. When combined with your other practice questions from Bar/Bri, your lecture attendance, your evening outline drafting sessions, and your practice essays, you should be fully prepared for the exam.

However, mere academic preparation is not enough. Knowing the material is only the largest portion of exam preparation. You can not ignore mental preparation. Remember, the Board of Bar Examiners do not necessarily want you to pass. Therefore, they introduce all these little stumbling blocks in an attempt to trick you into giving them an incorrect answer. Hence, the other half of the battle is your ability to get yourself "psyched" to take the test. I found aggression training is needed. I sat for the winter exam, and consequently, after the morning lecture ended, I went to an ice rink and skated and slapped-shot for about an hour every day. It was great stress relief. Plus, it put you in an aggressive state of mind. Aggression can be a great motivator, and is needed for this exam. When you hit the ice, tell yourself the Bar Exam people are the ones ruining your life for 8 weeks and then shoot at the upper corner of the net while imagining they are in goal without pads. Keep this feeling with you as you walk into the exam room. It works.

Of course, this is not the type of preparation used by everybody. Many people love study groups. Personally, I hate them and find them a waste of time. Of course, with the right people, they can work. Nevertheless, if you opt for this type of review, prepare for tons and tons of whining. People are always going to tell you about how they haven't slept, how they've done more practice essays than you, how they've gone through 5 PMBR MBE practice-question books, how they feel so stupid and how they will kill themselves if they fail. I find this whining excruciatingly painful. Not only will these sad sacks ruin your review, but during your lunch breaks on exam days, they will whine and bother you with their problems. My advice, WHO NEEDS IT? Your only goal is to pass the test; not to counsel other people. Hey, you went to law school, right? You weren't there to make friends, and you probably lost a lot while you were there. So, save the socializing for your post-exam trip to Florida.

Plus, there are new products coming to market that may be an improvement over Bar/Bri and other similar types of review. Some of these are video-tape, audio-tape, or computer-based review (rather than the lecture type in the traditional forms) and I think they will be viable alternatives to Bar/Bri. Who needs to fight traffic and parking in order to get to a review several towns away when all you want to do is find a quiet place to study, right? Therefore, with products like the Tesdahl review in Washington state (why won't he come to Massachusetts?) and other similar home-study reviews gaining popularity, one preparing for the bar exam should look beyond the world of Bar/Bri. Some of these other reviews can be found on my links page.

So, to those of you preparing for the Bar Exam....GOOD LUCK. It's only 8 weeks of your life and with sufficient preparation, you will pass. If you care to see my Bar Outlines, click one of the links below. There in pdf format, so if you need to, go get adobe acrobat.