My Essay On Passing The Bar
Passing the bar on my second try (and why I think I did)
By Jay Wiseman, JD
Hi all,
I'm still feeling kind of disoriented, and mostly feeling relief. I
passed the exam on my second try. I was so certain that I wasn't
going to pass that I had my entire schedule for the next 3+ months
laid out on that assumption, so exactly what I'll do now is going to
take some re-thinking.
While I'm happy that I passed, it's a distinctly bittersweet happiness
because some of my best friends in school, who worked harder and got
better grades than I did, still haven't passed. I wish them every
success next time.
I tested for the first time in July of 2005. Due to personal
busy-ness, I didn't retest in February.
What I did differently this time:
I got my essay books back from the state bar (living in SF made this
relatively easy) so that I could, among other things, see the comments
made by the graders. Unfortunately, there were none. However, I
hand-wrote the exam and I can't write all that fast so in looking at
my answers I kept thinking about how they could have been longer. I
therefore used a borrowed laptop this time around and I think that
doing so helped -- a lot. Using the laptop simply allowed me to get
more words "on paper" in the time allowed and thus write a much more
detailed analysis.
I would _definitely_not_ handwrite the exam if I had it to do over
again. For one thing, I can't write all that fast so I can't get as
much analysis down on paper as I'd like to. For another, my
handwriting isn't very good so it's hard to read -- never a good
thing. For a third, on this most recent exam I got way into one
question before I realized that my analysis was off. If I had
handwritten this, I'd have to cross stuff out and begin again. This
time, I merely deleted the text and rewrote it. The reader wouldn't
be able to "tell" how off I had originally been. Seriously, the
essays just _looked_ better. (According to Adachi, infra, that carries
significant weight in terms of its grade.)
On subjects that I felt completely "cold" on, such as criminal
procedure, I dragged out my emanuel flash cards and went to work. Of
all the law school study aids out there -- and my apartment is a
veritable museum of them -- I continue to feel think they offer the
best value for the money. (Better, IMO, than the PMBR flash cards.)
They're relatively cheap, very interactive, and quite comprehensive.
I used them a lot, both in law school and for bar prep. I found them
especially useful for going from a cold start on a particular subject
to arriving at a point where I felt sharpened up pretty well. This
time around, I worked my way through all the cards on crim law, crim
pro, evidence, and con law.
I also did "a whole bunch" of PMBR questions, as well as all the
Fleming's multistate questions. (I waited until I had finished the
flash cards before I went into the multi-states on subjects that I
felt cold about.)
However, the BIG thing that I did differently this time was as
follows: I copied model answers -- a _lot_ of model answers.
Back when I was a first-year, I was advised to do this by a third-year
whose name and face I have forgotten, but it proved to be _very_
useful advice.
Much as art students are encouraged to "copy the masters" I've found
that copying model answers does a lot to train both my brain and my
hands in how to write a good analysis. I first really started to "get
it" when I copied a lot of the model answers in Tim Tyler's "Nailing
The Bar" books. (Excellent books; IMO they're the best on the market
at _showing_ how to "crack the code.")
I'd read the question, do my own outline, and then type the model
answer in. Sometimes I'd then turn right around and write my own
answer and compare it to the model answer. This was extremely useful
(if sometimes -- OK, frequently -- humbling).
I then got Adachi's bar breaker series and did the same. I also made a
point to learn his particular method of outlining a fact pattern --
it's by far the best I've ever seen for that -- and I used his
approach diligently both in practice and on the actual exam. Note: I
found having his Bar Exam Survival Kit to be an essential accessory to
the two "main" books.
One might think that merely copying a model answer would be a mostly
passive process that taught very little, but I found very much the
opposite. While the front of my brain was copying the words, I found
that the back of my brain was studying the technique, and also
reviewing the rules and the analysis. It was _very_ much an "active
learning" technique.
I copied numerous Tyler model answers. I also copied _all_ of the
Adachi answers on torts, CP, and PR. (They essentially always have an
essay on PR on the test.) I copied as many answers as I could on
other topics before exam day arrived.
After a while, I found myself learning how to sort of "imitate in
advance" what Tyler or Adachi would write. I would see something come
up and I'd say to myself: "Hmmmm, I'll betcha he's gonna write about
that issue something like this..." As time went on, I became correct
more and more often. Candidly, doing this was very much like using
training wheels when I first learned to ride a bicycle back when I was
a tot. After a while, I didn't need them anymore. Something very
similar happened to me in this case.
When I got on the actual exam, I was able to apply them. For example,
I had written Adachi's "boilerplate" on duty, standard of care, and
breach so often for negligence that when I saw the negligence issue on
the torts question I was able to plop his approach down onto the paper
virtually word for word.
If I had it to do over again, there's no question that I would copy
even more model answers. I'd probably also copy several performance
tests.
I am more and more of the opinion that the technique of copying model
answers, just like art students copy the masters, is a technique that
should be used much more widely than it is.
If I could go back and do it over again, I'd buy the Tyler books and
the Adachi books during my first semester of my first year of law
school, and I wouldn't dream of showing up to take an essay about a
particular subject without having first copied their essays on that
subject.
Very best regards to all, especially those who will be re-testing.
Jay Wiseman
Postscript:
In response to the numerous requests for information I've received about
where to obtain the emanuel "law in a flash" flashcards, Tyler books, and Adachi
books, please let me point out that they're available in pretty much any California
law school bookstore, whether online or brick-and-mortar.
Websites and other resources:
emanuel flash cards
PMBR books of multi-state questions: These are largely available as the "finals" books
in law school bookstores. They're topic-specific, including the "core six" topics
and also civil procedure, corporations, wills and trusts, remedies, and community
property (both general law and California law). They include good rules review,
graph-type outlines, and questions of increasing difficulty, with answers. Excellent
value for the money. Used copies of the voluminous PMBR books can sometimes be found
at legal bookstores and on eBay.
Tim Tyler
Adachi
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