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The Ping Pong Bar Exam Essay
By Bar Exam Doctor • May 15, 2015 •Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
Each summer and winter, the Bar Exam Doctor offers California bar examinees programs to practice Performance Tests and Essays using a Bar Exam Performance Test Simulator and Bar Exam Essay Simulator. Routinely, Bar Exam Doctor graders get a practice exam from a bar examinee that is of this format: “W will argue that the money used by H was a gift to the community and therefore there is no right to reimbursement due. W will argue that any time Sp funds are used to purchase an asset the donative intent of the spouse and the delivery and title will rule. …
Free Agency & Partnership Review Lectures for Law School and Bar Prep
By Seth Oranburg • April 22, 2015 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector, Law School, Curriculum and Classroom Dynamics, Other Law School Issues, Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
This semester I taught Closely Held Business Organizations, which is Agency & Partnerships with a LLC component, at FSU Law. I created three review lectures for my students which are based off principles from the Restatement of Agency, the Revised Uniform Partnership Act, the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act and the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. Since these lectures are brief but comprehensive overviews of subject matter that is tested on most state bar exams and in many law school business organizations classes, I though the readers of Ms. JD would benefit from access to these videos, so…
Breastfeeding and the California Bar Exam
By Courtney Taylor • March 28, 2014 •Features, Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
I took the California Bar Exam in July 2013 for the first time while still actively breastfeeding my son, Elliot, who was 11 months old at the time. After struggling to find resources on how the California State Bar accommodates mothers like me, I decided to post this blog to help other breastfeeding mothers who are preparing to take the Bar Exam. Here is my story… Elliot was born the first week of my 3L year at UC Davis School of Law in Davis, California. My last year of law school was exciting, but tiring with a newborn and learning…
Take a Chance at a Future
By Joanne Wilson • July 14, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
At this point of bar prep, with less than three weeks to go, I wanted nothing more than to crawl under my bed and disappear. Everything made me either incredibly angry or I would be bawling my eyes out. I kept thinking "Have I done enough?" or "Does that score mean I'm going to pass?" The worst thought was "Is it even worth it anymore?"The last question is one that I'm finding is very popular. Many people question whether it is worth studying anymore and whether it is worth taking the bar.The answer to both is yes, it is worth it.As for…
An Exam Is Not Worth Your Life
By Joanne Wilson • June 25, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
Today I read an article that shook me, not just me as a bar tutor but as a member of the legal community. According to The Legal Intelligenecer, a graduate of Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law committed suicide.This student had failed the bar twice. Days before taking bar prep again, he took his own life.As a wise commenter said, maybe there are unknown contributing factors as to why he chose to end his life. Unfortunately, we may never know them and they could be anything. The reasons why someone decides to end their life is very personal. From…
Alone in Bar Prep World
By Joanne Wilson • June 02, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
This is a topic I really focus on in my own blog but I feel like it is something that needs to be thrown out into the legal world over and over until someone changes it.The loneliness of bar prep is enough to drive anyone crazy.The following is an excerpt from an e-mail to a dear friend that I wrote during bar prep:"I just want this nightmare to be over. I don't even care if I pass at this point. I just am tired of it all. It's lonely. It's frustrating. People make me mad for no reason. I've never…
Facing The New Florida Bar
By Joanne Wilson • May 29, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
I was one of the fortunate students who took the February Florida Bar Exam. Everyone told us we were going to be the guinea pigs. For weeks we panicked worrying. I hyperventilated in my seat when the bar examiners called start. I frantically paged through the exam.The new subjects never showed up on the February Florida Bar Exam.As anyone knows who is facing the Florida Bar Exam, the Board of Bar Examiners decided to add subjects. The subjects are dependency, delinquency, commercial paper (also known as payment systems) and secured transactions. No, I'm not gloating. But I remember the feeling of…
Feeling behind? Join the club!
By Joanne Wilson • May 22, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
So a friend of mine wrote me the other day panicking because she felt on day three of bar prep that she was already behind. It hit me like a ton of bricks to hear that because I remember that feeling. I remember feeling like I was unable to get everything done. My first week I felt like I couldn't catch up to where I felt I should have been no matter how hard I tried. I cried over it to the point my cheeks were raw.But to feel behind is normal. It took for the someone at Kaplan to call me…
Rules Are Made To Be Broken
By Joanne Wilson • May 19, 2013 •Advice on Passing the Bar Exam
One of the rules I learned during bar prep was that you should study in a place where you won't be detected. I was told to study in a quiet area where no one could bother me and I could focus solely on my information. It's worked well for hundreds of students and it would be what worked, I was told. I immediately broke that rule. Why break such a fundamental rule of bar prep, you ask? Because it's a dumb rule. Yes, I know that's juvenile but allow me to explain a bit. When I sat for the February…