The Essential Rules for Bar Exam Success, 2007 » (1st Edition)

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