6 Weeks Until the February 2011 California Bar Exam

Friday, January 14, 2011

Dear California Bar Reviewers,

Welcome to the latest installment of our CA bar exam newsletter. In this issue, we consider:

  • Important Upcoming California Bar Exam Dates
  • California Bar Exam Study Strategy: Sensible Performance Test Preparation
  • California Bar Exam Essays In-Depth: Issue Analysis, Part 3 of 3
  • Next Issue Preview

Important Upcoming California Bar Exam Dates

  • Final Filing Deadline (All Takers): January 18, 2011
  • California Bar Exam: February 22-24, 2011

California Bar Exam Study Strategy: Sensible Performance Test Preparation

An often overlooked and/or neglected aspect of CA bar exam preparation is preparing for the Performance Tests (PTs) in a sensible, effective manner. Far too often, individuals will neglect or put-off PT practice and preparation. The main reason for such neglect is that most individuals believe that their time will be better spent studying for other components of the CA bar exam instead of the PTs, as those other components (essays and MBE) test specific legal knowledge, which require prior understanding and recall. In contrast, the PTs are very much a "skills" test, examining your ability to follow instructions and organize a response in a thorough, cogent manner. Unfortunately, many individuals fail to realize that, as a test of skills, one can generally improve PT "skills" with focused, structured practice.

Conduct a Self-Evaluation of Your Performance Test Ability

For some individuals, it's a sensible decision to spend more time on substantive review of testable materials instead of spending time on PT preparation. However, such individuals should possess a demonstrated competence from previous PT-like experiences (i.e., their "skills" are already competent to receive passing scores on the PTs). To determine if you possess such competence, ask yourself questions like the following:

  • Did you ace your legal research and writing class in law school?
  • Do you write legal research memoranda, briefs, and client letters on a regular basis?
  • Are you comfortable with the time constraints and amount of material found on each CA bar exam PT?
  • If you are retaking the CA bar exam, are prior PT scores at a passing level?

If you answered no to any of the preceding questions, then you can most likely benefit from structured PT practice during your CA bar review.

California Performance Test Preparation Tips

If you possess an identified need to include additional PT practice during your CA bar review, consider some of the following PT preparation tips:

  1. Simulate exam conditions: Utilize a full, uninterrupted 3 hours to complete your practice PTs (turn off all distractions and devices).
  2. Use a hard copy: Print out or utilize an available hard copy for each practice PT.
  3. Outline PT answers: If you are pressed for time, spend 90 minutes to organize and outline an answer instead of writing out a complete answer in 3 hours. Check your outline against sample answers to confirm whether your effort is on target.
  4. Critically evaluate your efforts: Avoid the tendency to merely go through the motions of completing a practice PT. Instead, identify weaknesses in your practice answers, as well as strengths. Apply lessons learned in future efforts.

As a general rule, if you know your legal writing contains weaknesses, then you will most likely benefit from regular PT practice during your CA bar review.

California Bar Exam Essays In-Depth: Issue Analysis, Part 3 of 3

Our Essays In-Depth feature is an excerpt from our upcoming California Bar Exam Essay Solution On-Demand Workshop or one of our upcoming subject-specific California Bar Exam Essay Primers. In this issue, we complete our series on common Issue Analysis mistakes.

Issue Analysis on California Bar Exam Essays

To recap, in our last two issues, we've explained that Issue Analysis on CA bar exam essays consists of analyzing a given set of facts in light of the applicable law and reasoning to a sound conclusion. We've also identified several, common mistakes that individuals make with their Issue Analysis in the hope that you can avoid similar pitfalls on your CA bar exam. In part 3, we conclude by highlighting an additional, common mistake individuals commit when presenting Issue Analysis on their CA bar exam essays: Cursory Analysis.

Common Issue Analysis Mistake: Cursory Analysis

Another common Issue Analysis mistake is Cursory Analysis. Cursory Analysis is Issue Analysis that fails to fully, and specifically, evaluate all of the relevant, pertinent facts presented by the essay fact pattern. As explained in previous issues, your discussion of any Issue on a California bar exam essay should include an identification of the issue (e.g., via an underlined issue heading), a statement of the law, analysis, and a conclusion. The very function of any Issue Analysis is to apply the applicable legal standard(s) to the specific, pertinent facts presented by the fact pattern. The most common form of Cursory Analysis is Analysis that utilizes indirect reference to the facts.

For example, consider the common law burglary example from our last issue (the elements of common law burglary include: a) the breaking and b) entering the c) dwelling house of another d) at nighttime e) to commit a felony therein). Additionally, consider a California bar exam essay question that provides the following fact pertaining to a possible burglary charge: "the action occurred under moonlight at 2:00 am." Obviously, this fact would be relevant for the "at nighttime" element of common law burglary. However, how you utilize and integrate this fact into your essay answer will determine whether analysis of this element of the crime will include Cursory Analysis. A common approach is for an individual to address the "at nighttime" element of the possible burglary charge by simply stating "as the facts indicate, the defendant committed the act at night." However, this is a classic example of Cursory Analysis, lacking specific reference to the pertinent, relevant facts.

The Cursory Analysis Solution: Specificity of Factual Reference in Your Analysis

To avoid the common mistake of Cursory Analysis, provide specific, direct reference to the pertinent facts in your Issue Analysis. Instead of stating "as the facts indicate," as noted in the example above, explicitly state and integrate those facts into your essay answer. For example "the defendant clearly committed the act at nighttime because the act occurred at 2:00 am under moonlight" is far superior to the Cursory Analysis example provided above.

Next Issue Preview

In our next issue, our Essays In-Depth feature will identify common mistakes made on Evidence essays.

If you have any questions about this newsletter or any of our products or services, then please feel free to Contact Us.

Study smart,

-The BarReviewSolutions.com Team