3 Days Until the February 2011 New York Bar Exam

Dear New York Bar Exam Applicants,

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

• Important Upcoming New York Bar Exam Dates
• New York Bar Exam-Taking Strategy: Avoid Silly Mistakes
• New York Bar Exam Essays In-Depth: Recognize the Possibility Of Multiple Issues
• Good Luck!

Important Upcoming New York Bar Exam Dates

• New York Bar Exam administered, February 22-23, 2011

New York Bar Exam-Taking Strategy: Avoid Silly Mistakes

For weeks, if not months, you've been preparing and reviewing for the bar exam, including countless hours of review and practice. However, do not forsake this personal investment in time and effort by making "silly mistakes" during the exam. Silly mistakes are those mistakes that have nothing to do with the substantive material that is tested on the bar exam, and these mistakes are all preventable, regardless of your level of bar exam preparation. The most common of these mistakes include:

1. Time Mismanagement: Follow the suggested time limits for all components of the exam. Answer the essays in the order presented (the "hard" essay will not magically become easier 90 minutes later).
2. Worrying About Others: Ignore what others have to say about the exam, including what will be tested and what has been tested. This can only lead to an acute condition: "bar exam paranoia."
3. Dwelling on the Past: Remember, once the multiple choice are over or an essay session is over, there is no going back. Likewise, thinking about what should have been or could have been will be of no benefit to you. Instead, focus on the task at hand.

Remember, silly mistakes are "silly" because they are easily preventable.

New York Bar Exam Essays In-Depth: Recognize the Possibility Of Multiple Issues

Our Essays In-Depth feature is an excerpt from our upcoming New York Bar Exam Essay Solution On-Demand Workshop. This week we identify the possibility that a single question on the NY bar exam can include multiple issues.

The general framework: 1 Question, 1 Issue

In most cases, the call of the question presented for NY essays will implicate one, or sometimes two, separate, independent legal issues. Often, the essay will be divided into several (e.g., three) separate questions with each question raising a singular issue.

The Possibility of Multiple, Independent Issues for 1 Question

However, you should be aware of the possibility of several, multiple issues for any one question presented on a NY bar exam essay, especially when the question does not expressly identify the issues for you. A good example is Question 3 from this past July's NY bar exam. The question presented included the following:

Your law firm represents X Corporation. You have been asked to advise the firm’s
senior partner on whether the proposal received sufficient votes to be approved. Explain
your conclusion.

The facts of the question described several shareholders (4) and how they granted or revoked proxies and/or voted their shares. Under the general framework, an individual would create a singular issue in attempting to answer this question. However, this is the incorrect approach. Instead, to correctly answer the question, four distinct, independent issues need to be discussed. Since the resolution of how each shareholder's shares were voted implicate different principles of the Corporations law, different, independent issues need to be addressed. Don't let preconceived notions of how an essay must be organized or answered blind you to the reality of what is being asked.

Good Luck on the New York Bar Exam!

We wish you the best of luck on the bar exam. Hopefully, we've been able to impart a bit of guidance via our newsletter. If you have any questions or comments about this newsletter, then please feel free to Contact Us.

Study smart,

-The BarReviewSolutions.com Team