http://psycentral.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/study-skills-top-tips-exams-dr-gary-wood-psychologist/

First of all, thank you for visiting.

I am currently in the midst of grading my students’ three simulated bar exam. I will be returning their exams tomorrow and as a result do not have a great deal of time to respond today. However, I will post a list of possible topics that I think could be particularly likely – given their absence on past exams. Check back on Monday or Tuesday and I should have some information up then.

Until then, here are some of my thoughts: Criminal Procedure perhaps crossed with another topic (like Evidence) or simply just Criminal Procedure all by itself.

Civil Procedure is pretty high on everyone’s list of predicted topics (I would guess that most bar review companies would be predicting Civil Procedure), simply because it has not been tested in some time. Add to the fact that it has not been tested in a while and that there are a few California additions (as of July 2007) now being tested, and I think most anyone in the bar review business would predict Civil Procedure.

Corporations also has not been tested in some time and is another likely subject. However, it is really important to recognize that you need to know every subject and know it well because the California bar examiners have really designed an exam that is nearly impossible to predict. In fact, the examiners actually employ statisticians to make sure that the frequency and pattern of subjects chosen for the exam are not predictable.

Here is a warning that I give all of my students – do not think that because something was just tested on the prior exam that it will not be on the very next exam. You CAN NOT discount these topics or presume that what was on the last bar exam will not be on the next. A perfect example of this are the past two bar examinations (February 2007 and July 2007). Both of administrations tested Constitutional Law First Amendment Speech. Yet, most people presumed that since it was just tested on the February 2007 bar exam that it would not be tested again on the July 2007 bar exam. In fact, many topics have repeated three times back to back from one bar exam to the next.

If you were to review every past bar exam over the past 25 years in California you would see that nearly every bar round there is a repeat of 3 subjects from one bar exam to the next. Often these show up in the form of a cross over on the next exam where the topic repeats. For example, you might see a full blown First Amendment Speech essay (as we did on the February 2007 bar exam) and then it is followed up on the next bar exam administration as a crossover (we saw this in July 2007 where Criminal Law Murder was one call of a two call essay question and First Amendment Speech was the second call of that essay question).

I hope this helps for now. I will do my best to put up more about topics I think are likely. I would use this information as a way to include additional review on certain areas – but, NOT as a replacement for studying and reviewing all areas. I am sure that you realize this.

Thank you again for you comment. If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at pass@barnonereview.com

Please bear in mind that I will be pretty swamped for the next few days. However, we try to respond to every email as quickly as possible.

Good luck to you!

Sincerely,

Lisa Duncanson
Program Director
Bar None Review

First, sorry it took so long to reply to your post. But, we are in the midst of preparing our students for the February 2008 bar exam and as a result, we are pretty busy and our enrolled students’ needs always have to come first. However, I did want to get back you.

First, Merriam’s or any other non-legal dictionary would not be a source that I would recommend going to in order to get sound legal definitions. However, it can certainly provide valuable information and should not be discounted entirely.

Second, my version of Black’s Law Dictionary actually contains 14 definitions of homicide. Your definition (quoted from Black’s law dictionary) fails to include the next part of the definition which goes as follows: “A person is guilty of homicide if he purposely, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently causes the death of another human being.” There is still more to the definition. However, certainly, this second sentence (which you left off in your definition) does refer to a fault or ‘wrongful” aspect. Furthermore, since homicide is a killing that is against the law, it is necessarily “unlawful”.

Of most importance is that the definition used in our model answer is one that is embraced by the California Bar Examiners. You could certainly include the entire three sentence definition that is contained in Black’s law dictionary on your bar exam essay answer. However, it is nearly a paragraph in length and will get you very little distance with the graders. In fact, it would likely cause you to lose points since in most murder exams homicide is only a very, very small part of the overall discussion.

Compare the entire Black’s definition of homicide which I have quoted below:

Black’s Law Dictionary Definition of HOMICIDE:

“Homicide is the killing of one human being by the act, procurement, or omission of another. A person is guilty of criminal homicide if he purposely, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death o another human being. Criminal homicide within criminal codes includes murder, manslaughter or negligent homicide.”

California Bar Exam Accepted Definition of HOMICIDE:

Homicide is the unlawful killing of one human being by another.

OR, an even shorter form that would be acceptable:

Homicide is the unlawful killing of another.

(With the latter definition, you would just need to be careful of situation where causation was put at issue by the fact pattern).

Here is why you should use the shorter definition: you will garner no points for using a longer definition and using a longer definition will waste valuable time. Furthermore, since the bar examiners in California have embraced the shorter definition (including the “unlawful” aspect), it is the one that we recommend. It would still be okay to state the rule as simply the killing of a human being by another. But, we use the definitions that we see the most often in the California bar exam released answers. This is the best source for what the bar examiners in California are really looking for.

All of this being said, the fact that you have made a point out of this suggests to me that you might have some difficulties seeing the forest through the trees. Obviously, I do not know you and I do not know if you are currently taking the California bar exam. However, a successful examinee will recognize that one or two word differences in definitions does not a failing or passing exam answer make. Instead, it is your ability to identify the relevant legal issues presented by each fact pattern and to resolve all legal issues with sound legal arguments. The points come from your analysis. Your ability to analyze and to apply the law is the key to passing essays in California.

I have worked with thousands of bar examinees over the years and probably the most common problem students of the bar have is that they fail to recognize it has far less to do with memorization of rules than it does with their ability to APPLY the law to the facts, to IDENTIFY and RESOLVE legal issues. This is the key.

The bar exam is not asking you to regurgitate a bunch of rules. Instead, examinees must show their ability to apply legal principles to fact patterns such that the grader can read your exam and have confidence that if you are released to be an attorney that you will be able to think like a lawyer. Anyone can memorize definitions. But, to show the graders that you can identify the issues and to resolve those issues, that is how you pass.

So, my advice to you – - assuming you are studying for the bar exam here in California – - is to work on the big picture. Move away from the minutia (that is for the MBEs – not the essays). Once a student is able to see the forest for the trees, there is usually great improvement.

Good luck to you and all the best!

Bar Exam Guru

Sandy Gougis

Merriam Webster, Black’s, and I beg to differ.

Homicide is merely the killing of a human being by another human being. It is not necessarily unlawful.