It's like BARbed wire...

July 2011 DC Bar Exam Results

2011-11-10T11:08:00.001-05:00

The July 2011 DC bar exam results were released just before Halloween (October 27, 2011).

96 passed out of 208 that took the exam in July. That translates to a 46% overall pass rate (64% pass rate for first-time takers).

I had a post writen the day after the results were released but got some strange error that caused me to lose it and I was too lazy to recreate it that day. Oh well!

The highlights for the July exam that I did not post after the exam:

Essay topics for July 2011 DC bar exam:

MPT(2) - Two memos (objective and persuasive)

MBE:
Criminal law
Con law
Property
Civ pro
Family law
Commercial paper

MBE: Conversion table for raw to scaled scores is not yet posted by the California bar examiners. Watch for it here in the coming weeks.

Congrats to those that passed. Enjoy the glory. For those that didn't make it, dig out of the pit of despair and regroup. Evaluate what you think went wrong and set a plan for the next go.

February 2011 DC Bar Exam Results

2011-04-28T13:44:00.002-04:00

The pass list for the February 2011 bar exam is now available online. 100 successful applicants out of 210 test takers (72% pass rate for first-time takers and overall pass rate of 48%).

http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/docs/SuccessfulList_2011-02.pdf

Congrats to all those that passed. As usual, to those that fell short...keep your chin up and stick with it.

Februay 2011 DC Bar Exam

2011-02-25T15:50:00.004-05:00

I had no predictions ahead of time. I did have a few requests.

The subjects tested on the February 2011 DC Bar Exam were:

MPT Questions:
Memo (objective)
Memo (objective) and closing argument (persuasive)

MEE Questions:
Evidence
Contracts
Family Law
Wills
Corporations
Civ Pro

Sounds like there were some interesting MBE questions. Glad I don't have to deal with those beasts ever again!

Hopefully everyone is basking in the afterglow of the doneness. It is a great feeling.

July 2010 DC Bar Exam Results

2010-10-19T18:41:00.003-04:00

I saw the pass list for the July 2010 DC Bar exam is now posted. 60% of the first-time takers passed (97 passers). Overall pass rate was 41%.

For those that passed, enjoy a cold one (or ten)! For anyone that missed it, be it your first miss or something higher, stick with it. I'm damn glad I have all my bar exams behind me (2). That was plenty of exam stress for the rest of my life.

Finally, fall weather has arrived to DC. The record heat this summer was crazy and I'm glad it is behind us. Bring on the fall colors!

July 2010 DC Bar Exam- Day 1

2010-07-28T10:48:00.005-04:00

I just saw a comment on another blog that the essay topics for the July 2010 DC Bar Exam were

partnership
wills/estates
con law
contracts & commercial paper
civ pro
family law

Additional details from the comments:
Partnerships (formation, assignment of PS interest, PS property)
Contracts (sales, warranties)/Commercial Paper (HDC rights against indorsers)
Wills (validity, revocation/modification, estate division)
Con Law (First Amendment - all flavors)
Family Law (premarital agreement, marital property, alimony)
Fed Civ Pro (PJ, SMJ, Fed Question Jurisdiction)

MPTs: Argument portion of a mtn to court; memo to partner

Congrats to all that survived the first day. MBE hell is in full swing right now so hopefully those practice questions, flash cards and outlines are kicking in. Once you are done, enjoy a cold one and kick back!

Overdue

2010-06-07T11:00:00.002-04:00

Yes, I haven't posted in quite a while. Oops.

The results (released 4-30-10) from the February 2010 DC exam were pretty brutal:

92 successful out of 224 applicants. 61% pass rate for first-time takers and an overall pass rate of just 41%. Ouch!

As usual, congrats to all those that passed. Special congrats to the repeaters that finally kicked that b*tch in the teeth! For those that took it on the chin, stick with it, redouble your efforts the next attempt and knock it out of the park.

The other day, someone asked me to make another set of predictions for the July DC bar exam. I decline. I don't have the mental energy to do it. Really, my predictions are worthless.
Look at my predictions from last fall for the February 2010 DC bar exam.
Then look at what one of the commenters reported for the Feb 2010 topics:
MPT:
1. argument section for motion to suppress & motion to dismiss
2. letter to arbitrator setting forth strengths and weaknesses of your case.

MEE:
1. property (easements)
2. family law (divorce/property distribution)
3. torts (respondeat superior)
4. federal jurisdiction/choice of law
5. corporations (shareholders rights)
6. evidence (character evidence)

Then come up with your own predictions. B@r Bri (or whatever review course you are taking) should be in full swing. Keep at it. Get your schedule in place, buckle down with a good study partner or two and make sure you get enough rest and keep your body hydrated and exercised.

February 2010 DC Bar Exam Predictions

2010-01-15T10:50:00.008-05:00

Since I was lucky last spring in regards to my predictions for the July 09 DC exam, someone asked me to make predictions for the upcoming exam in February. I fee like Chris Berman from ESPN as the swami, but I'll give it a go.

Taking the info I gathered last spring (MEE essay topics from July 07 (the first time the available NCBE questions included MBE subjects in the MEE essays) through Feb 09) and adding in the most recent (July 09) DC essay subjects:
July 07:
Contracts
Criminal Law
Property
Family Law
Agency/Partnerships
Trusts

Feb 08:
Evidence
Torts
Wills
Secured Transactions
Corporations
Trusts

July 08:
Con Law (torts flavored)
Property
Civ Pro
Contracts
Agency
Trusts

Feb 09:
Evidence
Property
Torts
Civ Pro
Corporations
Commercial Paper

July 09:
Trusts
Secured Transactions
Con Law
Crim Law / Crim Pro (with Evidence included as well)
Family Law / Conflict of Laws
Wills

Here is my best guess for the February 2010 DC MEE subjects:
Property
Contracts
Con Law
Commercial Paper
Corporations
Trusts

For the MPT, you can count on a memo to a partner for one question, the second could be that or one of the other choices. Hard to tell. Here is a chart I had (and have supplemented with more recent info) The formatting from Excel does not translate well to this post and I am too lazy to make it look pretty...:

MPT 1 MPT 2 MPT 3

Feb 2010
Jul 2009 memo to partner letter to opposing counsel
Feb 2009 memo to partner memo to court
Jul 2008 memo to partner memo to partner
Feb 2008 memo to partner memo to partner
Jul 2007 memo to partner motion to court
Feb 2007 memo to partner Letter to opposing party
July 2006 memo to partner motion to court
Feb 2006 memo to partner motion to court
July 2005 Client opinion letter Letter to opposing party
Feb 2005 memo to partner letter to opposing counsel Memo to ? (persuasive)
July 2004 memo to partner demand letter to opposing party motion to court
Feb 2004 motion to court memo to partner memo to partner
July 2003 motion to court memo to partner memo to partner
Feb 2003 letter to opposing counsel memo to partner motion to court
July 2002 Memo to D.A. will clauses with explanation Client opinion letter
Feb 2002 Closing argument Client opinion letter letter to opposing counsel
July 2001 motion to court memo to partner motion to court
Feb 2001 motion to court memo to partner motion to court
July 2000 mediation statement interrogatories with explanations memo to partner
Feb 2000 memo to partner memo to partner motion to court
July 1999 will clauses with expl. Letter to opposing counsel memo to partner
Feb 1999 memo to partner memo to partner
July 1998 memo to partner Client opinion letter
Feb 1998 memo to partner motion to court
July 1997 Client opinion letter motion to court
Feb 1997 motion to court memo to partner

The NCBE currently produces two MPT questions and DC uses both of them. In the past, the NCBE made three MPT questions available- DC picked two of the three (which is why some years my chart has three types of questions....MPT1 and MPT2 were the questions asked by DC if I recall correctly).

Hope that helps and good luck to all DC takers (especially any repeaters!).

July 2009 DC Bar Exam results

2009-10-23T11:53:00.002-04:00

I saw on @ll4jds.com that the results for the July 2009 DC Bar exam were posted...sort of.
The pdf was created and available on the DC Court of Appeals site...you just had to try and find it by changing the web link for the Feb 09 results that is still up. Nice work by an enterprising (deparate?!) law student.

155 passers out of 293 people for a first time pass rate of 72% and an overal pass rate of 53%.

Congrats to all that passed, but a special tip of the hat to those that were repeating. Way to stick with it and enjoy your success!

July 2009 DC Bar Exam

2009-07-31T19:11:00.003-04:00

Well kiddies, it is that time of year again. Another bar exam has come and gone.

I hope everyone survived relatively unscathed and is basking in the afterglow of a job well done.

I did receive a comment from a anon poster in reply to on of my previous blog entries. I thought I would make a new post (aside from the fact that I am way overdue for a new post) with the specific essay info for the July 2009 DC bar exam:

Trusts
Secured Transactions
Con Law
Crim Law / Crim Pro (with Evidence included as well)
Family Law / Conflict of Laws
Wills

Actual DC July 2009 MPT topics:

Memo to senior attorney (analysis of defense)
Letter to opposing counsel

Scary that I managed to flag 5 out of 6 essay topics in my bare bones predictions. (Of course, that only happens when you aren't actually taking the bar and just observing from a distance).

I trust that everyone is decompressing from study mode now. It is a weird feeling to try and keep your mind so focused on something for weeks on end, then, suddenly be done with it.

Trust your studying and work. The torpedo is in the water. Now, just kick back and wait for the explosion in the distance (blowing a hole in the side of ship otherwise known as the bar exam graders).

Good luck everyone! (especially the repeaters out there)

The other half of the D&D team

2009-04-10T11:15:00.005-04:00

I saw today that the surviving creative half behind Dungeons & Dragons, Dave Arneson, passed away yesterday.

It is odd timing how the other partner, Gary Gygax, passed away last year.

Maybe they were like some of the old married couples...you know after one spouse dies, the other seems to move along shortly after?

Whatever the force behind it, here's a couple of ten-siders for good luck. Thanks for countless hours in the junior high days spent in basements, dining rooms, attics and garages playing D&D.

February 2009 DC bar exam

2009-02-26T17:02:00.004-05:00

Congrats to everyone that completed the February bar exam yesterday, especially all the retakers out there. The torpedo is in the water...nothing to do now but get back to the regular grind and wait for the explosions (of joy) when you get your results.

I heard from someone via the comments that the following subjects were tested on the MEE for the February 2009 DC bar exam:

Evidence (character evidence/impeach witnesses)
Property (joint tenancy v. tenancy in common)
Civ Pro (service of process by e-mail to person in foreign country/choice of law)
Corporations (fiduciary responsibility of corporate boards)
Commercial Paper (check/forged indorsement/theft of check)
Torts (negligence/landlord tenant/personal injury)

I also heard that the two MPTs were
Memo to Partner (Objective)
Memo to Court (Persuasive)

All I can say is, man, I am soooo glad all that bar exam jazz is behind me!

Enjoy a couple of days of doing nothing!

Inauguration and more

2009-02-21T10:48:00.007-05:00

I meant to post sooner after the inauguration but didn't get around to it...

What an amazing day. I walked down towards the Capitol the day before to check out the stage and see what it looked like (since I didn't have tickets to get this close on the actual day).

I was downtown on Tuesday and saw the parade. The crowds were large, but everyone was quite friendly. Definitely an amazing vibe in the air. Being a supporter of Obama, it was neat to see the campaign road finally come to an end (at least until the next cycle starts).

Work has been busy, which is a good thing considering the economy these days. We'll have to see where the coming months take us though. Yikes. I did find out a couple of weeks ago that I did not get a raise for this year. Considering things, I'm happy to be employed at my current rate instead of trying to find a job. Hopefully times will be more prosperous next year so I get back on track.

Say, what is the deal with guys that choose to go into a stall in the work bathroom to urinate instead of using the urinal on the wall? I totally don't get that. Stage fright? Some freak rash? I have always wondered what the reasoning is. Ah, the mysteries of life.

I talked to a friend from law school that is taking a second bar exam in a different state. The big days are fast approaching next week. Man, I can say without a doubt, I totally do not miss that feeling. Last year, my repeat bar exam in D.C. was approaching and my mind was about to explode. It seems like so long ago. I'm done with bar exams for good. For those taking their first, or repeating, or trying to get into another jurisdiction - best of luck. Relax, use the force, and even if you feel like you are five feet nuthin, a hundred and nuthin...think of Rudy.

Winter in DC

2009-01-13T17:08:00.002-05:00

I've been off the wagon with posting. You know how it goes.

I've been busy - enjoying the holidays and trying to bill hours. My schedule has been pretty good so far and I was doing a decent job of staying on track for hitting my goal but December wasn't so good. A few extra days off and some relatives in town hurts the hours a bit. I've definitely got some ground to make up so I'm back on track.

Inauguration is next week, which should be quite an event. I'll be joining the masses downtown trying to catcha glimpse of Obama and his crew. For some reason, my senators didn't come through with tickets for me to the official ceremony...

I love fall

2008-10-20T09:34:00.005-04:00

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season. Nothing beats the smells you encounter on a warm sunny fall day. The crispness in the air. I don't care to be super hot and humid- I'd much rather be enjoying some autumn weather. And the colors...you can't touch the fire of a maple that you see among the other trees.

Bar results from July 2008 continue to come out. Many states have heard. For all those that passed- welcome to the ranks of esquire (but don't use it after your own name.)
For anyone with the unlucky fortune of not seeing your name or number on the pass list, I recommend you:
shed some tears
drink heavily for a day
get super pissed at the bar examiners
exhaust any options for regrade/review/appeal if you are close
then turn over the new leaf and get down to business for the next round

Life goes on. I'm not saying it doesn't seem to suck for a while. My bar limbo from last fall starting on the day results came out until I heard that I passed the DC bar in April were some of the most mentally challenging for me.

Just think of the joy you'll feel when you send the next bar exam packing. Think February 2009. Adjust a phrase and use the now infamous words of Paris Hilton "I'll see you at the debates, bitches."

At least we have the campaign antics to entertain us for a few more weeks. SNL rocks right now.

That time of year again

2008-10-01T09:57:00.004-04:00

I know there are people out there anxiously waiting for bar results to be posted or for that letter in the mail...hang in there. Hopefully, everyone reading this will get good news. Nothing like seeing your name or reading that letter that says "I am pleased to inform you...."
If you didn't pass, don't despair. Cycle through the stages of bar grief: disbelief, sadness, anger, a sense of if-Rudy-can-play-football-with-Irish-then-I-can-pass-the-bar-examness. I know- i've been there. Check out some of my oldest posts for more on this.

As a follow up to my bus problems last month, I received a reply from the WMATA on one of my complaints (I never really heard a reply to the other):

"Thank you for your e-mail. Please review the information below received from the division after investigation of your complaint:

At 650 am on xxxxxx Rd. the engine compartment caught fire and the bus was delayed at that location for 1 hour. The fire was extinguished, operator was given a change off and resumed scheduled at 755 am on xxxx.

Sincerely,

Helen James
Consumer Representative
Office of Customer Service"

Apparently bus fires can happen. Still annoying that I had to wait like that two days in a row. I wish WMATA had a text message system for bus problems. I would prefer to sleep in another 30 minutes and catch the next bus, or if feeling fresh and rested, get up 30 minutes earlier and catch the bus before.

I started working on my first pro bono case as an attorney last month. Fun to get going on something that will help someone deal with a government agency.

Another bus no show, work projects

2008-09-04T10:11:00.003-04:00

OK, one day was a bit funny. I mean, catching the next bus isn't the end of the world (although I would have preferred another 20-25 minutes of sleep instead of standing on the side of the street).
But a second day is enough to make my blood boil a bit. I waited for 50 minutes today (which should have been covered by the second bus that I caught yesterday. I finally caught a slug ride.
Another nasty email to WMATA.
On a work related note- I've had some better projects (more interesting and substantive). This definitely makes the days move along at a better pace.

Laptop lives, bus no-show

2008-09-03T11:21:00.002-04:00

After getting a Dell person to troubleshoot my problem (even though my warranty is expired), it was determined that my laptop either had a bad graphics card or a motherboard. I tried the graphics card first since it was cheaper. I found a used one online and VOILA...my laptop lives again.

This morning the bus I catch to the metro station didn't arrive. Sometimes it varies by five or maybe ten minutes. The bus goes by every 30 minutes. So I stood there for about 35 minutes when the next bus comes by. Of course, everyone else that was waiting for the bus that didn't show was on this one too and I had to stand. How annoying.

I think my old laptop died

2008-08-22T11:10:00.002-04:00

So I have this Dell laptop that I bought right at the start of law school in 2003. It hasn't been perfect, but with my at-home super warranty, any problem I had was taken care of by an email or chat with Dell and then a guy that showed up at my house to replace the bad part(s). I bought an extra year on the warranty and that finally ended two months ago.
My laptop worked fine yesterday afternoon. Now today I went to fire it up and saw all kinds of weird characters. Even though I am out of warranty, I chatted with a Dell person in who-knows-where and they narrowed it down to the video card or motherboard. Bleh.
This laptop has been through the ringer. All of my law school notes were typed on it. I took every exam that I could on it (using Secure Exam). I typed the essays to my first bar exam on it (ran like a champ, no crashing or problems). Sure, it isn't pretty or flashing like newer laptops but it is worn and trusty like your favorite old t-shirt.

July 2008 DC Bar Exam - MEE subjects tested

2008-07-30T11:34:00.002-04:00

In case someone comes across this while searching for information on the DC bar exam, I figured I would bump a comment up that was left in my "Thoughts on the DC Bar Exam" post.

The MEE subjects tested were (per an anon comment):

"Epilogue:

Took the DC essays yesterday. Two MPTs, as predicted they like memo to partner format (they were both memos to partners).

Essay subjects tested:

ConLaw (this was to be expected)
Agency & Partnership
Trusts
Property
Fed Civ
Contracts (was more like remedies)

No neg instruments or sec trans, refreshingly enough! You can see they like MBE subjects, though. Thanks for the help."

Right now those taking the MBE are approaching lunch and (hopefully) the last 100 questions of their bar life. Good luck to all.

The coldness of life

2008-07-08T08:44:00.004-04:00

I heard yesterday that a friend/old college roommate passed away. Cancer. He was my same age, which is obviously waaaay too young. He has a young daughter with his wife. What a sobering deal. The buddy that called me also let it slip that his dad passed away a couple of months ago. Cancer. Six months after he found out. He was dad age, but still should have had another decade plus in him. Damn.
Here's to you, M.P. and R.N., until we meet again for a couple of cold ones on the other side.

Oh, and I got stung by something last night. I think it was a wasp. It flew near my ear (I heard the omnious mmmmmmmmmm of the wings) and it dinged me right on the shoulder at the neckline of my t-shirt. Ouch. I don't think I've been stung before. Ever. At least, I can't recall ever being stung. Good thing I'm not allergic to anything.

It's Official

2008-06-19T09:00:00.002-04:00

I was sworn in this past Monday at the D.C. Court of Appeals. There were at least three ceremonies that day that I heard about and I saw a fair number of people I recognized from BarBri. Nice!
I must say that the actual ceremony was a little anticlimactic-almost like an afterthought.
A guy (the monotone bar exam instruction reader guy) checked to see who was there. Then another guy (I think he was from the committee of law examiners) stood in front of the three judges (I didn't even get their names) and read his motion to admit us. The judges looked at the list and approved the motion. Then the head judge read each name and we had to stand. After all the names were read we did the old "raise your right hand and repeat after me...". Fewer lines than I thought, but good enough. After listening to the head judge's "mini graduation speech" about practicing law and doing some pro bono work, we were on our way to sign a card outside the court room.
Now I just need to wait three to four weeks to get my bar number. Woohoo!

Unloading bar books feels great

2008-05-23T09:57:00.003-04:00

So I've been selling a bunch of my bar study books and it feels like I throwing dead bodies of the ship (none of them killed by me of course...it was the bar examiners!)

I unloaded my midwestern state set on eBay (man, that guy got a great deal!) and my DC books on Craigslist (man, that guy got a great deal!). I sold my Strategies & Tactics and a couple of others on Amazon (they charge a lot of commission). I feels so good to be rid of these shackles and maybe help some other repeater convert to the side of licensed attorney. (Not to mention earning a few bucks back on all the extra money I spent on round two). Of course, it was all worth it now that I am done with bar exams forever!

I still have my outlines/flashcards waiting in the wings....waiting for a bonfire so I can have my outline/flashcard buring party. I think they will look great going up in smoke.

MBE raw score

2008-05-20T09:29:00.001-04:00

I just looked at the CA MBE conversion chart here and saw that my raw score was a 136 (which was scaled to a 150.7).

Wow!

Last July, my raw score was a 106 which scaled to a 126.7. Thirty (30) points higher!
I am amazed (and happy)!

Another domino has fallen

2008-05-20T09:08:00.004-04:00

After being delinquent for a number of months, I finally got my Virginia driver's license. I was holding onto my home state, not really excited about becoming an "official" resident.
Since my license was going to expire in a couple of months, I had to convert (that and technically I was supposed to get a new license within 60 days of changing my domicile to VA). The VA license shows a lot more shirt (head and shoulders) compared to my old license (pretty much just a tight head shot). Strange.

For the record, the Virginia DMV f'in sucks. I spent 1.5 hours there yesterday to fill out a form, show them a bunch of stuff (old license, birth certificate, SS card, pay stub with current address) and get a photo taken. The one good thing is that they give you the license on the spot (about two minutes after the photo).

I was happy to see many of my fellow blogger repeaters passed. One got the shaft. Hopefully he was really close and can nail it this July. That damn CA bar is hard. I'm glad I never want to live there!

Closer to being official

2008-05-14T11:50:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I received a letter from the D.C. Court of Appeals that said I have been certified for admission to the D.C. bar. I'm glad they have all their ducks in a row now.

Also included was:
- info about the swearing in ceremony (June 16, at 12 noon, D.C. Court of Appeals Courtroom on the 6th floor)
I am rather annoyed to read that "cameras are NOT permitted inside the courthouse."
-brochure on the mandatory bar course (must be completed within one year of admission, generally offered once a month)
-D.C. bar registration form
-Application for an engraved certificate of admission
-Supplemental questionnaire (asking if you've been bad since you applied)

Yay!

Thoughts on the D.C. Bar Exam

2008-04-28T12:48:00.006-04:00

Now that
the dust is finally settling
the red/orange glow of the sunset on the bar exam is increasing
the silhouette of the cowboy riding off into said sunset is visible

I'm ready to compile my thoughts on the February 2008 D.C. bar exam experience.

I studied a lot for this exam. Maybe a little more time-wise compared to last summer. I think I can chalk up some of my poor performance last summer to:
1. working half-time (20 hrs/week) during the first month of studying
2. working on numerous projects around my house to get it ready to sell in prep for the move to D.C.
3. an unlucky day (mostly in the choice of the essay subjects for me, a few chinks in my armor proved fatal)
4. lack of proper focus on studying for the MBEs (more on this below)
5. failure to compliment/buttress with another form of studying on the MBEs (flashcards and/or listening to CDs)

1. During the summer 07 bar campaign I worked half-time through the first month of BarBri (to keep my insurance benefits). I’m sure some people can do this, but I think I was not one of them. If you can avoid any work during your entire BarBri review, do it.
For the February exam I was working full-time during January and a couple of days into February and going to BarBri lectures at night (6-10 pm). I did study on the weekends but did not study any additional times during the week (no time!) aside from listening to PMBR lectures on my iPod during my commute every day.
I was lucky in that my firm paid for three weeks of study time (including the days for the exam itself) so I had nothing to worry about at work aside from studying during the couple of weeks right before the exam. I kept track of those non-billable hours in February and I think they came to about 225 hours.

2. Needless to say, preparing to move sucks. With the acceptance of a job in D.C., I had many little projects around the house that originally had a longer timeline for completion. A sudden shortening of that timeline during bar study is not idea…dare I say bad. It definitely sucked mental and physical strength from me to worry about/work on these projects. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do, but if you can avoid a situation like this, do it. You really should focus all possible energy on bar study.

3. Sometimes you just get unlucky. Had I been asked a couple of different essay questions in subjects that I knew better, I probably would have passed my July 2007 bar. I may not have scored high enough to waive into D.C., but then again, I might have. Realize that you aren’t going to know every single subject that is possible in a robot-like manner. Focus hard on the subjects that you are weakest in since a poor performance is more likely to be damaging on one of those compared to how much you can increase your score in your top subjects (limited return value for your time).
Do everything you can to make sure you are lucky on exam day. For me this included wearing a lucky t-shirt and a favorite pair of shorts.

4. I think my poor MBE score from July 2007 (106 raw/126.7 scaled) was due to improper/less than ideal studying to some degree. I did quite a few questions last summer (approximately 1500 or so). In hindsight, I don’t think that I focused enough on the questions that I got wrong.

I knew I should change up my strategy some for my second attempt. Mind you, I didn’t think I had to rebuild everything from scratch, since I didn’t bomb the exam, but I knew I would want to try and tweak some aspects of my studying to maximize my chances of success.

I read quite a few books during my studying for the February 2008 bar:

-Mastering the Multistate Bar Exam, by John J. Talamo (2007, 2nd Edition)

-Pass the Bar! by Denise Riebe and Michael Hunter Schwartz (2006)

-Bar Exam Survival Kit, by Jeff Adachi (2006)

-MBE Survival Kit, by Jeff Adachi (2006)

-Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays, by Mary Campbell Gallagher (2006, 3rd Edition)

-Strategies & Tactics for the MBE, by Kimm Alayne Walton and Steve Emanuel (2005)
This book was great because all of the questions in it are from previously released MBEs. Granted, many of the questions these days are more difficult and a bit different, I think it helped to look at these since they were written by the NCBE. Also, this saves you from needing to buy the released MBE questions through the NCBE (which can add up quickly)

Another thing I did this time is pay $26 to get online access to the MBE Annotated Preview (2006) through the NCBE site. Here you get electronic access to 100 previously released questions (more recent than any of the other released exams). You can take the questions under a timed situation and the site comes up with a projected score band and some analysis on the questions and answers.

I did more questions this time around -just over 2300 total:
Almost all (90%) of the BarBri Study Smart questions
34 from each subject in the PMBR red book (didn’t get to the blue book)
PMBR 6 Day (50 questions per subject)
PMBR 3 Day (full simulated MBE)
BarBri simulated MBE (full simulated MBE)
100 questions from NCBE Annotated review 2006
17 questions per subject from BarBri MDR book (along with DVD explanations)
20 questions per subject from Walton & Emanuel book

My overall percent correct was around 59%, with a range (by subject) from 53% to 62%. Many times my second choice was the correct answer so I thought I had a good chance of getting many questions correct.

5. Last summer I did not use any flashcards to study or listen to any CDs. This time, I did use a number of the old PMBR flashcards (no longer given out, but you can still find them around on Ebay and the like). I also listened to the PMBR cds (you get them if you sign up for the combined course or you can also find them on Ebay) A LOT. I think this made a huge difference for me. I listened to the MBE subjects on the PMBR CDs every day, to and from work, for about seven weeks. This added up. There were definitely times during various practice sessions that I recalled things I had heard and was able to apply them to the question. Obviously, everyone learns in different ways, but for me, I think adding this auditory facet to my studying this time around helped immensely.

Additional Thoughts

MEE v other essays
I found the MEE questions easier than those in my home state during the summer 2007 exam. I think the short amount of time (30 minutes) doesn’t leave a lot of time to have some crazy deep question. You pretty much have 10-12 minutes to read/outline, then 20 minutes to write. That flies by when you are jamming on six continuous essays.

The D.C. Exam
Having to write the exam by hand sucked. No two ways about it. I typed my exam last summer because I have horrible handwriting (even with printing) and I can type much faster than I can write.
Knowing that you cannot use your laptop during the exam*, I wrote a ton before the exam to build up my hand strength/endurance. I wrote all notes by hand for the PMBR courses, for BarBri and when studying on my own. I did have a typed outline that I adjusted from last summer (because some subjects were added/subtracted). I wrote out about 50 of my own flashcards that I used for specific topics that I wanted to reinforce. I used the PMBR flashcards quite a bit.

All that being said, my hand was killing me towards the end of the exam. I had even hunted for the perfect pen to write with:
very fine point (to help with my messy writing)
larger grip (to help reduce hand fatigue)
blue color (I think it is easier to read compared to black)

I settled on the Pilot G-2 gel with the very fine point (0.5 mm). I wrote exclusively during all my studying with this pen so my hand was used to it on exam day.

*Note: technically, it is possible to type your D.C. bar exam. No, not on a laptop...on a typewriter! I looked into this and decided it wasn't worth the hassle (who has a typewriter?!?). I actually met a guy on day 2 (the MBE day) that had typed his essays the day before. I asked him how many people did that and he told me six (6). Out of 281 people. The official rules I got from the D.C. Court of Appeals said that you needed a typewriter with no lines of memory. This guy said that at least a couple of the people typing had a line or three of memory. When I did a quick search of typewriters online, I didn't find any that didn't have at least a couple of lines of memory. Spending money on a typewriter just for the bar exam seemed like a waste.

Getting to the exam
For the past few years, the D.C. bar exam has been at Catholic University of America. This up the red line on the metro (the eastern half of the line). The metro stop is only about four blocks from the Pryzbilla Center on campus, which is where the exam room is. I didn’t look into it, but a friend contacted CU and obtained a visitor parking pass for free and parked in the large lot next to the exam site. This allowed her to have a quiet refuge during lunch to go eat, relax, study, etc. It was raining on day one of the exam so sitting outside (like I had planned) wasn’t ideal and I wished I had my car at that point (since I wanted to review my outlines a bit for the essays). On day two, it didn’t matter because I wasn’t going to study any more MBE questions during lunch.

I checked out the exam site the week before to make sure I knew where to go, where the bathrooms where, etc. There is food in the cafeteria one floor below the exam room, but it is packed with undergrads and fairly busy, but the food was edible and fairly priced.

The seating in the exam room is a free-for-all ... as in no assigned seats. You just walk in and find the seat that feels lucky. The tables are the cheap long ones with the legs that fold flat, two people to table. There was quite a bit of room in the space and many people only had one at a table (like me).
There is only one door for access so if you are going to need to use the bathroom, you may want to sit closer to it. Of course, you’ll be closer to the action if people come in late or head to the bathroom during the exam.

Someone I know asked if mechanical pencils were OK and the offical word was no. I used mechanical pencils (although I had a box of 20 pre-sharpened ready to go just in case. There was only one sharpener in some back corner...better to have your pencils sharp ahead of time.

I brought earplugs with me, and highlighers, pens and pencils in a gallon ziplock bag and had no problem getting through "security" (a couple of senior ladies that sort of look at you as you come into the room).

It was hard (impossible really) to see a clock in the room from where I was sitting. I had my digital watch on, and an analog watch so that made it little problem for me. I don’t think there were many clocks set up in the exam room - maybe one?

That is all I can think of at the moment. I’m sure I’ll add to/edit this post as I think of other things I wanted to include.

Additional thought:
I definitely think that taking the exam a second time helped me focus on areas that I needed to strengthen:
-I knew I needed to beef up my essay abilities (about half of my essays last summer got pretty poor scores).
-Obviously I knew I needed to work on MBE stuff, which to me, is somewhat of a shot in the dark. Like most other things in life, prior experience helps a lot.
-I knew what it felt like to sit through the bar exam. I knew the stress associated with that.
Things that where different this time:
More stress, but in a different way. The thought that my job would disappear if I failed was horrible image in my mind and provided unending tension for me.
Writing two MPTs and six essays by hand sucks- no two ways about it. I probably should have written more in prep (although I'm not sure how I could have done that as I took all my notes this time by hand aside from reusing 3/4 of my outline from last summer).

Study experience in general:
Last summer I studied with one other person for 50-60% of my time. We weren't always studying with each other, but we would study in the same room and often compare/talk through answers to essay questions that we did, help each other understand various points of the black letter law and just generally support each other. It is easier to have someone that is in your same boat when trying to survive the bar exam. Other people just can't understand what you are going through, thinking, feeling.
Having moved to a new city/state, I didn't know anyone that was retaking the bar here in D.C. I met someone at the 6 Day PMBR class that I emailed occasionally (that person was studying at home via iPod lectures so we didn't cross paths at the BarBri lectures). Other than that, there was almost no interaction between me and any of the other people in my class, which was rather strange.
Last summer, pretty much everyone was a new grad, taking the bar for the first time.
Here in D.C. this February, there were all kinds of people taking the exam:
-those who failed a bar (could have been D.C. or some other state) and were retaking (some on their 2nd, 3rd + attempt at D.C.)
-those that passed a previous bar but didn't score high enough on the MBE to waive in
-those that had a foreign law degree and were taking D.C. for the first time

I definitely felt more isolated this time around as I didn't have anyone to chat with on a daily basis about questions, etc. I guess it worked for me so no complaints here.

Additional news

2008-04-26T14:41:00.003-04:00

So today I got my official letter from the D.C. Court of Appeals.
My scaled MBE score was.....
150.7

Unbelievable. My score last summer was a 126.7 (raw of 106 correct). It will be interesting to see the CA chart that will be released a couple of weeks with the conversion between raw and scaled scores. Based on previous results, I probably got 25ish more questions right. Wow!

What a weekend.

Amazing

2008-04-25T11:36:00.003-04:00

It has been a little over three hours since I saw the post...

Someone commented on one of my earlier posts that the D.C. bar results were posted.

I passed!

When I read that email, my heart rate instantly rocketed to 200 bpm and I started to shake. I took out the small bottle of booze I brought into work and set it on my desk.

I paused and took a deep breath- then clicked on the link..looked down the list AND... there was my name!

I cried. I shook with the tears of emotion - bottled up inside me since I heard I failed last October.

Thanks to all those that stuck by me and provided words of encouragement and support.

To those other February passers (especially the retakers)- Well Done!

To those that did not pass- hang in there. This has been the most trying time of my professional career. Success tastes all that much sweeter after you are force-fed a little bit of failure. You can do it! (Cue music and scene from Rudy when he gets the last letter that says he is accepted into ND).

I'll post more about my study thoughts later. I wanted to get some good news on the results before I threw too much out there- otherwise my comments wouldn't have much validity.

I had a dream this morning

2008-04-08T09:20:00.004-04:00

So I was sleeping in an extra 30 minutes this morning because I was up late last night participating in some recreational sporting activity, and I had a dream. It was a great dream- the kind you remember a lot about because it seems like you were just in it and then you wake up.
I saw me getting a piece of mail that said I passed the bar exam and I cried tears of joy and shook with relief. Then I saw some of my fellow D.C. bar takers and they had passed too. I think this is a good sign.

Even though I think the guy was a bit crazy about guns, it was sad to see Ben Hur pass along in the great chariot in the sky a couple of days ago. Charlton Heston was quite an actor. I can vividly recall watching Planet of the Apes, Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments as a kid. Even then I knew they were classic movies.
You can't forget the classic lines:
"...From my cold dead hands!"
"Get your stinking paws off me you damned dirty ape!"

Life goes on

2008-04-01T08:38:00.004-04:00

So life is mostly getting back to normal in this post-bar era. I'm still sweating on the inside at times, really with no f'ing clue if I passed. Part of me says, "hell yes, you studied more, you had better practice results, and everything went better...besides you were SO close last time" and another part of me is thinking "OK, if I don't pass and I lose my job, WTF do I do next?" Those seem to cancel each other out and I just keep moving forward. I am definitely sick of this not-yet-licensed bar limbo. That can end anytime (although, D.C. results are not going to be out for another 3.5-6 weeks).

I've still had a couple of the "Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine this time around" type comments...which are scary and a bit annoying. That is the usual line given to would-be bar takers all over in June and July (except for states like CA). I wasn't fine last summer, though, so I'm not sure I buy it this time around.

Ah well, I have been thinking about how I am going to celebrate when I see my name posted online. I'm bringing in a little bottle of something...maybe the flask with some Patron Silver or something. Drinking in the office is the best (except when you get drunk in it mixing J.D. and Coke in a firm coffee mug the day you find out you didn't pass...although it seemed like the best thing to do at the time).

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom here in D.C., which is quite a sight. I checked them out early (sunrise) last Sunday morning and there were already a ton of people there. Quite an event.

Moving Force behind D&D, Gary Gygax, dead today at age 69

2008-03-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

I saw news online today that Gary Gygax, one of the two fellas that created Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) died today.
Even though today's hyperactive, need-the-coolest-new-gadget-right-now kids don't get it and think that D&D was just a geek or nerd thing (well, OK, I was one so maybe it was)...This really was a foundation for tons of the games people play today either on PC or a gaming system.
The creativity that one could use and show through playing D&D was great. You got together with friends and played. You had to interact, work as a team, and try to have some fun at the same time. I often played a thief or a cleric, which allowed for different roleplaying. Many an hour was spent at a friend's house (thanks D.S., E.P. and J.N) and in our garage...creating, rolling, reading, talking and learning. It seems crazy to think that you could burn so much time with a few books, stacks of paper and some strange multi-sided dice.
I just came across my box of "D&D stuff" when sifting through stuff this past summer in preparation to move. I haven't played D&D in two decades, yet that box instantly filled me with memories of great times back in the day.
Thank you Gary.
P.S. I loved that D&D cartoon back in the mid '80s...too bad it wasn't on that long!

The steamroller never runs out of gas

2008-02-28T09:06:00.003-05:00

I'm convinced of it. Those NCBE committee members that work on MBE questions are from hell. There were some really weird questions on there. It felt just as hard as last summer. I do feel like there were a decent handful of questions that I knew cold- maybe 30 (more than last summer). There were definitely a lot that seemed odd and I was eliminating wrong answers and got to two....hopefully my chance in the 50/50 game come out in my favor.

Nothing to do but try and unwind and come down from the clouds (up from the depths of hell?!) and get back to normal life: not listening to PMBR lectures on iPod to/from work, going to class every night for 6 weeks, looking only at essays, outlines and MBE questions every weekend for the past two months, etc.

I hope everyone picked up enough points to survive. Nothing to do but wait for the results. For D.C. they told us May, but the last three February results have been posted on 4/25/07, 5/16/06 and 4/29/05.

A temporary halt in the bombardment

2008-02-26T21:35:00.003-05:00

OK- day one is behind us. Everyone made it and got through relatively unscathed- I'm sure of it.

The D.C. essays were today. MPTs weren't too bad. As expected, I was feeling a bit of a pinch on the time. I don't think I really capped off my last conclusion/paragraph in the second essay, but I was damn close. Good enough.

The MEE was better than I expected. It will be interesting to see what the other three essays that the NCBE were that D.C. chose not to use. Today we had (in order):
Wills (undue influence/intestate share distribution)
Torts (strict liability/negligence)
Evidence (correctness of some court rulings on admissibility of three pieces of evidence)
Corporations (duty of loyalty)
Secured transactions (perfection issue/who wins between PAC and LC)
Trusts (violation of numerous fiduciary duties by trustee)

Thankfully no commercial paper. I was a bit surprised that we only got two MBE subjects. Hey- I'll take it. My hand was KILLING me during that last 30-45 minutes. I had Skittles in my pocket but I couldn't really get my hand in there without it pounding. Damn the D.C. Court of Appeals and their no laptop arrangement.

I was amazed at the general lack of organization of the whole setup for the exam. Lax security/tracking of notes/cotes and people. Very different experience from my bar exam last summer.
Additionally, there were at least three people that came in late, which I cannot believe. One was about five minutes, one was about 15 and one was about 30 minutes late. Talking about getting your MPTs to be FUBARed. That is just giving away the easiet points!
I cannot imagine what happened to those folks to cause them to be late. And to have three of them?! Last summer no one was late. Then again, maybe we had a late room or something (as I was typing my essays and you had to be there by a certain time to get the exam software booted up).

Additional blasts of good mojo for everyone tomorrow....
For those of us scarred from last summer (or even earlier), we all know the real game begins tomorrow with question 1.
Good luck and remember "You can beat them in ______________(fill in the MBE subject here)" per Rafael Guzman, the BarBri simulated MBE review guy.

The time has arrived

2008-02-25T11:35:00.002-05:00

The torpedo is pretty much in the water here...not much to do but wait for the explosion and the celebrating. Day one of the D.C. bar exam is tomorrow.

I had a great post written yesterday and when I hit "publish" some error occurred and the back button produced an empty box...how annoying!

I'll try to replicate my brilliance again.

I'm doing a bit of last minute reviewing, trying to look at high level topics just to refresh me on some subjects (for essay purposes) that I haven't looked at in a few days.

I'm nervous, but I've received some great emails and phone calls from friends and family and that has helped. I'll be thinking of some great analogies and thoughts to help keep me calm- something that I think is key to success. I have so much information swirling around in my head- I just have to be logical and organized and try to get out the right nuggets in an orderly fashion tomorrow on the essays. It is still amazing to me just how much information one has to memorize/learn for this damn test. I think I'll be making up a few rules tomorrow- no fact will go unused/applied. CRAC will be flowing heavily. I've really tried to emphasize a concise CRAC format in my essay practice.
I guess the only solace I have in the essays tomorrow is that they are only 25% of our total score so bombing one essay is only around a 4% ding. Hopefully I can minimize any damage to a question or two.
I am feeling pretty good about the MPTs. I did quite a few over the past week. I think the mechanics are there- just need to be organized in my outline. Some of the practice MPTs from previous years were so damn long- it really is an exercise in how to get your outline set up and manage the execution. Lots of blocks to get stacked up in that 90 minute window.
I don't feel great about the MBE, but I do feel better prepared this time around compared to last summer. I've done nearly 2300 questions:
-89% of the BarBri questions using StudySmart- overall average around 63% correct with a low of 59% in Property to a high of 68% in Evidence
-BarBri simmulated MBE
-PMBR 6-Day (300 questions) and 3-Day (200 simulated MBE)
-About 50 in each subject in the PMBR red book
-25 in each subject in the Strategies & Tactics book
-NCBE 2006 Annotated questions (100)

I've really tried to do a better job of critically reading the answers and learning from those explanations. I do think that I have learned a lot more wrong answers this time around- which has been helping overall in eliminating answers. I do seem to have a good handful where I get it down to two and sometimes pick the wrong one- which won't help me. I have to hope that I can use my gut/hunch at this point and not second-guess myself. Let the training take over, young Jedi...

Best of luck to everyone taking the bar exam tomorrow, wherever that may be. A special burst of good mojo to all the repeaters out there.

Trying not to freak out

2008-02-18T08:53:00.004-05:00

Wow, what a long weekend.

I just posted my personal predictions for the D.C. essays in a comment, but thought it might be easier for people to see here:

After looking at what essays the NCBE had available last summer (D.C. used 6 of the 9, marked with *):
Contracts*
Civ Pro/Conflict of Law
Family Law*
Agency/Partnership*
Crim Law*
Property*
Commercial Paper
Trusts*
Corporations

My personal prediction is that the other three MBE topics will be in there
Torts
Evidence
Con Law

Plus there were some subjects that appeared on a very high number of the MEE the last few years that D.C. always seemed to choose, so maybe they'll pick some of them that they didn't hit last summer:
Wills
Secured Transactions

And I think Family Law is a fan favorite...it has been on every MEE since Feb 2004 and. D.C. has used it every time.

The usual hammering on the PMBR 3-Day took place this weekend. I did their full exam on Friday (I got a 90) and was close to the historical average 95). I marked my second choices in my question book and 29 of my second choices were correct. The questions were pretty damn hard (as PMBR said they would be...better to not waste any time on the "gimme" questions right now). If you add what PMBR suggests (36 points) got get you more on scale, it at least has me in the realm of possibility at a 126 scaled score, although I would hope I would do a bit higher than that since that is exactly the score I got last summer!)
I thought the review/lecture with Chris Fromm was pretty good. He also did the lecture for three of the six subjects in the six day. Very animated speaker that keeps you engaged. I took a lot of notes (all by hand for continued boot camp training for my essay hand) so hopefully some of those nuggets will stick in my mind.

Last night I went through and answered the 100 questions from recent MBEs in the MBE annotated preview 2006 through the NCBE.
I haven't read through all the explanations yet, but I scored it quick last night and I got 69/100, which the NCBE had a score report that extrapolated that score to a scaled score of 144 and gave scoring bands for each subject in relation to an average line. For the various subjects:
Contracts 15/18 (83%)
Crim Law 13/16 (81%)
Con Law 13/17 (76%)
Evidence 10/16 (63%)
Torts 10/17 (59%)
Property 8/16 (50%)

A few of those are close to what I've been trending so far, but a few are different. If I scored 69 on each half of the real MBE - that would be an amazing event. I'm a little wary of this as I wonder where those questions fall in the range of hardness from the NCBE. I'd say some of them felt like last summer, but not many of them were complete mindbenders and I remember quite a few of those from last July.

I think I've got my schedule put together for the last week of studying...lots of essay/MPT work now.
I'm going to do 20-30 mixed MBE's per day (just enough to stay fresh), in the "big ticket" areas (negligence, strict liability, hearsay, character/impeachment, homicide, First Amendment, equal protection/due process, mortgages and contracts formation) to try and strengthen those particular subjects.

Comparison to last July

2008-02-11T10:00:00.001-05:00

This weekend I reviewed the results from the simulated MBE I took on Superbowl Sunday...wow, what a difference from last July.

I saved a copy of my July results and compared them to the recent scores:

July: I scored 75 out of 200 (better than 2% of the takers).
Now: I scored 119 out of 200 (better than 77% of the takers).
I guess I added incorrectly when I thought I had 120 or maybe I mismarked one of the answers when transferring to my extra score sheet for review purposes.

Wow. I didn't realize my score was so low last July. I'm definitely feeling better about MBE questions. I am confident I could take the MBE right now and do fairly well (better than the 106 raw score from last July!)- although I hope to hone things a bit more and really kick ass instead of just making it.

I am still feeling the pinch on essays. I'm going to work on a plan/schedule today to make sure I set the correct pace to cover sample essays on all topics and get more MPTs in (since we have two of them here in D.C., which means one will be something other than a memo style).

I found my ziplock bag from this past July: earplugs, mechanical pencils/lead, big eraser, highlighters and my ID badge (with the super late night photo from Walgreens).
Still no admission ticket and it is T-minus 14 days 22 hours until exam time. I guess the D.C. Court of Appeals likes to cut it close.

Crunch time

2008-02-06T09:28:00.000-05:00

OK, now it really feels like the exam is close. Tonight is the last lecture for BarBri, which is good. I'm sick of seeing my family-away-from-family five nights a week. I'm going to go explore the exam site in the next couple of days so I can get a feel for it. I got some good insider info from a guy in class about the setup and food situation.

I also got some stuff I purchased from the NCBE: the MEE questions/sample answer from 2007 and the MPT questions/points sheets for 2007. That should be helpful.

I really have a lot of ground to cover on the essays. That is one thing I haven't had time to do many of so far. I turned in the four essays for grading through BarBri but when the paced program calls for four essays in a given topic two or three times a week...I just couldn't swing that, which is OK. I'll be writing/outlining lots of essays and MPTs in the next 20 days.

I've done nearly 1600 MBE questions so far, which I'm feeling pretty good about. The simulated MBE was this past Sunday at GW. I forget how tiring it is to sit through 200 questions. What a chore! I did fare much better this time around compared to last summer. I think I got ~95 correct if I recall correctly. This time I got 120 correct. There were 29 questions where I marked a strong second choice, but my first instinct was correct and 17 I got wrong but my second choice was the correct answer. I thought both of these were good signs. I'll get a detailed score report from BarBri in a couple of days, but a quick self-scoring by subject showed I was pretty even on all subjects:

Crim Law: 19/33 (58%)
Evidence: 20/33 (61%)
Torts: 19/34 (56%)
Contracts: 21/34 (62%)
Property: 19/33
Con Law: 22/33 (67%)

I was a bit surprised at my Crim Law score. I'll have to spend some time on that and see what the deal was- normally I'm a bit better in that area. I know the real MBE will be harder so I need go work on getting these scores a bit higher. Ideally I'd like a raw score of around 130.

The power of two words

2008-01-29T08:59:00.000-05:00

So I was riding the Metro home last night after BarBri- the train was rather full because one of the four cars was "isolated" (as the driver kept saying) which meant that the doors to that particular car didn't open, forcing everyone into the other three cars.
Classmate A was sitting a seat away from me. I think we heard it at the same time- from some guys a couple of seats away...
"yadda yadda...Paced Program...yadda yadda"

A leaned toward me (we were sitting on opposite sides of the chairs in the middle of the car that are back-to-back) and said,
"Did he just say, 'Paced Program'?"
Me: "Yep, I heard it too"

Amazing what images two little words can conjure up.

I continued to listen to these guys talking about the Conviser, looking for the various levels of scrutiny for Con Law, hoping to keep all the info in Property straight, etc. Initially I couldn't tell what bar they were studying for, but then they started talking about whether or not they were going to do a Control-F search for their name when the results came out and then they mentioned Virginia.

Brothers-in-arms ... Good luck to you (and enjoy wearing your court attire during the exam).

I got back my third graded essay in BarBri and I got pounded on this one. The first two were 12/15. This one was a a 6/15, even though the first comment from the grader was "Very good essay"...apparently I was a bit sloppy with my analysis and didn't dig deep enough. The full-day simulated MBE is this Sunday...which should be great fun.

Nothing much

2008-01-25T09:03:00.000-05:00

Nothing special has been happening this week. BarBri keeps on moving. I must say that the prof doing the Property lectures, Paula Franzese, is pretty funny.

I was suffering from some Metro rage the other day. First, a bunch of people getting on the red line at Chinatown decided that they needed to start sticking out their elbows. Now I know we all wanted on that train bad, but elbows? I wanted to let those elbowers know that I did remember how to box out from my hoop days (and I weigh more than I did when I was a sophomore in high school, making my efforts more effective) but I refrained. Then, I had to tell people to pack it in the car....about 20-25 people came out our door, then only about 15 got in. C'mon people- fill it in!
To continue my level of annoyance- the damn people at the Farragut West platform NEVER get out of the way. The train stops, the doors open and there is usually a wall of people there. Move the fuck over, people. Seriously, there have been a bunch of times in the last week where I have to part people and move through them. I'm ready to make my train departure a little more forceful. Or maybe I'll just stand there until people move. That should get everyone happy. What I don't understand is that it seems to be worse at that station compared to others. The Pentagon was fine this morning- people leave the entire door width clear for people exiting the train. Perfect!
Yes- I just found it...I knew I saw a blog post somewhere about this same problem with elevator doors....over at Barred for life you can learn her tactics for dealing with it.

Enough about my commuting adventures. Last weekend I did quite a few MBE problems (from StudySmart, the PMBR red book, and the Strategies & Tactics. For some reason, the intermediate Contracts and Torts on StudySmart really kick my butt. I decided to do a quick tally of how many MBE problems I've done to date and I was surprised to see that I'm just over 1100. I'm running about 60% correct overall, which isn't too bad, but needs to improve. I haven't done many problems in Con Law or Property yet as I've been working a subject heavily as we encounter it in lecture to try and reinforce what I'm hearing. I'll be hitting Property hard this weekend.

The freak train last night

2008-01-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

I was headed home late on the Metro and I swear, my train was the freak train.
First, I had the LOUDEST LOUDTALKER ever. She was on the phone with a friend, but insisted on trying to talk as we went in and out of tunnels...which caused her to drop the call each time. I had my iPod on (glued to my ears lately with the gripping PMBR lectures) and I could hear just about every word of her conversation. How annoying.

As if the loudtalker wasn't enough, there was a woman behind her, across from me, that was, well, a handchewer. She sat there and gnawed on the back of her hands. I could see her teeth scraping. She would do it a while, then stop, then switch hands, stop, repeat. She looked normal in all other regards. She eventually pulled out a Washington Post to read- I thought that would curtail the gnawing. Nope- she just held the paper with one hand and kept at it. Very strange.

Trudging along

2008-01-14T08:17:00.000-05:00

It sure looks dreary outside today...gray skies and some sprinkles.

This weekend was a pretty good one for studying.
Yesterday I watched the DVD and did the Evidence questions...14/17. I'm feeling a lot better about Evidence so far this winter.
I did my first batch of PMBR questions from the red (vol. 1) book. I did 34 Crim Law and got 20/34, but there were five where I had it down to two answers and just picked the wrong one so I am on track there I think.

I worked on my outline more- adding in the Agency notes from this past week and tweaking some Evidence stuff. This week we have Torts and Contracts for lectures.

I saw on the news this weekend that there was a gang of people that rode the Red Line on Saturday without pants - No Pants 2k8. Apparently some guy started this movement in New York on the subway in 2001. Just as a funny expression. I think it is pretty funny. I might have done it had I not been buried in a Conviser reviewing outlines and working on MBE questions.

New title

2008-01-08T10:32:00.000-05:00

I knew I wanted a different, better title from the get-go but I just couldn't come up with anything catchy. Maybe I'll try this one.
You know, the bar exam is sorta like barbed wire: it has its uses (limited?) and you sort of need it, but if you aren't paying attention it can f*&! you up bad, which is annoying. Now I sound like some tough rancher. I've never been on a real ranch, so that isn't me. It sounds good though.

Our room at BarBri last night was kind of smelly...I wish we weren't in a basement dungeon room without windows to the outside. I miss my summer class- fresh air in the room (when it wasn't too hot to have the window open), walks with my friend J on the breaks were glorious and lunch on the road as I went back to work.

Weird black stuff

2008-01-07T09:30:00.000-05:00

Another thing I forgot to write about the other day- what is with the weird black residue that you get from the handrails on the escalators in the D.C. Metro system? I like to grab them to make sure I don't take a digger as I hustle through a station but invariably I see later that I have this black gunk on my hand. It took me a while to figure out where it was coming from (somewhere on the train, something on the clothes/bag). I saw some Metro workers "cleaning" (or whatever they do to the handrails) and then put it together...it's like they put shoe polish on the rails and it rubs off. Annoying.

I only got in a handful of hours on Saturday due to a dinner date with the mrs and a morning of major sleeping in to catch up on some missed hours of sleep.

I had a monster day of studying yesterday- very good production. It is going to be really hard to get done some of the infamous paced program items during the week- work during the day and then class in the evening doesn't leave much time to do anything. I can get a little done on the train ride home which is pretty quiet. Yesterday I tried to tick off any many things that I could logically do for this week:
-Watched the DVD and did the questions on Crim Law (rough there...7/17 correct but there were four questions where I had the correct answer as my alternate choice...those damn "best two answers" scenario...)
-Reviewed the handout notes of upcoming lectures (Agency/Partnership, Corps, Evidence)
-Did all 74 intermediate Crim Law questions from the StudySmart (on par with easy questions at 70% correct)
-Did the first 33 difficult Crim Law questions from StudySmart (not bad, 48% correct)
-Read/outlined MEE questions 1-4 for Crim Law

Seeing Whitebread (on video) last week brought back all the goofy memories from last summer. That guy is quite a character.

I've never seen...

2008-01-04T09:36:00.000-05:00

so many black North Face jackets. I mean I remember from my days working at an outdoor retailer how TNF clothing was the hot ticket for thieves and gangs. But here in D.C., I think 25% of the people I see walking around have a TNF jacket on and of those, 75% are some black TNF jacket variation. Wow.
It doesn't even get cold here!! (Spoken from a born-and-bred midwesterner that has seen winters a lot harsher than here)

I've always been intrigued by the desire of people to be trendy and vicariously outdoorsy by wearing the latest goodies. It makes those of us that have had the gear for a long time a little bitter. I started using TNF gear because it was bomber gear that you could count on for a long time (like my Cat's Meow sleeping bag, circa 1989, that is still going strong after costing me $135 back in the day). I've had a TNF jacket since '96 and even went as far as taking a black marker to the white logo to tone it down and make it look different/less attractive to thieves.

I was refreshed last night at BarBri class #1 on how crazy their paced plan is. Unless you were a full-time bum that required almost no sleep, there is just no way one can do everything BarBri suggests.

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

OK, so this is a day late. Sue me.

I actually got some decent studying done yesterday, which felt good.
I have also resolved to make sure my bar study includes more exercise. I didn't really do anything last spring/summer so I figure it would be better for me to vent on a machine or the pavement or something. I ran a mile on the treadmill last night (hey, you have to shake the rust off somewhere). I'll count my hockey game tonight as the outing for today.

The StudySmart questions are still going rather well. I'm running at 70% overall correct so far:
Con Law (14 questions answered), 71% correct
Property (4 questions answered), 25%
Evidence (4 questions answered), 100%
Crim Law (74 questions answered), 73%
Contracts (4 questions answered), 50%
Torts (78 questions answered), 69%

I did the first 10 Crim Law questions in Strategies & Tactics (by Walton & Emanuel) (the "S&T") and got 7 out of 10, so that is in line with where I seem to be running right now.

BarBri starts tomorrow, sort of exciting to get things going, but also a bit of a pain. I think Whitebread is our first lecturer. What a trip that guy is..."Now people..." and whatever other catch phrases he used last summer.

Confirmation of application

2007-12-31T08:22:00.000-05:00

I received a letter from the D.C. Court of Appeals confirming that they have my application, which is a good thing.

It was very annoying that they didn't issue a receipt. What court takes money from you and doesn't give you a receipt? In my home state, when I applied last March the bar examiner office gave a receipt acknowledging that they got my application (I hand delivered there like I did here) and that they got my money.
Here in D.C., I got nothing but a bunch of crap answers. I asked "So what happens if someone loses my application between now (early December) and when admission tickets are sent out?" All I got was a shrug. Nice system. How about you give the person at the desk a receipt pad and a pen and have them write up something. After all, it isn't like D.C. gets thousands of applicants taking the exam (it is usually around 300!).

BarBri is nearly here. It will be good to get it going, but at the same time, that makes it seem more "real"- the bar exam is imminent.

Interesting comparison

2007-12-30T11:38:00.000-05:00

I was digging through some of my bar prep stuff from this past summer and came across my PMBR 6-day scoring sheets:

May 2007
Torts 20/50
Con Law 22/50
Crim Law 16/50
Evidence 15/50
Contracts 20/50
Property 18/50

Interesting to see how much lower I scored then compared to now (except for those damn Torts questions...nearly the same!). Good to know that I am thinking like an MBE taker more (I know I sure wasn't last May).

Seems my cold has hung on a bit more than I thought it would...need to rest up and get rid of it as studying begins in earnest later this week.

Holidays

2007-12-26T08:41:00.000-05:00

Seems like my cold is on the way out, which is good. Christmas weekend was fun. Well, except for the fact that I had PMBR on both Saturday and Sunday during the day. After that- good times with family and friends.

I came through PMBR with better information compared to May 2007 when I took it. I guess it is just like a class- different lecturers make a difference. I fared pretty well in rest of my questions:

Crim Law/Pro: 25/50
Evidence: 24/50
Contracts: 24/50
Property: 27/50

although a few of the topics definitely felt more difficult and reminded me that I have some refreshing to do (Contracts, Property and Evidence). I handwrote my notes, to get working on the training for writing my DC exam in February. This is going to stink...my writing is not good and it is hard to write quickly (as when you are freaking out and trying to write a like like on a bar exam) but still write legibly. I'll have to make it a point to remind myself to take it a bit slower to focus on readability.

I feel like I was able to recall many of the nuances and tricks that some of the questions are trying to exploit. Hopefully this will give me a better base this time around.

BarBri starts on January 3rd- which is coming up fast. Wow.

Fighting a cold

2007-12-21T08:55:00.001-05:00

I feel a cold coming on. I guess it is better to get one and get it out of the system now instead of later.
PMBR is wearing me down this week. Working all day and then heading to class for 3+ hours is tiring. I wish I had a helicopter so I could be flown home instead of waiting for the metro...it takes a while for me to make it home which makes for a long day. Even though I was exhausted yesterday, I managed to get my best score so far on the PMBR questions...31/50. Definitely a good start on Con Law.

I met someone at PMBR last night that is going to be taking the D.C. in February as well...good to know at least one person! It is definitely a different feeling not really knowing anyone out here. I was never a huge study group person in law school, but come crunch time, I did review some things with a close friend or two. This held true for the July 2007 bar as well. I studied with one person, but it was more like helping each other polish up different topics. It would be nice to know a few people taking D.C. as well since the essay topics (MEE) are different from my July exam.

As I mentioned in my last post, my percentage correct on the Studysmart software is looking good so far (73% correct). Last summer, I think I only had around 56% correct or something close to that and I finished within a few points of that on the July MBE, which wasn't as high as I need. I think something in the low 60s to low 70s will mean I'm in a better position for the February MBE.

Shaking the dust off

2007-12-19T12:43:00.000-05:00

So far I feel like I am trying to shake a medium layer of dust off of my MBE thinking.
In PMBR last night, the Torts questions weren't super great (I got 21/50) which is supposed to be in the average range. There were quite a few (at least 10-12) where I had it down to two answers and just picked the wrong one. PMBR really throws tricks in these questions so at least I am on track.
In the BarBri Studysmart software, I've done 40 questions (mostly intro level) and have 26 (65%) correct so far, which is good as that was one of my weaker subjects last summer.
As a primer for Crim Law at PMBR tonight, I did 30 Crim Law/Pro questions today and have 25/30, which is still solid (that was my best subject in practice last summer). My Crim Law/Pro profs in law school were awesome and it has helped that I had Crim Pro in my last semester in the spring of 07.
We'll see when Contracts and Property questions start to materialize...parts of those topics were definitely tough for me.

And so it begins

2007-12-18T09:51:00.000-05:00

So I feel like things are really going to start in earnest this week. I'm attending the PMBR lectures again and the first one is tonight. I do recall them being a bit boring, but I thought it was helpful so it can't hurt to do it again.

I've been listening to the PMBR cd's as I ride the metro to/from work and do recall a fair amount of the information I've been hearing. It will be interesting to see how I score on the PMBR questions each day for the next six days. Yesterday I took the diagnostic quiz in the Jeff Adachi book "MBE Survival Kit" and got 8/14. I also did 10 torts questions (easy level) on the BarBri StudySmart software (since torts is the first PMBR topic during the 6-day) and got 7/10. That was a good start.

Key information

2007-12-13T13:52:00.000-05:00

I just learned something about the DC bar exam that is useful...

For some reason, I thought one needed to get a minimum of 133 on each half of the exam (MBE and essays) to make the required 266 passing score. Instead, when you take the entire exam at the same time (both the MBE and essays) you can get the 266 by any combination (i.e. a 130 on the MBE and a 136 on the essays). This is good news, considering that my July 07 MBE scaled score was only a 126. Considering that DC uses two MPTs, I feel good about this as they total 25% of the overall score (the other 6 essays are only 25%) because I think the MPT is quite manageable. No doubt the MBE will again pose a stiff challenge for me.

As part of my new plan for the upcoming second (and final!) attempt at the MBE in February, I've purchased a couple of books on MBE strategy after reading about them in some other blogs and various online sources:

-Mastering the Multistate Bar Exam, by John Talamo
-MBE Survival Kit, by Jeff Adachi

and an overall guide

-Bar Exam Survival Kit, by Jeff Adachi

I think I've determined that, while I feel I did an adequate number of MBE questions (~1500) I didn't spend enough time learning the law behind the correct and incorrect answers. I'm going to focus on distinguishing (as Talamo outlines) learning with MBE questions and practicing with MBE questions. I'll learn correct/incorrect law by going over MBE questions slower with the answer/explanation. I'll practice some sets of questions in timed lots.

I didn't have a problem with finishing MBE questions in a timely manner- my average time on the BarBri Studysmart software was right around one minute per question and I was able to complete each half of the July 07 MBE with about 10 minutes to spare. I do think that I wasn't getting enough of the questions correct. From Studysmart, my overall percentage correct was around 57%, which I know I need to improve this time around- more law for me to raise my MBE score.

2007-12-09T15:58:00.000-05:00

I've found much solace in blog posts from other people that have failed the bar exam. I figured it would be interesting to create my own for the second go at things.

I failed the bar exam of a midwestern state narrowly (by one MBE question or one higher point on an essay) which was very frustrating. I've since relocated to D.C. and I'm taking the bar exam here in February 2008.

It is hard to believe that this whole bar study mode is about to start again. It was a very long process during the summer of 2007. I took BarBri (went to all the classes), and both the 6 and 3-day PMBR classes.

Not seeing my number posted with the other successful examinees this past fall was very difficult. I drank heavily that day. I've since put that behind me and look to this February where I know things will be different.

So the story begins...