Law Schools Nationwide And The California Bar & Baby Bar Exams Test Your Application Of The Law

Bar Exams And Law Schools Nationwide Test Your Application Of The Law

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Law Schools Nationwide And The California Bar & Baby Bar Exams Test Your Application Of The Law

In law school or about to take the California Bar or Baby Bar exam? There exists a misnomer among law students that if one reads all assigned cases in the syllabus and briefs those cases, she will achieve high grades and successfully pass her law school and bar examinations. While it is true that knowledge of the black letter law is important, what is most crucial is knowing how to apply the law to essay examinations.

Professors and California bar examiners are looking for three very specific things when grading examination answers. In order of importance, they are looking to see if the student spotted all the issues in the examination, is the analysis supported with facts from the examination and is the student organized so they finish the exam in the time allotted. This is the secret formula to doing well in law school and on the California Bar and Baby Bar Exams. That’s it in a nutshell. It’s better to know the rules of the game before beginning to play the game.

You Don’t Have To Know All The Law

The fear of not knowing enough law should not prevent students from taking practice examinations. Practice examinations will enable students to start applying the legal theories that have been studying. If an issue is missed in an examination, the student can go back, review the facts of the question, review the model outline and/or answer and determine at that point why the issue was missed. In fact since these are practice examinations, why not keep study materials open and available so if an area of law has not been mastered, it can then be reviewed on the spot.

The lesson here is even after spending several weeks studying an area of the law; if issues are missed in an examination, zero credit will be awarded even though the material had been well studied. The earlier this examination process is understood, the more efficient students will become in writing their answers.

There is an old joke that fits this premise. A tourist stopped an old man on the road in New York and asked the old man, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The old man replied, “Practice, Practice, Practice.” The practice of writing essay examinations is similar to that of learning how to ride a bicycle in that the required skills are not inherent but have to be learned. A child begins learning to ride on a big wheel or some low riding plastic bike that allows small feet to touch the ground. In time, a tricycle is introduced and soon after a two-wheel big bike with training wheels comes out of the garage. After many, many afternoons of patience and practice, the training wheels are removed only to allow the child the greatest feeling of freedom riding the two-wheel bicycle with confidence and style.

Law students will also falter the first few times practicing with essay examinations. Many issues will be missed, rules of law will be unknown and frustrations will run high. Consistency is the key. In the beginning, it is expected that performance will be below average if not poor. In time, students will begin to see the light when with each examination taken their test taking abilities improve. Soon thereafter, students will approach essay examinations with confidence and vitality.

Visit Bar Made Easy to learn how to improve your test taking abilities through one of our programs including personalized Essay Critiques, Tutoring, Law School Coaching, Bar or Baby Bar Review or essay materials.