Essay-writing can account for 50 percent or more of the bar exam score, yet bar review courses often don't teach how to write lawyer-like essays. Gallagher provides step-by-step instructions on essay-writing systems and confidence-building practices. A review of the best and worst ways to respond to essay questions is included. (Study Guide)
The Second Edition of Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam contains everything needed to pass the essay portion of the California bar exam. The book combines a comprehensive, yet efficiently concise review of volumes of substantive law with the authors’ proven-effective strategic plan for writing passing bar essays. Rule outlines are supplemented with issues checklists to aid issue spotting and memorization attack sheets, to make memorization manageable, while practice questions productively cover favorite testing areas so bar study is targeted and effective. New to the Second Edition Update: Recent and updated rule developments in all subjects Expanded coverage of topics emphasized on recent bar exams Updated issues tested matrices, rule memorization attack sheets, and topic specific approaches to reflect current testing trends Updated practice essay questions and answer grids in all subjects including crossover questions Professors and students will benefit from: Concise easy to memorize rule statements Fact triggers and exam tips that aid the transition to bar exam writing style Easy to follow essay approaches for key topics Practice essay questions with corresponding answer grids identifying issues and analysis required for a passing score Realistic sample answers that could be written under timed conditions Coverage of all heavily tested topics in each subject and crossover questions Issues tested matrices identifying the subtopics tested in every essay given in 30+ years
No lecture on technique or the substantive law prepares you for writing bar exam essays like reading and critiquing actual scored essays - both the good essays and the bad ones. All of the sample essays in What Not to Write have been written by bar candidates. Nothing, not even grammar or spelling, has been changed. Through step-by-step instruction, examples, and critiques, What Not to Write gives you insight into and practice writing consistently strong bar exam answers in the allotted amount of time. Authored by the founder and head instructor for LawTutors, a highly respected bar exam preparation program, What Not to Write features: Real essay answers to real bar exam questions; Essays presented are unchanged, as written by bar candidates; Step-by-step guidance on how to successfully write the answer to a bar exam essay question; Opportunities to practice writing bar exam answers in essay form; Exercises in critiquing sample essays-both good and bad ones; Self-critiquing exercise; The authors' critical analysis of both high-scoring and low-scoring essays; Critiques highlight similarities between all bad essays and all good essays; Exam-taking advice and suggestions; A flexible organization from top-scoring essays to lowest-scoring essays, which can, alternatively, be covered from back to front; Rules of law are signposted and explained where applicable.
A must read for any bar exam student!***** Everyone seems to have one part of the bar exam that they dislike more than the others. For some, it is the MBE; for others, the performance test. But, based on surveys of my Bar Exam Mind blog readers, the majority of bar exam students have the most trouble writing bar exam essays. How to Write Bar Exam Essays gives you a systematic and uncomplicated approach to writing quality bar exam essays. In addition to being systematic, this book is also a quick read. Most bar exam essay books are huge tomes that take days of struggle to get through. This is unfortunate because the most important thing you can do to ensure you will pass the essay portion of the bar exam is to practice writing essays.This book shows you how to practice the right way.How to Write Bar Exam Essays begins with a chapter discussing the right mindset for bar exam preparation. It is important to have the right mindset so you can handle the inevitable highs and lows you will encounter while studying for the bar exam. The next section of the book gets to the heart of the matter, discussing the four pillars of bar exam essay writing: (1) technical requirements;(2) issue spotting;(3) outlining and formatting; and(4) analysis. Each pillar has its own chapter, complete with examples. How to Write Bar Exam Essays includes a detailed discussion of practice strategy and scheduling to ensure that your practice time is well spent. You can follow this method to the letter or use it as a basis for creating a practice method that works best for you. ***** How to Write Bar Exam Essays is Book 2 in the Pass the Bar Exam Series. Be sure to check out all the Pass the Bar Exam books: Book 1 - Bar Exam Basics: A Roadmap to Bar Exam SuccessBook 3 - Bar Exam Mind: A Strategy Guide to an Anxiety-Free Bar ExamBook 4 - The Bar Exam Mind Bar Exam Journal
If you: - Feel overwhelmed by the breadth of law tested on the bar exam...- Think there isn't enough time to get it all done...- Are unsure whether you should hire a tutor, use a commercial prep company, or self-study...- Don't know what you should be doing...- Worry you're not doing enough...- Want to find the easiest way to pass the bar...- Have decision fatigue about choosing between all the bar prep companies, workshops, tools, books, cheat sheets, outlines, etc. to choose from...- Hemorrhage money to buy all things bar prep...- Never see your family or friends...- Feel alone in your struggle...- Think you'll never learn it all...- Feel like there's never a moment where the weight of the bar exam isn't bearing down on you...- Have constant anxiety about what hangs in the balance of you passing the bar exam...- Struggle to juggle bar prep and everything else in life...- Worry about failing...- Worry about failing, AGAIN...This is the book I wish someone had written when I was where you are right now. In short, this book is for you
On nearly all state bar exams, test-takers must write concise, structured essays on selected legal topics. Now expert preparation is available in this authoritative reference with in-depth strategies and essay-writing practice that bar review courses don't offer. Includes information on how essays are graded and more.
Provides templates and detailed instructions for writing the formats on the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) part of the bar exam. Contains twelve (12) actual MPT tasks, as released by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) and used here with permission, in a variety of formats and a range of difficulty. Full sample answers for the MPT tasks and notes on analyzing all 12 tasks. Systems and checklists for managing time. Special tips for California bar candidates and for foreign-trained lawyers.
Often overlooked and under-emphasized in commercial bar review courses, the essay portion of the Michigan Bar can truly save examinees on the Michigan Bar Exam. While the bar examiners claim the essay score is worth the same as your MBE score, after the scaling and conversion of your scores, the essays are actually worth more than your MBE score. It is far easier to improve your essay score on the bar exam than your MBE scoreand—and this book is designed to do just that! Michigan Bar Exam Essay Deconstruction gives you the extensive instruction and skill-building practice needed to write 15 strong essays in six-and-a-half hours. Learn how to attack each essay to get the most points, write according to what the graders are looking for, and stay ahead of the clock. With over a decade of experience working with the Michigan Bar Exam, Holly Glazier has helped thousands of students successfully pass the bar on their first try. She has also helped over a hundred students pass the exam on appeal. Therefore, she knows exactly what the graders are looking for and shares her expertise and inside tips in this book. With clear guidelines and instructions specific to the MI Bar Exam, this dynamic study tool features: The Fundamentals of the Michigan Bar Exam and–including important administrative information that is often lacking from commercial bar review courses. How to grade your own essays like a Michigan Bar examiner and—learn how they think What is most likely to turn up on your essay exam and—how to make the best use of your study time Essay Deconstructionand—how to break down and attack each essay to gain the most points How to Build a Great Essayand—hone your writing skills with practice exercises that teach you how to write a great answer when you know what youand’re talking about (Plan A) and how to get the most points when you donand’t (Plan B)! Previous MI Bar Exam questions and model answersand—familiarity breeds success Organized in and“clusters, and” like the exam itself and—each focuses on a different subject Actual essays by students and the grades they received and—reveal what graders expect, which reduces anxiety by showing you that what is expected by the graders is doable! Sample MI Bar Exams and—makes you familiar with the actual essay exam format
MBE Decoded is a fresh approach to MBE study which makes the vast amount of MBE tested rules manageable and understandable. The authors fully analyzed all NCBE released MBE questions to determine rule coverage and identify common testing patterns so you don’t have to. This book can be used during law school for early bar preparation or during intensive bar preparation by first-time takers and repeat bar takers who struggled on the MBE the first time. This book is a great resource for students to get essential MBE practice before they fully “know” the law, allowing students to get additional essential practice recognizing the fact patterns and testing styles that are key to passing. Pedagogically, this book encourages students to engage with the material, develop deep rule understanding, gain MBE pattern recognition, and aids in critical memorization efforts. Professors and student will benefit from: MBE black letter law subject matter outlines that are clear and concise with key terms bolded. Identification of the most frequently tested MBE rules. Summary charts to help you understand confusing topics and how they interrelate. MBE tips to improve accuracy and understanding of how the rules apply to fact patterns. Decoy tips to help you avoid picking the wrong answer when more than one good option is available. Examples, pulled from NCBE MBE released questions, which illustrate how the rules are MBE tested. Bullet point memorization cheat sheets. Guided MBE question deconstructions illustrating best MBE solving practices. A guide on how to effectively solve MBE questions with troubleshooting tips to help improve your accuracy. Guidance on effectively taking an MBE exam online.
A comprehensive resource created in the successful style of Strategies & Tactics for the MBE, Strategies & Tactics for the MBE 2, Third Edition provides over 375 additional questions to help you prepare for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE). Success on the MBE can often influence whether you pass or fail the Bar Exam. Understanding the issues of law tested on the exam and learning how the exam questions are written to test your understanding of the law are essential skills for success. With Steve Emanuel’s comprehensive explanations of why one answer choice is the best answer and why the other choices are not, Strategies & Tactics for the MBE 2 helps you gain the ability to select the best answer with certainty. New to the Third Edition: A new section on Civil Procedure with questions and detailed answers written by Steve Emanuel Many new questions in Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Property, and Torts; all are actual past MBE questions, with detailed answers written by Steve Emanuel Key features include: Over 375 additional questions and answers not found in Strategies & Tactics for the MBE, Seventh Edition Detailed, step-by-step explanations for each of the four answer choices in each question written by Steve Emanuel, Editor-in- Chief of the Emanuel Law Outlines—the outlines that got you through law school Questions organized by subject matter subtopics, so you can easily locate questions on the topics on which you need to focus Actual Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Property, and Torts questions asked on past Multistate Bar Exams; plus Civil Procedure questions in MBE-format, written by Steve Emanuel
