. Forum

[HETPE3B]

Anyone notice that the schedule has changed. I was only supposed to have 3 things for today but now I have 5. In addition, I was supposed to end on the 26th and now its saying I am supposed to finish on the 29th? It seems Themis is adding more tasks that way I do not get to 75% ? Scam?

That's really weird. I'd contact them and inquire? I'm scheduled to finish on the 27th, but I usually have 5-6 things to do everyday so that's assuming I can stay on track from now until then. I know lots of people that took Themis last summer and this past February for the bar exam, and none of them passed 80% completed. I don't know how far behind they were or whatnot though.

Pretty sure Themis is fucking with us.

I'm pretty much at a point where I'm done learning new stuff. Except for the scheduled graded tests/essays, planning to review completely at my own pace on my own schedule, focusing where I need to focus, ignoring what Themis suggests.

[locusdelicti]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

My Fed R Civ Pro outline has 16 chapters and I had a lecture for each one. Are you maybe using directed study and the next set is tomorrow? Or are you looking at Flex Study and you don't see them?

[smokyroom26]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

My Fed R Civ Pro outline has 16 chapters and I had a lecture for each one. Are you maybe using directed study and the next set is tomorrow? Or are you looking at Flex Study and you don't see them?

Nope, I'm in flex study and don't see them. Are you doing Texas?

[locusdelicti]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

My Fed R Civ Pro outline has 16 chapters and I had a lecture for each one. Are you maybe using directed study and the next set is tomorrow? Or are you looking at Flex Study and you don't see them?

Nope, I'm in flex study and don't see them. Are you doing Texas?

No, PA, but I wouldn't think it'd be different, since it's federal. Do you have Jeffries for it?

[JD_done]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

My Fed R Civ Pro outline has 16 chapters and I had a lecture for each one. Are you maybe using directed study and the next set is tomorrow? Or are you looking at Flex Study and you don't see them?

Nope, I'm in flex study and don't see them. Are you doing Texas?

No, PA, but I wouldn't think it'd be different, since it's federal. Do you have Jeffries for it?

I'm NY and had Jeffries. My handouts and lectures both had 14 chapters.

[locusdelicti]

My Fed R Civ Pro outline has 16 chapters and I had a lecture for each one. Are you maybe using directed study and the next set is tomorrow? Or are you looking at Flex Study and you don't see them?

Nope, I'm in flex study and don't see them. Are you doing Texas?

No, PA, but I wouldn't think it'd be different, since it's federal. Do you have Jeffries for it?

I'm NY and had Jeffries. My handouts and lectures both had 14 chapters.

Yup, you're right. I have 14. So smoky must have a different professor. That's weird that lectures are missing.

[smokyroom26]

Nope, I have Jeffries. Hopefully Themis can shed some light on this.

[BarbellDreams]

I really can't get going today. I've done 6 lectures and an MBE and I really just feel like being done for the day. Starting anywhere past 11 a.m. just drains me.

[dsclaw]

Thought I knew contracts really well was at 71% prior to my most recent MBE where I went 58% ughhhhh, I picked some of the dumbest answers on the ones I got wrong. Hope I dont do that on the bar.

[Agoraphobia]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting the NY/NJ course tomorrow. I know I'm starting extremely late, and I'm a little nervous about getting everything done in time. Any suggestions on the best way to go about it (e.g. things I could/should skip or skim, things I should make sure to focus on)?

Watch the lectures, fill out the handouts and do the practice questions. It's probably too late to read the outlines if you want to get caught up now.

Jersey doesn't have any separate state law - the essays are all on common law MBE crap. You just need to learn NJ civ pro. So that's lucky. If I were you I would try to skim the NY state law outlines before you watch the lectures, just to hammer it home a little, but if you're super crunched for time, the lectures and handouts and practice questions are the bare minimum you should do. My two cents.

Edited to Add: watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. You can do that by hovering the mouse over the video as it plays and hitting Shift, then +, then the right arrow if you're in Chrome, Safari or Firefox. Some of the profs are hard to understand at 2x speed, but 1.5x speed is still pretty fast and can cut 5 - 8 minutes off each lecture, which really adds up.

Adding to this, you can safely skip most of the Advanced Sales lecture. It's pretty much a carbon copy of Contracts. There's a little new stuff on auction sales in Chapter 2 and on replevin/reclamation in Chapter 8. Otherwise it's Contract redux.

[dsclaw]

Thought I knew contracts really well was at 71% prior to my most recent MBE where I went 58% ughhhhh, I picked some of the dumbest answers on the ones I got wrong. Hope I dont do that on the bar.

Clearly I need to learn how to read better...

[mvp]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting the NY/NJ course tomorrow. I know I'm starting extremely late, and I'm a little nervous about getting everything done in time. Any suggestions on the best way to go about it (e.g. things I could/should skip or skim, things I should make sure to focus on)?

Watch the lectures, fill out the handouts and do the practice questions. It's probably too late to read the outlines if you want to get caught up now.

Jersey doesn't have any separate state law - the essays are all on common law MBE crap. You just need to learn NJ civ pro. So that's lucky. If I were you I would try to skim the NY state law outlines before you watch the lectures, just to hammer it home a little, but if you're super crunched for time, the lectures and handouts and practice questions are the bare minimum you should do. My two cents.

Edited to Add: watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. You can do that by hovering the mouse over the video as it plays and hitting Shift, then +, then the right arrow if you're in Chrome, Safari or Firefox. Some of the profs are hard to understand at 2x speed, but 1.5x speed is still pretty fast and can cut 5 - 8 minutes off each lecture, which really adds up.

Thanks. Yeah, after reading through this thread I think I'm gonna skip the outlines and just focus on the lectures and handouts. Thank god for 2x speed - so far the lectures are very manageable on 2x. I plan on focusing predominantly on the MBE subjects, and then skim the NY state specific law (and NJ Civ Pro) at the end. Can I get by without really doing the practice essays? Or are they really useful for filling in/fleshing out the law/rules that may not be covered that well in the lectures?

[locusdelicti]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting the NY/NJ course tomorrow. I know I'm starting extremely late, and I'm a little nervous about getting everything done in time. Any suggestions on the best way to go about it (e.g. things I could/should skip or skim, things I should make sure to focus on)?

Watch the lectures, fill out the handouts and do the practice questions. It's probably too late to read the outlines if you want to get caught up now.

Jersey doesn't have any separate state law - the essays are all on common law MBE crap. You just need to learn NJ civ pro. So that's lucky. If I were you I would try to skim the NY state law outlines before you watch the lectures, just to hammer it home a little, but if you're super crunched for time, the lectures and handouts and practice questions are the bare minimum you should do. My two cents.

Edited to Add: watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. You can do that by hovering the mouse over the video as it plays and hitting Shift, then +, then the right arrow if you're in Chrome, Safari or Firefox. Some of the profs are hard to understand at 2x speed, but 1.5x speed is still pretty fast and can cut 5 - 8 minutes off each lecture, which really adds up.

Thanks. Yeah, after reading through this thread I think I'm gonna skip the outlines and just focus on the lectures and handouts. Thank god for 2x speed - so far the lectures are very manageable on 2x. I plan on focusing predominantly on the MBE subjects, and then skim the NY state specific law (and NJ Civ Pro) at the end. Can I get by without really doing the practice essays? Or are they really useful for filling in/fleshing out the law/rules that may not be covered that well in the lectures?

The essay practice is useful because it helps you practice issue spotting and remembering rules, as well as how to format the answers. New Jersey frequently asks you to "prepare a memorandum" as an essay answer, and you'll lose points if you don't prepare it as a memorandum - with To: and From: and RE: and "You have asked me to prepare a memo on...." The practice exams help you get used to doing that and also the time constraints.

I personally find the graded essays helpful. Some people here don't. Format does matter, though.

Also, I agree with agoraphobia - the advanced sales lectures didn't really provide much beyond what contracts provided, although if you really like Geis, watch them, I suppose. You'll learn stuff just by doing practice questions, anyway.

[smokyroom26]

Hey all, I'm planning on starting the NY/NJ course tomorrow. I know I'm starting extremely late, and I'm a little nervous about getting everything done in time. Any suggestions on the best way to go about it (e.g. things I could/should skip or skim, things I should make sure to focus on)?

Watch the lectures, fill out the handouts and do the practice questions. It's probably too late to read the outlines if you want to get caught up now.

Jersey doesn't have any separate state law - the essays are all on common law MBE crap. You just need to learn NJ civ pro. So that's lucky. If I were you I would try to skim the NY state law outlines before you watch the lectures, just to hammer it home a little, but if you're super crunched for time, the lectures and handouts and practice questions are the bare minimum you should do. My two cents.

Edited to Add: watch the videos at 1.5x or 2x speed. You can do that by hovering the mouse over the video as it plays and hitting Shift, then +, then the right arrow if you're in Chrome, Safari or Firefox. Some of the profs are hard to understand at 2x speed, but 1.5x speed is still pretty fast and can cut 5 - 8 minutes off each lecture, which really adds up.

Thanks. Yeah, after reading through this thread I think I'm gonna skip the outlines and just focus on the lectures and handouts. Thank god for 2x speed - so far the lectures are very manageable on 2x. I plan on focusing predominantly on the MBE subjects, and then skim the NY state specific law (and NJ Civ Pro) at the end. Can I get by without really doing the practice essays? Or are they really useful for filling in/fleshing out the law/rules that may not be covered that well in the lectures?

I'm a fan of the practice essays. I started out not doing them, but then when I decided OKAY OKAY I might as well take a crack at them I discovered that they are helpful for me. They are arranged in order by level of difficulty, as far as I can tell, and so doing 2 easy, know-the-rule-based essays on, say, corporations right after watching the lectures helps concretize what I've just covered.

[TheBeard]

***SPOILER ALERT*** Criminal Law Set 3

A man knew that his uncle regularly withdrew a large amount of cash from a bank and that his uncle was usually not very careful in watching over the money as he made his way home. The man hatched a plan with two friends to steal the money from his uncle. One of the friends purchased a ski mask with which he intended to conceal his face during the heist. A few hours before the event was to occur, the man, deciding to call the whole thing off, told his friends not to go through with the plan. Nevertheless the friends followed the uncle from the bank and successfully absconded with the bag of money without the uncle being the wiser for several minutes. They were subsequently arrested and revealed the man's involvement in the plot. The man was arrested. The applicable jurisdiction has adopted the Model Penal Code. Under the Code, theft is defined as "unlawfully taking, or exercising unlawful control over, movable property of another with purpose to deprive him thereof." The crimes below are listed in descending order of seriousness. What is the most serious listed for which the man can be convicted?

Answer Choices
A. Theft
B. Conspiracy
C. Solicitation
D. No crime


Answer choice B is correct. Conspiracy is defined as an agreement between two or more persons to accomplish an unlawful purpose, with the intent to accomplish that purpose. The Model Penal Code (MPC) adds the requirement that a conspiracy must be perfected by an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. Here, the friend's purchase of the ski mask is sufficient to constitute such an overt act. The MPC allows withdrawal from a conspiracy after the performance of an overt act, but the defendant must thwart the performance of the planned crimes. Here, the defendant failed to do so, and therefore is guilty of conspiracy. Answer choice A is incorrect because, while the man's withdrawal from the conspiracy was not sufficient to eliminate his liability for the conspiracy itself, it is effective with regard to the substantive crime of theft committed by his two friends. Answer choice C is incorrect, because, although the man is guilty of solicitation, he is also guilty of conspiracy, which is the more serious crime. Although the MPC permits a defendant to effectively renounce solicitation, the defendant must thwart the performance of the solicited crimes, which the man did not do. Answer choice D is incorrect since the man is guilty of both solicitation and conspiracy.

Okay, so I agree that he's guilty of conspiracy because his repudiation was insufficient in this case after the overt act had been committed. My problem here is that the most serious crime he can be convicted for is theft because he didn't do enough to withdraw his participation as an accomplice. In other words, what did he do to countermand his prior assistance (i.e. telling them about his uncle's tendencies and hatching a plan). Any help?

[locusdelicti]

***SPOILER ALERT*** Criminal Law Set 3

A man knew that his uncle regularly withdrew a large amount of cash from a bank and that his uncle was usually not very careful in watching over the money as he made his way home. The man hatched a plan with two friends to steal the money from his uncle. One of the friends purchased a ski mask with which he intended to conceal his face during the heist. A few hours before the event was to occur, the man, deciding to call the whole thing off, told his friends not to go through with the plan. Nevertheless the friends followed the uncle from the bank and successfully absconded with the bag of money without the uncle being the wiser for several minutes. They were subsequently arrested and revealed the man's involvement in the plot. The man was arrested. The applicable jurisdiction has adopted the Model Penal Code. Under the Code, theft is defined as "unlawfully taking, or exercising unlawful control over, movable property of another with purpose to deprive him thereof." The crimes below are listed in descending order of seriousness. What is the most serious listed for which the man can be convicted?

Answer Choices
A. Theft
B. Conspiracy
C. Solicitation
D. No crime


Answer choice B is correct. Conspiracy is defined as an agreement between two or more persons to accomplish an unlawful purpose, with the intent to accomplish that purpose. The Model Penal Code (MPC) adds the requirement that a conspiracy must be perfected by an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. Here, the friend's purchase of the ski mask is sufficient to constitute such an overt act. The MPC allows withdrawal from a conspiracy after the performance of an overt act, but the defendant must thwart the performance of the planned crimes. Here, the defendant failed to do so, and therefore is guilty of conspiracy. Answer choice A is incorrect because, while the man's withdrawal from the conspiracy was not sufficient to eliminate his liability for the conspiracy itself, it is effective with regard to the substantive crime of theft committed by his two friends. Answer choice C is incorrect, because, although the man is guilty of solicitation, he is also guilty of conspiracy, which is the more serious crime. Although the MPC permits a defendant to effectively renounce solicitation, the defendant must thwart the performance of the solicited crimes, which the man did not do. Answer choice D is incorrect since the man is guilty of both solicitation and conspiracy.

Okay, so I agree that he's guilty of conspiracy because his repudiation was insufficient in this case after the overt act had been committed. My problem here is that the most serious crime he can be convicted for is theft because he didn't do enough to withdraw his participation as an accomplice. In other words, what did he do to countermand his prior assistance (i.e. telling them about his uncle's tendencies and hatching a plan). Any help?

I'm with you. I don't think his telling them not to do it anymore was sufficient to withdraw as an accomplice. He didn't do everything possible to countermand simply by telling them not to do it. What he did seems more like change of heart, which isn't enough. Lame.

[thebull]

As long as you don't have a job right now or are not very far behind, it's important to make sure to take time for yourself during the day/night. If you're doing bar prep for 8-10 hours a day and sleeping for about 8, you should still have 6-8 hours of free time each day to go out with friends, workout, etc.

[kalvano]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

Texas only needs jurisdiction and venue for Fed Civ Pro. Vids 1-5. You aren't missing anything.

[smokyroom26]

So there are 9 handout chapters of Federal Civil Procedure (6-14) on the printable handout that don't seem to have corresponding lectures. Anyone else taking Texas know whether this is an intentional omission (or I'm missing something - there's obviously the whole topic of TX Civ Pro, but why would that relieve us of obligation to know federal)? I messaged the Themis bros but they always take a day or two to reply.

Also, put me in the way behind boat. I'm at 29%. EEP!

Texas only needs jurisdiction and venue for Fed Civ Pro. Vids 1-5. You aren't missing anything.

Thanks.

[HETPE3B]

Question for the Evidence buffs out there.

Please help me reconcile the following two points:
1. If there is a mistake in the admissibility of evidence, that error will only form the basis for an appeal if (a) a substantial right of a party has been affected; AND (b) the judge was notified of that error at trial.
2. Plain Error Rule: errors that affect substantial rights are grounds for reversal even if no objection or offer of proof was made.

If there's an error affecting substantial rights, do I or don't I need to notify the judge? What's the difference between being grounds for reversal and being basis for appeal and why is there a higher barrier for the latter?

[locusdelicti]

Question for the Evidence buffs out there.

Please help me reconcile the following two points:
1. If there is a mistake in the admissibility of evidence, that error will only form the basis for an appeal if (a) a substantial right of a party has been affected; AND (b) the judge was notified of that error at trial.
2. Plain Error Rule: errors that affect substantial rights are grounds for reversal even if no objection or offer of proof was made.

If there's an error affecting substantial rights, do I or don't I need to notify the judge? What's the difference between being grounds for reversal and being basis for appeal and why is there a higher barrier for the latter?

I think you have to notify the judge of any error, affecting substantial rights or not.

If the substantial right has been affected and the judge is notified, it can be appealed, and the court of appeals will be able to review whether it is reversible or not. It's not automatically reversible; it just provides grounds for reversal.

Or something.

[JD_done]

Question for the Evidence buffs out there.

Please help me reconcile the following two points:
1. If there is a mistake in the admissibility of evidence, that error will only form the basis for an appeal if (a) a substantial right of a party has been affected; AND (b) the judge was notified of that error at trial.
2. Plain Error Rule: errors that affect substantial rights are grounds for reversal even if no objection or offer of proof was made.

If there's an error affecting substantial rights, do I or don't I need to notify the judge? What's the difference between being grounds for reversal and being basis for appeal and why is there a higher barrier for the latter?

I think you have to notify the judge of any error, affecting substantial rights or not.

If the substantial right has been affected and the judge is notified, it can be appealed, and the court of appeals will be able to review whether it is reversible or not. It's not automatically reversible; it just provides grounds for reversal.

Or something.

Agreed. It's also helpful to go directly to FRE 103 and the committee notes. The way I understand it, 1) substantial right + 2) notifying court preserves it for appeal. The plain error rule allows a court, on appeal, to reverse (especially a criminal conviction) even if the trial court was not notified of the error and they are reviewing the case for another issue. (I looked at federal criminal procedure rule 52 for clarification)
I could be wrong

[locusdelicti]

Question for the Evidence buffs out there.

Please help me reconcile the following two points:
1. If there is a mistake in the admissibility of evidence, that error will only form the basis for an appeal if (a) a substantial right of a party has been affected; AND (b) the judge was notified of that error at trial.
2. Plain Error Rule: errors that affect substantial rights are grounds for reversal even if no objection or offer of proof was made.

If there's an error affecting substantial rights, do I or don't I need to notify the judge? What's the difference between being grounds for reversal and being basis for appeal and why is there a higher barrier for the latter?

I think you have to notify the judge of any error, affecting substantial rights or not.

If the substantial right has been affected and the judge is notified, it can be appealed, and the court of appeals will be able to review whether it is reversible or not. It's not automatically reversible; it just provides grounds for reversal.

Or something.

Agreed. It's also helpful to go directly to FRE 103 and the committee notes. The way I understand it, 1) substantial right + 2) notifying court preserves it for appeal. The plain error rule allows a court, on appeal, to reverse (especially a criminal conviction) even if the trial court was not notified of the error and they are reviewing the case for another issue. (I looked at federal criminal procedure rule 52 for clarification)
I could be wrong

Sounds good to me!

[Reinhardt]

Enjoying Guzman because his videos can easily be watched on 2x, and his handouts are well-made

[antonious13]

Enjoying Guzman because his videos can easily be watched on 2x, and his handouts are well-made

Really? I didn't care for Guzman at all. For me, it was necessary to watch on 2x, because I couldn't stand listening to him at a lower speed. Plus, I kept having to go back on certain parts because it felt like he would skip pieces of the handout.