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Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:13 pm
by SiRR
SpAcEmAn SpLiFF wrote:Plus the dude just has the most punchable face I've ever seen. :evil:
:lol:

See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tOakzcUx_A

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:16 pm
by a male human
Welcome to bar lectures

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:36 pm
by gaagoots
Anyone noticing a lag on bar websites? i.e. Adaptibar, Baressays? Every other site I have been clicking non-bar related during lunch hour is normal.

Since 12:30 my baressays is loading..tap tap tap 5 minutes later the progress bar is still trying to load.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:47 pm
by a male human
gaagoots wrote:Anyone noticing a lag on bar websites? i.e. Adaptibar, Baressays? Every other site I have been clicking non-bar related during lunch hour is normal.

Since 12:30 my baressays is loading..tap tap tap 5 minutes later the progress bar is still trying to load.
BarEssays at least is loading fast for me.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2015 3:56 pm
by gaagoots
a male human wrote:
gaagoots wrote:Anyone noticing a lag on bar websites? i.e. Adaptibar, Baressays? Every other site I have been clicking non-bar related during lunch hour is normal.

Since 12:30 my baressays is loading..tap tap tap 5 minutes later the progress bar is still trying to load.
BarEssays at least is loading fast for me.

Thanks Male Human--its still lagging for me. I logged on a couple court websites and they load quick but baressays is choking.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:01 am
by smokeylarue
Is there a site/blog or anyone that has predictions for this year's essay topics? Like what is likely and/or almost guaranteed to be one of the 6 essay topics.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 6:32 pm
by crumpetsandtea
Are there other reliable sources for full practice MBE exams? I just took the BarBri one but I think it's the only full length mixed set they give us, and I'd like to do another one in a week or two so I can gauge my progress.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:45 pm
by redblueyellow
smokeylarue wrote:Is there a site/blog or anyone that has predictions for this year's essay topics? Like what is likely and/or almost guaranteed to be one of the 6 essay topics.
There's that guy on YouTube; nothing is an "almost guaranteed" or pass rates would be way higher.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:46 pm
by redblueyellow
redblueyellow wrote:
smokeylarue wrote:Is there a site/blog or anyone that has predictions for this year's essay topics? Like what is likely and/or almost guaranteed to be one of the 6 essay topics.
There's that guy on YouTube; nothing is an "almost guaranteed" or pass rates would be way higher. Well, PR.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 7:46 pm
by redblueyellow
smokeylarue wrote:Is there a site/blog or anyone that has predictions for this year's essay topics? Like what is likely and/or almost guaranteed to be one of the 6 essay topics.
There's that guy on YouTube; nothing is an "almost guaranteed" or pass rates would be way higher. Well, PR.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:16 pm
by gaagoots
I got a Barbri MBE wrong because it called a bull a domesticated animal and the owner was not responsible for injury to a hiker.

In California, at least the CACI jury instructions, a bull would be considered livestock--I had always thought that an owner of trespassing livestock is strictly liable for injuries or damages by that animal. This is bulls*it LOL.

Question 19
A bolt of lightning struck a tree, causing it to fall on a farmer’s fence which enclosed a pasture containing the farmer’s large bull. The bull escaped through the broken fence and entered the neighbor’s property. It gored a hiker who was crossing the neighbor’s property without permission.

In the hiker’s action against the farmer based on strict liability, is the hiker likely to prevail?

(A) Yes, because the bull caused harm while trespassing on another’s property.
(B) Yes, because bulls have known dangerous propensities.
(C) No, because a bull is a domestic animal.
(D) No, because the hiker was a trespasser.

Answer to Question 19
(C) The hiker will not prevail because strict liability does not apply to a bull, which is a domestic animal. The owner of a domestic animal, including a farm animal, is not strictly liable for injuries it causes, as long as the owner has no knowledge that the animal has abnormally dangerous propensities (i.e., propensities more dangerous than normal for that species). A bull is a domestic animal, and nothing in the facts suggests that the bull was more dangerous than normal for that type of animal. Hence, strict liability will not apply.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:47 pm
by redblueyellow
gaagoots wrote:I got a Barbri MBE wrong because it called a bull a domesticated animal and the owner was not responsible for injury to a hiker.

In California, at least the CACI jury instructions, a bull would be considered livestock--I had always thought that an owner of trespassing livestock is strictly liable for injuries or damages by that animal. This is bulls*it LOL.
Except that the MBE doesn't test on CA instructions :P

I would've either picked C or D personally; this is under the assumption that "bull" as in the male species of domesticated livestock and not the crazy Spain bull-fighting bulls.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2015 11:56 pm
by gaagoots
redblueyellow wrote:
gaagoots wrote:I got a Barbri MBE wrong because it called a bull a domesticated animal and the owner was not responsible for injury to a hiker.

In California, at least the CACI jury instructions, a bull would be considered livestock--I had always thought that an owner of trespassing livestock is strictly liable for injuries or damages by that animal. This is bulls*it LOL.
Except that the MBE doesn't test on CA instructions :P

I would've either picked C or D personally; this is under the assumption that "bull" as in the male species of domesticated livestock and not the crazy Spain bull-fighting bulls.

Thanks RBY--I just have to laugh at some of these questions and think 'bar law' not real law.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 12:20 am
by redblueyellow
gaagoots wrote:
redblueyellow wrote:
gaagoots wrote:I got a Barbri MBE wrong because it called a bull a domesticated animal and the owner was not responsible for injury to a hiker.

In California, at least the CACI jury instructions, a bull would be considered livestock--I had always thought that an owner of trespassing livestock is strictly liable for injuries or damages by that animal. This is bulls*it LOL.
Except that the MBE doesn't test on CA instructions :P

I would've either picked C or D personally; this is under the assumption that "bull" as in the male species of domesticated livestock and not the crazy Spain bull-fighting bulls.

Thanks RBY--I just have to laugh at some of these questions and think 'bar law' not real law.
I definitely think that law schools make us waayyyyy overthink questions. I've been known to get it down to two answer choices and then pick the wrong one because I answered it like I would a law school essay (argue both sides--really hard).

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 3:23 pm
by Charger
crumpetsandtea wrote:Are there other reliable sources for full practice MBE exams? I just took the BarBri one but I think it's the only full length mixed set they give us, and I'd like to do another one in a week or two so I can gauge my progress.
I think if you sign up for either Adaptibar or the Kaplan/PMBR Qbank, they do an additional MBE simulation.

In other news, does anyone know how to interpret the Barbri MBE simulation for CA? The notes said 126 raw (converted to a scaled 143) is the typical average for a passing MBE in "virtually every state." Since the CA bar is such a bitch, I've been wary of Barbri's claims that being above the national average is sufficient. Does anyone know what an average passing MBE score is in CA?

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2015 4:09 pm
by horrorbusiness
Charger wrote:
crumpetsandtea wrote:Are there other reliable sources for full practice MBE exams? I just took the BarBri one but I think it's the only full length mixed set they give us, and I'd like to do another one in a week or two so I can gauge my progress.
I think if you sign up for either Adaptibar or the Kaplan/PMBR Qbank, they do an additional MBE simulation.

In other news, does anyone know how to interpret the Barbri MBE simulation for CA? The notes said 126 raw (converted to a scaled 143) is the typical average for a passing MBE in "virtually every state." Since the CA bar is such a bitch, I've been wary of Barbri's claims that being above the national average is sufficient. Does anyone know what an average passing MBE score is in CA?
I don't know what the average passing score is, but it's hard to say since the MBE isn't a very big portion of the grade. You can do really well on the MBE and still fail. Check out this calculator, though (part of its formula is based on an estimate of the raw -> scale curve, so take it with a grain of salt):

https://one-timers.com/calculate-your-f ... exam-grade

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 2:18 am
by a male human
Just thought this article was somewhat relevant since it talks about content-based regulation of speech under the First Amendment:
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ ... ign_ordina

It might be an example that triggers your memory of a rule under pressure.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 12:03 pm
by RaiRai
a male human wrote:Just thought this article was somewhat relevant since it talks about content-based regulation of speech under the First Amendment:
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ ... ign_ordina

It might be an example that triggers your memory of a rule under pressure.
yeah, good case. thanks. I can hear Chemerinsky now: The court didn’t need to decide the level of scrutiny to be applied, Justice Kagan said, because Gilbert’s ordinance did not pass strict scrutiny, or intermediate scrutiny, or even the laugh test.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2015 4:51 pm
by horrorbusiness
FWIW, the guy from barsecrets.com has made these predictions for the essays:

prof resp
con law
crim
evidence
business associations
community property mixed with wills & trusts

they're from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=204&v=FnIUKgPtPfY

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:12 am
by LawIsPrettyCool
horrorbusiness wrote:FWIW, the guy from barsecrets.com has made these predictions for the essays:

prof resp
con law
crim
evidence
business associations
community property mixed with wills & trusts

they're from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=204&v=FnIUKgPtPfY
It would be historic to have biz again, since they've had it for 2 bar exams in a row already.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:26 am
by Charger
LawIsPrettyCool wrote:
horrorbusiness wrote:FWIW, the guy from barsecrets.com has made these predictions for the essays:

prof resp
con law
crim
evidence
business associations
community property mixed with wills & trusts

they're from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=204&v=FnIUKgPtPfY
It would be historic to have biz again, since they've had it for 2 bar exams in a row already.
How accurate has this guy been in the past?

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 2:43 pm
by LawIsPrettyCool
Charger wrote:
LawIsPrettyCool wrote:
horrorbusiness wrote:FWIW, the guy from barsecrets.com has made these predictions for the essays:

prof resp
con law
crim
evidence
business associations
community property mixed with wills & trusts

they're from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=204&v=FnIUKgPtPfY
It would be historic to have biz again, since they've had it for 2 bar exams in a row already.
How accurate has this guy been in the past?

Semi-accurate. But honestly, he makes guesses and then picks wild cards too. So basically, anyone that guesses anything is probably going to be somewhat right.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:07 pm
by Calicakes
Doesn't everyone always predict PR? For some reason, I thought it was mandated by the State Supreme court to be on the exam, however it wasn't in Feb 2015.

How can I make myself remember all these useless rules for Civ Pro? Its so boring, its going in one ear and out the other.

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:29 pm
by a male human
Calicakes wrote:Doesn't everyone always predict PR? For some reason, I thought it was mandated by the State Supreme court to be on the exam, however it wasn't in Feb 2015.

How can I make myself remember all these useless rules for Civ Pro? Its so boring, its going in one ear and out the other.
Predictions
Yes, PR is practically a certainty. Remedies has appeared in the past 5 exams, so it's probably also worth paying attention to.

There's no reason to try to predict the subjects because it's all fair game. Use that time to instead look at another essay. I almost got killed because I followed the predictions and the one subject I was hoping wouldn't appear...of course...appeared.

Moreover, you can adjust your bearing on exam day instead of beforehand. For example, if you go into the exam feeling shaky on one subject, you can look at all three essay questions and rearrange them so that you do it last (or first so you want to warm up for the subjects you're more confident about, will expand on this when we get closer to bar week).

Remembering useless rules
What you want to ensure is you can recall rather than merely recognize. You could nod proudly and say "oh, I know this rule" or "of course, it was so obvious" after you see the rule. Since that doesn't do jack, you're right that you should make yourself remember all these rules.

One way is to simply do essays. You are doing practice essays, right?

Do them closed book. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's July now! Review your outlines beforehand if you must. If you couldn't state the rule, great! Do your best and check your answer (via model, sample, Bar Essays, etc.) to feel bad about how many you missed. Keep doing them, and you'll get a sense of which topics (i.e., issues and rules) appear more frequently. And the more you practice your recall, the better it will stay in your mind, the added benefit being that those frequent issues and rules are more likely to be tested on the actual thing anyway. (If you want a shortcut and see which issues appear more frequently, get a sub at BarIssues.com. Incidentally, I have a $20 off coupon for each of Bar Issues and Bar Essays--just ask).

However, you don't need to do full essays all the time. Once you know how the approach and rule application work for a subject, you can cut down on your essay practice by merely identifying the issues and writing out the rule, similar to how you'd outline on test day. This process of IR-ing and checking them should take, what, 20-30 minutes depending? Essentially you can now grind through those essays at double or triple the previous rate. I call this essay cooking, long story.

You should also repeat essays you've done already, particularly ones that aren't sticking as well. Scared that you will miss the issues again? Don't be a wuss. Who expects to remember everything after one exposure? Not me, I'm not Mike Ross.

Why not just rote memorize? That's fine too, but you should also know how to apply the rules instead of just knowing them in theory.

In sum, practice your recall if you want to make yourself remember all these useless rules. Note that this may appear like very obvious advice, but I think it's the answer.
- Full essays until you "get" the subject
- Cook the essays thereafter

Re: July 2015 California Bar Exam

Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 3:39 pm
by Zaizei
a male human wrote:
Calicakes wrote:Doesn't everyone always predict PR? For some reason, I thought it was mandated by the State Supreme court to be on the exam, however it wasn't in Feb 2015.

How can I make myself remember all these useless rules for Civ Pro? Its so boring, its going in one ear and out the other.
Predictions
Yes, PR is practically a certainty. Remedies has appeared in the past 5 exams, so it's probably also worth paying attention to.

There's no reason to try to predict the subjects because it's all fair game. Use that time to instead look at another essay. I almost got killed because I followed the predictions and the one subject I was hoping wouldn't appear...of course...appeared.

Moreover, you can adjust your bearing on exam day instead of beforehand. For example, if you go into the exam feeling shaky on one subject, you can look at all three essay questions and rearrange them so that you do it last (or first so you can warm up for the subjects you're more confident about, will expand on this when we get closer to bar week).

Remembering useless rules
What you want to ensure is you can recall rather than merely recognize. You could nod proudly and say "oh, I know this rule" or "of course, it was so obvious" after you see the rule. Since that doesn't do jack, you're right that you should make yourself remember all these rules.

One way is to simply do essays. You are doing practice essays, right?

Do them closed book. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's July now! Review your outlines beforehand if you must. If you couldn't state the rule, great! Do your best and check your answer (via model, sample, Bar Essays, etc.) to feel bad about how many you missed. Keep doing them, and you'll get a sense of which topics (i.e., issues and rules) appear more frequently. And the more you practice your recall, the better it will stay in your mind, the added benefit being that those frequent issues and rules are more likely to be tested on the actual thing anyway. (If you want a shortcut and see which issues appear more frequently, get a sub at BarIssues.com. Incidentally, I have a $20 off coupon for each of Bar Issues and Bar Essays--just ask).

However, you don't need to do full essays all the time. Once you know how the approach and rule application work for a subject, you can cut down on your essay practice by merely identifying the issues and writing out the rule, similar to how you'd outline on test day. This process of IR-ing and checking them should take, what, 20-30 minutes depending? Essentially you can now grind through those essays at double or triple the previous rate. I call this essay cooking, long story.

You should also repeat essays you've done already, particularly ones that aren't sticking as well. Scared that you will miss the issues again? Don't be a wuss. Who expects to remember everything after one exposure? Not me, I'm not Mike Ross.

Why not just rote memorize? That's fine too, but you should also know how to apply the rules instead of just knowing them in theory.

In sum, practice your recall if you want to make yourself remember all these useless rules. Note that this may appear like very obvious advice, but I think it's the answer.
- Full essays until you "get" the subject
- Cook the essays thereafter
Thank you so much for your post. It will help me a lot during this month :)