hmmm...not sure if I can trust barbri conviser anymore Forum

[kevinandre]

so I just opened my barbri conviser for the first time. I am hoping this will prepare me for the bar exam.

first chapter is agency. immediately upon reading, I have red flags going up.

everybody knows the elements of agency are ABC: assent, benefit, control. even if you slept through law school, you would know your ABC. if you look at successful past exams online, you will come across ABC over and over again.

but barbri conviser says the elements are capacity, consent, writing if required?

I might be misunderstanding it but isn't that what it says? am I going crazy or that's what it says?

I mean I understand you could say consent = assent but what about the other 2? why such a big difference?

[nixy]

I hate to break this to you, but there are lots of different ways to teach that. If you google "elements of agency" there are lots of different formulations on the first page and none are ABC.

There are lots of different ways to word lots of different concepts.

[kevinandre]

I hate to break this to you, but there are lots of different ways to teach that. If you google "elements of agency" there are lots of different formulations on the first page and none are ABC.

There are lots of different ways to word lots of different concepts.

thank you, this is a good tip for me. and maybe even a breakthrough. every time I try to study for the bar I get stuck on the first page because I see so many contradictory things and get confused and give up.

[powerwhee]

You shouldn’t get caught up in the way a course literally defines legal concepts. Look at the idea behind the concept and understand that.

Agency isn’t about a specific set of elements (they probably vary from state to state) but the idea that you are letting someone act for you, thus making you vicariously liable for that person’s actions done on your behalf. The agent would be directly liable for any unlawful conduct they engage in.

It seems to me like you don’t understand the concepts enough and are trying to memorize words, rather than understand ideas. I’d recommend taking the opposite approach: try to memorize all the pertinent ideas first (i.e. direct vs vicarious liability, and actual, implied, apparent, and inherent agency) and then specific manifestations of them (I.e. the “ABC” test or whatever other test containing whatever other elements that jurisdiction deems necessary).