. Forum

[Bikeflip]

Nice I'm fucking all over the place. From 30/34 in Evidence set 5 (which I'm generally inept in) to 13/34 in Contracts set 4 (which I booked in law school).

I hate it when that fucking happens, because I went from doing okay to freaking the fuck out and bombing questions because I went into "LOL-derp-dunnohowtoreed" mode.

Stay fucking loose, people.

[elysiansmiles]

Neal Newman for Commercial Paper may be my favorite lecturer so far. He wasn't always the clearest, but he was really personable and tried to make a really boring subject somewhat more interesting. He's the kind of prof I would like to go out for a beer with.

Really? I agree with the "go out for a beer with" part, but I thought he did a pretty mediocre job explaining a topic that many people will likely never have encountered before bar prep. For something like Commercial Paper, I want someone who will provide a lot of context and real world examples so that I can grasp the big picture. Didn't feel like I got that. He basically just read the handouts. But hey, I'm happy that other people found him more useful than I did.

I will see you on the other side of the break.

Loved him personally, but must agree with you on him being pretty worthless as far as explaining material (that thankfully wasn't new to me). My other problem with him is essentially blank handouts that he wants you to fill out. Ended up ditching the handout and going with the outline.

Maybe I had a better appreciation for Newman's handouts after going through so many lectures with my state distinctions guy, who gave way fewer examples and had WAY more blanks. Like, I basically hand-wrote his handouts. I had to pause the video after every sentence with State Guy. Going through state Civ Pro with that guy was cruel and unusual punishment.

[as stars burn]

Nice I'm fucking all over the place. From 30/34 in Evidence set 5 (which I'm generally inept in) to 13/34 in Contracts set 4 (which I booked in law school).

I hate it when that fucking happens, because I went from doing okay to freaking the fuck out and bombing questions because I went into "LOL-derp-dunnohowtoreed" mode.

Stay fucking loose, people.

Agreed. I need to remember not to have a heart attack during the exam.

In other news, I completely bombed my last Crim Law and Crim Pro MBE practice sets, and my mistakes were so stupid. But, I was up until 3am packing to move to my new apartment this morning, was up again at 6am this morning, moved, unpacked a few boxes, and soooo I'm going to attribute my awful performance to straight up exhaustion. On top of moving, I still managed to check off 4 things off on directed study...maybe 5 if I can stay awake. I felt so productive today, even if it wasn't all studying.

[Bikeflip]

In other news, I completely bombed my last Crim Law and Crim Pro MBE practice sets, and my mistakes were so stupid.

One thing I like about the mixed MBE is that I don't feel there as many ball busting questions now. Or maybe I actually am learning this shit.

[kalvano]

JFC, Wills & Estates? I'm dead in the water. Fuck me.

[as stars burn]

In other news, I completely bombed my last Crim Law and Crim Pro MBE practice sets, and my mistakes were so stupid.

One thing I like about the mixed MBE is that I don't feel there as many ball busting questions now. Or maybe I actually am learning this shit.

That gives me hope. I'll be doing the first mixed MBE tomorrow after jumping around all over the place in Flex Study this past week.

[balzie94]

*SPOILER ALERT* CRIMINAL LAW

Question
A state statute defines murder in the first degree as "knowingly causing the death of another person after deliberation upon the matter." Second-degree murder is defined as "knowingly causing the death of another person." Manslaughter is defined as at common law. Deliberation is defined as "cool reflection for any length of time, no matter how brief." The defendant, despondent and angry over losing his job, was contemplating suicide. He took his revolver, went to a bar, and drank until he was very intoxicated. A customer on the next stool was telling the bartender how it was necessary for companies to downsize and become more efficient in order to keep the economy strong. The defendant turned to him and said, "Why don't you shut the hell up." The customer responded, "This is a free country and I can say what I want," all the while shaking his finger at the defendant. The finger-shaking, combined with his already bad disposition and the alcohol, enraged the defendant. Trembling with fury, he snatched his revolver from his pocket and shot and killed the customer. What crime did the defendant commit?
Answers
Manslaughter, because there was a reasonable explanation for his becoming enraged.
Murder in the first degree, because deliberation can take place in an instant.
Murder in the first degree, because he contemplated taking a human life before becoming intoxicated.
Murder in the second degree, because he knowingly caused the customer's death without deliberation.
Rationale:
Answer choice D is correct. The defendant's intoxication did not preclude the mental state required for second-degree murder. Answer choice A is incorrect because there was no reasonable explanation for the defendant becoming enraged. Although his intoxication prevented the kind of "cool reflection" required for first-degree murder, it did not preclude the mental state required for second-degree murder. Answer choice B is incorrect because, even assuming the correctness of the statement, the defendant's intoxicated anger prevented the kind of "cool reflection" required for deliberation. Answer choice C is incorrect because the defendant did not deliberate upon taking the life "of another person" (as required by the statute) prior to becoming intoxicated.
===================

I have no analysis to provide here. I just lol'd when I read this question, thinking that I probably would have been tempted to do the same thing that the murderer did here.

[forza]

Just got 53% rocked on Evidence set 5. Time to re-read the whole fucking outline.

[HETPE3B]

I have no analysis to provide here. I just lol'd when I read this question, thinking that I probably would have been tempted to do the same thing that the murderer did here.

I'm pretty sure that "instant" means a point in time, or a ZERO-length period of time. The word is commonly misused when people mean "very quick," but that's wrong. Just sayin.

[locusdelicti]

Making flash cards is hurting my hands, and my back, and I'm sad and I want a piece of cake.

[Agoraphobia]

Yes. That sounds perfect. There is a cupcake store in my town. Too bad it is 10 pm here.

Carpal tunnel from "reviewing" which I guess means creating short (hahaha) outlines

[as stars burn]

Just got 53% rocked on Evidence set 5. Time to re-read the whole fucking outline. :(

Man, I'm actually happy when I hit 50% or higher on Evidence. Contracts is my ray of sunshine on the MBE currently.

[Agoraphobia]

Yes. That sounds perfect. There is a cupcake store in my town. Too bad it is 10 pm here.

Carpal tunnel from "reviewing" which I guess means creating short (hahaha) outlines

Yay. Jewel is open 24 hours and they just happened to have some Oscar the Grouch cupcakes. Think I can make it through another practice essay on the sugar rush

[missinglink]

What are people's thoughts on their attorney advisors?

The most recent comments from my advisor have jumped the shark for me. The critiques on my written work now mostly range from unfair to baseless. Other comments that might be fair points are so underdeveloped that I can't be sure what the comment is getting at.

I've seen some other comments here from people who seemed to have good experiences. I'm curious what other people think.

[Agoraphobia]

I think mine is getting a little tired at this point in the game. I get a lot of the same comments I have gotten before ("Good use of the facts! Great transition words!"). Also, on the IL Civ Pro recently I got scored a 4, 3, and 3 and then came out with an essay score of 4.5, which can't possibly be right because I came to the opposite conclusion as the model answer. On the MPT I felt I deserved a better score than my all around 3 and seem to have gotten inordinately dinged for running out of time and leaving off in the middle of a sentence. All the legal analysis was fine and some of it was as good as the model. The only thing I was really missing was a conclusion paragraph.

Oh well. I guess it's mainly just to practice for my own benefit. But it would be nice to know if the scores on the essays are what I could expect on the exam.

-->Edited because I'm not making sense at this hour

[Bikeflip]

I think mine is getting a little tired at this point in the game. I get a lot of the same comments I have gotten before ("Good use of the facts! Great transition words!"). Also, on the IL Civ Pro recently I got scored a 4, 3, and 3 and then came out with an essay score of 4.5, which can't possibly be right because I came to the opposite conclusion as the model answer. On the MPT I felt I deserved a better score than my all around 3 and seem to have gotten inordinately dinged for running out of time and leaving off in the middle of a sentence. All the legal analysis was fine and some of it was as good as the model. The only thing I was really missing was a conclusion paragraph.

Oh well. I guess it's mainly just to practice for my own benefit. But it would be nice to know if the scores on the essays are what I could expect on the exam.

-->Edited because I'm not making sense at this hour

Hell, I damn near copy and pasted the outline into a graded essay because I wanted to see if the testers would still be harsh even when I got everything in. Still got a 4.5. I think Themis is grading us harsher than the real test to scare us.

[elysiansmiles]

Partial Contracts spoiler:

While neither party was aware of the existence of the granite, the possibility of encountering subsurface granite in an excavation is not so unusual that the non-occurrence of finding it could be found to be a basic assumption of the contract. The builder therefore assumed the risk that such granite would be found when he accepted the contract.

How am I supposed to know that? I think the question requires far more construction knowledge than the average person has.

[Kretzy]

Partial Contracts spoiler:

While neither party was aware of the existence of the granite, the possibility of encountering subsurface granite in an excavation is not so unusual that the non-occurrence of finding it could be found to be a basic assumption of the contract. The builder therefore assumed the risk that such granite would be found when he accepted the contract.

How am I supposed to know that? I think the question requires far more construction knowledge than the average person has.

This question pissed me off more than nearly any other. How in the world is this knowledge we were supposed to have?

[BarbellDreams]

Wait...is Skeel gonna keep pointing out every single blank in the outline before saying it for the remainder of these lectures or is he just like this to begin with?

[locusdelicti]

Wait...is Skeel gonna keep pointing out every single blank in the outline before saying it for the remainder of these lectures or is he just like this to begin with?

Nope, he does it the whole time. "And here's another blank for you to fill in."

[JuTMSY4]

Partial Contracts spoiler:

While neither party was aware of the existence of the granite, the possibility of encountering subsurface granite in an excavation is not so unusual that the non-occurrence of finding it could be found to be a basic assumption of the contract. The builder therefore assumed the risk that such granite would be found when he accepted the contract.

How am I supposed to know that? I think the question requires far more construction knowledge than the average person has.

This question pissed me off more than nearly any other. How in the world is this knowledge we were supposed to have?

Really glad I'm not alone in this BS question throwing me off.

[as stars burn]

I like my grader! He's super nice, and I've cried to him a few times just in need of venting. He always makes me feel better. I do like that we have consistent graders. Sometimes I think my grader is overly nice, and he doesn't leave a whole lot of feedback, but it's enough to know where I went wrong. We'll see what happens with this graded MPT....

I know this was asked earlier, but any peeps physically going to the simulated MBE tomorrow in Chicago? I'll be there! I get pretty bad test anxiety right before a test and then it usually dissipates as I work through the exam, but I figured it's a good idea to figure out where I start to get fatigued, lose focus or simply don't know the answer to a question and internally freak out.

[SmittenMitten]

Checking in. Haven't been on here since 1L, glad to be back.

I'm pretty behind. Had to work until this past week, got kicked out of my apt. unexpectedly, so had to move, and am the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding which is 8-3, so I've had to do stuff for that. Anyways. I'm here and ready to go hard.

[kalvano]

So apparently some of you have an actual location to go to for the simulated MBE? Weird.

[09042014]

Do we have to do the simulated MBE tomorrow or can I push it off a few days.