Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2014 Exam Forum

[Tanicius]

In a civil action, the plaintiff sued a decedent's estate to recover damages for the injuries she suffered in a collision between her car and one driven by the decedent. At trial, the plaintiff introduced undisputed evidence that the decedent's car swerved across the median of the highway, where it collided with an oncoming car driven by the plaintiff. The decedent's estate introduced undisputed evidence that, prior to the car's crossing the median, the decedent suffered a fatal heart attack, which she had no reason to foresee, and that, prior to the heart attack, the decedent had been driving at a reasonable speed and in a reasonable manner. A statute makes it a traffic offense to cross the median of a highway.
In this case, for whom should the court render judgment?
A. The decedent's estate, because its evidence is undisputed
B. The decedent's estate, because the plaintiff has not established a prima facie case of liability.
C. The plaintiff, because the accident was of a type that does not ordinarily happen in the absence of negligence on the actor's part.
D. The plaintiff, because the decedent crossed the median in violation of the statute.


Incorrect: Answer choice A is correct as the plaintiff's evidence that the decedent violated the statute and crossed over into her lane of traffic does establish a prima facie case of negligence. However, the decedent's estate successfully rebutted the plaintiff's evidence by providing an undisputed explanation of how the accident happened that is inconsistent with a finding of negligence (the decedent's unforeseeable heart attack made her unable to comply with the statute, or indeed with any standard of care). Answer choice B correctly states that the decedent's estate will prevail, but it misstates the legal basis for this conclusion. The plaintiff's evidence that the decedent violated the statute and crossed over into her lane of traffic does establish a prima facie case of negligence. Answer choice C is not correct because it may or may not be true that accidents of this type do not ordinarily happen in the absence of negligence, but that is beside the point. Answer choice D is incorrect for the reasons stated in correct answer choice A.

I picked D because I thought that there was prima facie liability because of the statute. Someone.

You have to voluntarily violate the statute. You don't have to know it's a crime, but you have to willfully do an act that violates a statute. You can't commit negligence per say by, for example, tripping on ice and slipping onto a non-cross-walk part of the street.

[j1987]

When we do the mixed MBE PQs, is the goal meaning that we should aim to get 50% for each subject or 50% of the questions total? I got at least 50% for all of the subjects that were tested, so I am guessing that is a good thing if we are aiming for 50% of the questions for each subject.

[bport hopeful]

You have to voluntarily violate the statute. You don't have to know it's a crime, but you have to willfully do an act that violates a statute. You can't commit negligence per say by, for example, tripping on ice and slipping onto a non-cross-walk part of the street.

Thanks.

[numbertwo88]

I'm convinced my property score is so abysmal, 50%, because I literally want to bash my head into a wall doing solely property MBE question sets; I've delayed the last set until today. And why property questions are the length of novels grate my nerves.

It's literally torture. I'm hoping for a miracle within the next 3 weeks because property is obviously trying to ruin my life.

Or hopefully once they're mixed with other questions I won't be so annoyed.

[northwood]

In a civil action, the plaintiff sued a decedent's estate to recover damages for the injuries she suffered in a collision between her car and one driven by the decedent. At trial, the plaintiff introduced undisputed evidence that the decedent's car swerved across the median of the highway, where it collided with an oncoming car driven by the plaintiff. The decedent's estate introduced undisputed evidence that, prior to the car's crossing the median, the decedent suffered a fatal heart attack, which she had no reason to foresee, and that, prior to the heart attack, the decedent had been driving at a reasonable speed and in a reasonable manner. A statute makes it a traffic offense to cross the median of a highway.
In this case, for whom should the court render judgment?
A. The decedent's estate, because its evidence is undisputed
B. The decedent's estate, because the plaintiff has not established a prima facie case of liability.
C. The plaintiff, because the accident was of a type that does not ordinarily happen in the absence of negligence on the actor's part.
D. The plaintiff, because the decedent crossed the median in violation of the statute.


Incorrect: Answer choice A is correct as the plaintiff's evidence that the decedent violated the statute and crossed over into her lane of traffic does establish a prima facie case of negligence. However, the decedent's estate successfully rebutted the plaintiff's evidence by providing an undisputed explanation of how the accident happened that is inconsistent with a finding of negligence (the decedent's unforeseeable heart attack made her unable to comply with the statute, or indeed with any standard of care). Answer choice B correctly states that the decedent's estate will prevail, but it misstates the legal basis for this conclusion. The plaintiff's evidence that the decedent violated the statute and crossed over into her lane of traffic does establish a prima facie case of negligence. Answer choice C is not correct because it may or may not be true that accidents of this type do not ordinarily happen in the absence of negligence, but that is beside the point. Answer choice D is incorrect for the reasons stated in correct answer choice A.

I picked D because I thought that there was prima facie liability because of the statute. Someone.

A. because the driver had no history of having a heart attack while driving, was driving at a reasonable speed in a reasonable manner before the unfroseeable heart attack. There is no negligence on the driver because his actions were not unreasonable and it was unforeseeable for him to have a heart attack ( its not like he has a history of having heart attacks while driving) In addition the facts tell us that the driver died from the heart attack (which to me indicates that he is not in control of his actions- which is not negligent because he had no prior heart attacks while driving and thus was not on notice that it was a possibility- and possibly that the heart attack was a superceding cause since it was not forseeable for the deceased driver to think or be aware that he was going to have one when he hopped in the car,). So while its true that his car cause the accident, his negligence was not the cause of it. So while the plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie case of the cause of the accident- the facts tell us that driver was not negligent

[Genuine4ps]

How much are all of you relying on the summary outlines? They're missing many of the nuances. For example, the Civ Pro outline states that the citizenship of a representative party, such as a trustee, controls for diversity purposes, but there is no mention of this in the summary outline.

[Tanicius]

I'm convinced my property score is so abysmal, 50%, because I literally want to bash my head into a wall doing solely property MBE question sets; I've delayed the last set until today. And why property questions are the length of novels grate my nerves.

It's literally torture. I'm hoping for a miracle within the next 3 weeks because property is obviously trying to ruin my life.

Or hopefully once they're mixed with other questions I won't be so annoyed.

FWIW, I've decided that the reason Contracts and Property questions are so hard half the time is that I can't highlight, underline or write anything below the question or in margins to help me keep track of things. If I could even just circle the fucking parties box every transaction or conveyance I would have a much easier time keeping track of stuff. Half the time I get a question wrong because I forgot about something I read.

[themis513]

Lesson to be learned from the 7-1 Germany vs. Brazil shocker, if you f*** up one of the essays/bunch of MC questions, DO NOT LET IT MESS WITH YOU MENTALLY and keep going!! FOR THE LOVE OF GODDDD, DON'TTTT GIVE UP!!!!

[Cyberpirate]

Hey guys,
My graded essays have never crossed 61. No matter what i change i mess up on one of the things. My PT i got 63. My MBE are only about 53-60%
How are your grades. Am i greatly on the down side?
BTW i am taking California Bar

[Tanicius]

.

[Kiwi917]

I'm convinced my property score is so abysmal, 50%, because I literally want to bash my head into a wall doing solely property MBE question sets; I've delayed the last set until today. And why property questions are the length of novels grate my nerves.

It's literally torture. I'm hoping for a miracle within the next 3 weeks because property is obviously trying to ruin my life.

Or hopefully once they're mixed with other questions I won't be so annoyed.

FWIW, I've decided that the reason Contracts and Property questions are so hard half the time is that I can't highlight, underline or write anything below the question or in margins to help me keep track of things. If I could even just circle the fucking parties box every transaction or conveyance I would have a much easier time keeping track of stuff. Half the time I get a question wrong because I forgot about something I read.

This is the main reason I like the milestone exams. I've consistently done better on those than the PQs for any individual subjects leading up to them, and I'm convinced it is because I get to write in the book. I know there was some discussion about whether it is worth taking 6 hours for the simulated MBE, and I think it is, at least to get a better sense of how you'll actually do on a paper exam. The Themis interface for "test mode" is pretty unrealistic, IMO, and is one of the things I don't particularly like about having an all-online course.

[Tanicius]

K, whoever wrote this question, step forward please. You're completely fired and are never allowed to write things about the law again.

The governor of a state signed a death warrant for a convicted murderer. Two men who are active opponents of the death penalty conducted a demonstration protesting the execution of the convicted murderer. The two men carried large signs that stated, "The Governor is a Murderer." A local television station broadcast news coverage of the demonstration, including pictures of the signs carried by the two men. If the governor asserts against the television station a claim for damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, will the governor prevail?
A. Yes, if the broadcast showing the signs caused the governor to suffer severe emotional distress.
B. Yes, because the assertion on the signs was extreme and outrageous.
C. No, unless the governor suffered physical harm as a consequence of the emotional distress caused by the signs.
D. No, because the television station did not publish a false statement of fact with "actual malice."

(And no, D is not just an irrelevant answer to be discounted. It was the correct answer.)

[kapital98]

How much are all of you relying on the summary outlines? They're missing many of the nuances. For example, the Civ Pro outline states that the citizenship of a representative party, such as a trustee, controls for diversity purposes, but there is no mention of this in the summary outline.

I think the condensed outlines are pretty bad for doing the MBE. The MBE often tests on the nuisances and the summary outlines ignore probably 50% of them. To make up for this I'm going back over the long outlines and supplementing the summary outlines with penned in substitutions.

On a different note: I purchased Adaptibar because my school gave me a loan increase to cover it. I've found the official MBE questions are more straightforward than the Themis ones. I haven't been using it long enough to know if that makes a significant difference. I stopped doing MBE's for about 3 weeks so my scores are basically the same as when I stopped. This probably isn't that bad considering I've forgotten most of the nuisances and am now relearning them.

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

Just broke down and bought a used copy of Barbri's Essay Practice Workbook with expedited shipping. Still feeling pretty good about the MBEs, but in a sheer panic over these darn essays. I just CAN'T remember everything and want to at LEAST get better with issue spotting and the overall structure of the essays in the next 3 weeks. If I can't find all the issues, or set up the essays exactly how the CA Bar wants them, it doesn't matter if I know the law Just didn't seem like the Themis essay videos and handouts were enough for me... ugh. So miserable and stressed

[kapital98]

Hey guys,
My graded essays have never crossed 61. No matter what i change i mess up on one of the things. My PT i got 63. My MBE are only about 53-60%
How are your grades. Am i greatly on the down side?
BTW i am taking California Bar

Maybe you just have a hard grader? I'm getting in the high 70's and low 80's and often make errors in law and still often screw up my issue statements. I think my grader is just a little bit easier than most.

Is your grader giving you constructive criticism? Fixing things like Issue statements, rule statements, and conclusions seems pretty easy. Fixing your essay analysis over the course of three weeks might be tough.

[Kiwi917]

Just broke down and bought a used copy of Barbri's Essay Practice Workbook with expedited shipping. Still feeling pretty good about the MBEs, but in a sheer panic over these darn essays. I just CAN'T remember everything and want to at LEAST get better with issue spotting and the overall structure of the essays in the next 3 weeks. If I can't find all the issues, or set up the essays exactly how the CA Bar wants them, it doesn't matter if I know the law Just didn't seem like the Themis essay videos and handouts were enough for me... ugh. So miserable and stressed

Curious what you think of the book, once you have a chance to check it out. I'm in the same boat stressing over CA essays, though rule memorization is probably a bigger concern than issue-spotting and organization for me. Do you know if the book has template rules, or is it more about strategy?

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

Just broke down and bought a used copy of Barbri's Essay Practice Workbook with expedited shipping. Still feeling pretty good about the MBEs, but in a sheer panic over these darn essays. I just CAN'T remember everything and want to at LEAST get better with issue spotting and the overall structure of the essays in the next 3 weeks. If I can't find all the issues, or set up the essays exactly how the CA Bar wants them, it doesn't matter if I know the law Just didn't seem like the Themis essay videos and handouts were enough for me... ugh. So miserable and stressed

Curious what you think of the book, once you have a chance to check it out. I'm in the same boat stressing over CA essays, though rule memorization is probably a bigger concern than issue-spotting and organization for me. Do you know if the book has template rules, or is it more about strategy?

I'm not positive, but another student highly recommended it, so I thought to check it out. I'm hoping there will be something in there that will help the lightbulb turn on for me! I have "The Bar Code Cheat Sheets" book which has templates, and I'll be reviewing that one while I'm waiting for the Barbri book to arrive... will let you know how it is once I get it. I just hope it's not exactly what we already have via the practice essays and sample answers on the Themis portal. Starting to blame myself for this mess. Should have stopped watching those videos a lot sooner than I did It really feels like everything went in one ear and out the other! Crazy!! Good that you know your issues & structure well though! Considering the bar graders spend only a couple minutes on each essay, that's what they'll mostly be looking for!

[Genuine4ps]

OMG Civ Pro is dense as hell.

I'm trying to outline and pick out what's important in the handout and what's not. It's only 30 pages, but it's equivalent to 75 pages of another subject.

[Lasers]

for MBE, i think i'm doing OK (haven't done enough but my avg. seems to be mid 60's%) but my essays are pathetic and are probably clear fails every time.

i think there are like 50+ essays and i've only done like 15 at most. my plan is just to pretty much outline and study model answers/rules from here on out (probably gonna do 4-5 a day) and just continue to do a handful of MBE questions daily.

[bport hopeful]

This is pretty late to not know this, but does NY not test tax?

[northwood]

This is pretty late to not know this, but does NY not test tax?

no tax

[j1987]

How many of you are doing the simulated MBE today?

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

How many of you are doing the simulated MBE today?

I'm scheduled to take it on Friday. May take it at a random library instead so I don't have to drive all the way to the designated themis location though. Although, now I'm debating taking altogether since I've been doing pretty good with the MBEs but horrible at the essays. Hesitant to lose 6+ hours taking a practice MBE exam if I could be reading/outlining essays instead... Ugh.

[Tanicius]

How many of you are doing the simulated MBE today?

I'm scheduled to take it on Friday. May take it at a random library instead so I don't have to drive all the way to the designated themis location though. Although, now I'm debating taking altogether since I've been doing pretty good with the MBEs but horrible at the essays. Hesitant to lose 6+ hours taking a practice MBE exam if I could be reading/outlining essays instead... Ugh.

I'm the same way. And the energy draining that's going to happen with 200 timed multiple choice questions will leave me pretty much spent for that day, too.

[bport hopeful]

This is pretty late to not know this, but does NY not test tax?

no tax

Good thing I took tax my last semester and got my worst grade of LS in it.