Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2014 Exam Forum

[Bigbub75]

Dumb question: Anyone know if SofTest has spell check? If not I will surely fail. I cannot spell worth a damn.

[Bobo1]

Is anyone else getting the same question repeatedly on the NYMC? I've gotten the same question 5 times now - twice in the current section. I'm not going to worry about the section too much but it would be nice if given the small amount of questions Themis provides they didn't constantly repeat.

Florida here - I've filed two complaints with Themis because I get the same 8 questions on every Florida MC practice set, and one question is on every set twice. I'm really pissed off about it and the only response I've gotten from them is that they are looking in to it. Not helpful at all and a bs way to fill out the question sets.

[mmmnnn]

Dumb question: Anyone know if SofTest has spell check? If not I will surely fail. I cannot spell worth a damn.

The examiners have the option of enabling spell check, but it's very unlikely that they will. The worst part for me is that they usually disable cut/paste. Many of the "best answers" released in my jurisdiction refer to rule statements in other sub-headings, though, so I guess I won't worry about re-typing stuff in full if I'm short on time.

[j1987]

ive heard from others that have taken the bar exam that they were shocked in a good way to realize how much they actually did remember and just typed out... even if they got some of the elements wrong or didn't put them in. so just trust yourself and your knowledge I guess,


I mean I feel the same way, and ive already had a few panic attacks ( and I will have more as the week progresses) but im going to trust that this is true

Not the real bar exam, but I finally did one of the simulated essay exams this morning (I felt like my time would be better spent memorizing than doing those but wanted to test myself), and I was surprised by how much I remembered and wrote down after feeling like I knew nothing. Hopefully this happens on the real thing.

[Tanicius]

Yeah, I think I disagree with Themis's message this week about how we will learn more law now than we did in the last 8 weeks, unless they were trying to capture some kind of figurative meaning with the phrase. I think cramming this week is going to be the wrong call for a lot of us. I've been in full-blown MBE perfection mode, and all it's done is cause me to become frustrated with scores I should be happy with and questions I should just shrug off and learn from rather than obsess over. Just did 100 MBEs this morning and felt totally lost and upset -- ended up with a score higher than both my morning and afternoon sets of 100 for the simulation exam. It's time to tone it back a bit and focus on maintaining what we have instead of getting greedy.

Don't pull your goalie trying to turn a solid lead into a record-breaking victory -- it's too high risk for such a low payoff.

[mmmnnn]

Yeah, I think I disagree with Themis's message this week about how we will learn more law now than we did in the last 8 weeks, unless they were trying to capture some kind of figurative meaning with the phrase. I think cramming this week is going to be the wrong call for a lot of us. I've been in full-blown MBE perfection mode, and all it's done is cause me to become frustrated with scores I should be happy with and questions I should just shrug off and learn from rather than obsess over. Just did 100 MBEs this morning and felt totally lost and upset -- ended up with a score higher than both my morning and afternoon sets of 100 for the simulation exam. It's time to tone it back a bit and focus on maintaining what we have instead of getting greedy.

Don't pull your goalie trying to turn a solid lead into a record-breaking victory -- it's too high risk for such a low payoff.

I agree. I'm planning to spend as much quality time as possible with lean sheets and Themis's short outlines, and then do essays/mixed MBE sets whenever I'm tired of that.

[mizunoami]

Yeah, I think I disagree with Themis's message this week about how we will learn more law now than we did in the last 8 weeks, unless they were trying to capture some kind of figurative meaning with the phrase. I think cramming this week is going to be the wrong call for a lot of us. I've been in full-blown MBE perfection mode, and all it's done is cause me to become frustrated with scores I should be happy with and questions I should just shrug off and learn from rather than obsess over. Just did 100 MBEs this morning and felt totally lost and upset -- ended up with a score higher than both my morning and afternoon sets of 100 for the simulation exam. It's time to tone it back a bit and focus on maintaining what we have instead of getting greedy.

Don't pull your goalie trying to turn a solid lead into a record-breaking victory -- it's too high risk for such a low payoff.

I agree. I'm planning to spend as much quality time as possible with lean sheets and Themis's short outlines, and then do essays/mixed MBE sets whenever I'm tired of that.

I'm right there with you. But I think it really depends on how much time you put in last month and where you are now. Some people are good at cramming.

[iLoveFruits&Veggies]

Dumb question: Anyone know if SofTest has spell check? If not I will surely fail. I cannot spell worth a damn.

The examiners have the option of enabling spell check, but it's very unlikely that they will. The worst part for me is that they usually disable cut/paste. Many of the "best answers" released in my jurisdiction refer to rule statements in other sub-headings, though, so I guess I won't worry about re-typing stuff in full if I'm short on time.

no spell check?? no cut and paste??!! oh nooooo!!! that's not good. I sure hope it's enabled! I still have to do the exam soft mock test ... was hoping to see spell check and the cut & paste options on there!

[yips]

no spell check?? no cut and paste??!! oh nooooo!!! that's not good. I sure hope it's enabled! I still have to do the exam soft mock test ... was hoping to see spell check and the cut & paste options on there!

Can you (or anyone else, I guess) report back on this when you do the mock exam, please? Also whether you can zoom in the examsoft window. I did mine like a month ago and I've already forgotten exactly what is available.

[Tanicius]

Anyone else notice that in the later MBE mixed sets they are introducing somewhat obscure stuff that we wouldn't necessarily know from the materials so far? I guess this is a good idea to give us more information but I can't tell if this is the case or I'm just forgetting a lot of MBE stuff after focusing on the essays. It may be a combination.

That is exactly how I feel. I got a boatload of ConLaw questions about Article 3 powers wrong and wanted to cry. I think it is a combo of both entirely new stuff but also old stuff.

I've decided to stop taking my MBE sets in test mode and focus only on taking each question in Interactive mode, one at a time. I know I have more than enough stamina and knowledge to do well on the real thing. This week is only about keeping my brain in shape for next week.

[dtl]

I am under the impression that cut and paste is enabled. Or at least that it has been in the past.

Anyone have actual info?

[BarExamAvoider]

I feel the same way about the MBE questions I only have 2 sets to go and I feel like the sets tend to have a poor distribution of questions. At the beginning there was a ton of questions about the best evidence rule and now there is nothing about it. I'd really like a better overall review rather than a bunch of questions testing weird exceptions to obscure rules, and I'd rather not see questions repeating from the last several sets.

[ConsiderMeMilesDavis]

Do you guys feel MBE mixed-sets become increasingly difficult (or at least a bit more vague) as you move towards the last few?

I am still scoring "well" (whatever the f#@$ that means), but I feel like I am blindly guessing a bit more on the last few.

(disregard what follows. I'm not a complainer, but just felt like venting for a sec)

the more I prepare, the more I realize how absolutely silly it is that entry into this profession hinges on this exam - i picture an attorney walking "upstream" on a Manhattan sidewalk at 9am with people shelling him with questions..."hey, my buddy hit me with a frying pan and took my wallet from the counter...is that battery, robbery, larceny, or do they merge?"...."hey, my city passed an ordinance that I can't open a dildo parlor next to a school, is that constitutional?"..."hey bro, my sister is on trial for shoplifting and her neighbor's friend wants to testify that she told him she honestly thought the scarf was hers...is that hearsay? does the mistake negate her culpability?"

[kapital98]

no spell check?? no cut and paste??!! oh nooooo!!! that's not good. I sure hope it's enabled! I still have to do the exam soft mock test ... was hoping to see spell check and the cut & paste options on there!

Can you (or anyone else, I guess) report back on this when you do the mock exam, please? Also whether you can zoom in the examsoft window. I did mine like a month ago and I've already forgotten exactly what is available.

In NY we use Softest and spellcheck is disabled. At least it was on the mock exam. It's frustrating. I don't know about CA.

[TooManyLoans]

Do you guys feel MBE mixed-sets become increasingly difficult (or at least a bit more vague) as you move towards the last few?

I am still scoring "well" (whatever the f#@$ that means), but I feel like I am blindly guessing a bit more on the last few.

(disregard what follows. I'm not a complainer, but just felt like venting for a sec)

the more I prepare, the more I realize how absolutely silly it is that entry into this profession hinges on this exam - i picture an attorney walking "upstream" on a Manhattan sidewalk at 9am with people shelling him with questions..."hey, my buddy hit me with a frying pan and took my wallet from the counter...is that battery, robbery, larceny, or do they merge?"...."hey, my city passed an ordinance that I can't open a dildo parlor next to a school, is that constitutional?"..."hey bro, my sister is on trial for shoplifting and her neighbor's friend wants to testify that she told him she honestly thought the scarf was hers...is that hearsay? does the mistake negate her culpability?"

[VermiciousKnid]

I am under the impression that cut and paste is enabled. Or at least that it has been in the past.

Anyone have actual info?

Cut and Paste was enabled on the PA mock exam.

[FlanAl]

Did we ever figure out if you can access the summary outlines outside of directed study?

[Tanicius]

Did we ever figure out if you can access the summary outlines outside of directed study?

Haha, pretty sure the answer is no. I always get so mad at that fact when I don't complete an assignment before the summary outline assignment and it gets kicked over to tomorrow.

[jigglypuffdreams]

Yeah, I think I disagree with Themis's message this week about how we will learn more law now than we did in the last 8 weeks, unless they were trying to capture some kind of figurative meaning with the phrase. I think cramming this week is going to be the wrong call for a lot of us. I've been in full-blown MBE perfection mode, and all it's done is cause me to become frustrated with scores I should be happy with and questions I should just shrug off and learn from rather than obsess over. Just did 100 MBEs this morning and felt totally lost and upset -- ended up with a score higher than both my morning and afternoon sets of 100 for the simulation exam. It's time to tone it back a bit and focus on maintaining what we have instead of getting greedy.

Don't pull your goalie trying to turn a solid lead into a record-breaking victory -- it's too high risk for such a low payoff.

I feel you, I also disagree with the "learning more law than we did in the last 8 weeks" statement. I don't know if it's supposed to be reassuring to the crammers or what, but I've been making more stupid mistakes and glaze over outline rereads more than ever before. I hope they're just referring to some sort of metaphorical "moment where it all clicks" or something.

[Apple Tree]

Dumb question: Anyone know if SofTest has spell check? If not I will surely fail. I cannot spell worth a damn.

The examiners have the option of enabling spell check, but it's very unlikely that they will. The worst part for me is that they usually disable cut/paste. Many of the "best answers" released in my jurisdiction refer to rule statements in other sub-headings, though, so I guess I won't worry about re-typing stuff in full if I'm short on time.

no spell check?? no cut and paste??!! oh nooooo!!! that's not good. I sure hope it's enabled! I still have to do the exam soft mock test ... was hoping to see spell check and the cut & paste options on there!

There's spell check. You have to do it separately on the side. Can you please tell us if there's cut and paste?

[Lasers]

i for one agree with themis' message; i'll learn more law this week than the prior 8. maybe not totally accurate considering i've already known the broad strokes, but i'm about to start memorizing the specific elements of most of the BLL so i can see how that's true.

MBE and rule memorization for me from tomorrow on. gonna be done with the essay PQ's today with just a few left undone so i can do them during the week.

[inkincorporate]

MBE mc question... Themis says the answer is B. I picked A, and I am convinced that Themis is wrong on this one. Isn't there no constitutional negligence requirement when its a private person and not a matter of public concern?

Question
The defendant and the plaintiff were law school classmates who had competed for the position of editor of the law review. The defendant had the higher grade point average, but the plaintiff was elected editor, largely in recognition of a long and important note that had appeared in the review over her name. During the following placement interview season, the defendant was interviewed by a representative of a nationally prominent law firm. In response to the interviewer's request for information about the authorship of the law review note, the defendant said that he had heard that the note attributed to the plaintiff was largely the work of another student. The firm told the plaintiff that it would not interview her because of doubts about the authorship of the note. This greatly distressed the plaintiff. In fact the note had been prepared by the plaintiff without assistance from anyone else. If the plaintiff asserts a claim against the defendant based on defamation, the plaintiff will

Answers
Recover, because the defendant's statement was false.
Recover, if the defendant had substantial doubts about the accuracy of the information he gave the interviewer.
Not recover, unless the plaintiff proves pecuniary loss.
Not recover, because the statement was made by the defendant only after the interviewer inquired about the authorship of the note.

Rationale:
Answer choice B is correct. A plaintiff will prevail in a defamation action if the defendant's defamatory language concerning the plaintiff is published to a third person and such language damages a plaintiff's reputation. In this case, in order for the plaintiff, a non-public person not involving a matter of public concern, to prevail, he must establish that the defendant was negligent in ascertaining the truth or falsity of his statement.

[Kiwi917]

Chiming in on the cut/paste and spell check. I just took the CA mock exam, and both spell check and cut and paste are enabled (but spell check does not underline mistakes as you type). It depends on the jurisdiction, though, so you have to go to the page for your state to check.

[mmmnnn]

MBE mc question... Themis says the answer is B. I picked A, and I am convinced that Themis is wrong on this one. Isn't there no constitutional negligence requirement when its a private person and not a matter of public concern?

Question
The defendant and the plaintiff were law school classmates who had competed for the position of editor of the law review. The defendant had the higher grade point average, but the plaintiff was elected editor, largely in recognition of a long and important note that had appeared in the review over her name. During the following placement interview season, the defendant was interviewed by a representative of a nationally prominent law firm. In response to the interviewer's request for information about the authorship of the law review note, the defendant said that he had heard that the note attributed to the plaintiff was largely the work of another student. The firm told the plaintiff that it would not interview her because of doubts about the authorship of the note. This greatly distressed the plaintiff. In fact the note had been prepared by the plaintiff without assistance from anyone else. If the plaintiff asserts a claim against the defendant based on defamation, the plaintiff will

Answers
Recover, because the defendant's statement was false.
Recover, if the defendant had substantial doubts about the accuracy of the information he gave the interviewer.
Not recover, unless the plaintiff proves pecuniary loss.
Not recover, because the statement was made by the defendant only after the interviewer inquired about the authorship of the note.

Rationale:
Answer choice B is correct. A plaintiff will prevail in a defamation action if the defendant's defamatory language concerning the plaintiff is published to a third person and such language damages a plaintiff's reputation. In this case, in order for the plaintiff, a non-public person not involving a matter of public concern, to prevail, he must establish that the defendant was negligent in ascertaining the truth or falsity of his statement.

It's true that a statute could constitutionally make defamation a strict liability tort. But I think you're supposed to assume that there's a mens rea requirement unless told otherwise.

I struggled with this question for the same reason.

[TooManyLoans]

MBE mc question... Themis says the answer is B. I picked A, and I am convinced that Themis is wrong on this one. Isn't there no constitutional negligence requirement when its a private person and not a matter of public concern?

Question
The defendant and the plaintiff were law school classmates who had competed for the position of editor of the law review. The defendant had the higher grade point average, but the plaintiff was elected editor, largely in recognition of a long and important note that had appeared in the review over her name. During the following placement interview season, the defendant was interviewed by a representative of a nationally prominent law firm. In response to the interviewer's request for information about the authorship of the law review note, the defendant said that he had heard that the note attributed to the plaintiff was largely the work of another student. The firm told the plaintiff that it would not interview her because of doubts about the authorship of the note. This greatly distressed the plaintiff. In fact the note had been prepared by the plaintiff without assistance from anyone else. If the plaintiff asserts a claim against the defendant based on defamation, the plaintiff will

Answers
Recover, because the defendant's statement was false.
Recover, if the defendant had substantial doubts about the accuracy of the information he gave the interviewer.
Not recover, unless the plaintiff proves pecuniary loss.
Not recover, because the statement was made by the defendant only after the interviewer inquired about the authorship of the note.

Rationale:
Answer choice B is correct. A plaintiff will prevail in a defamation action if the defendant's defamatory language concerning the plaintiff is published to a third person and such language damages a plaintiff's reputation. In this case, in order for the plaintiff, a non-public person not involving a matter of public concern, to prevail, he must establish that the defendant was negligent in ascertaining the truth or falsity of his statement.

This is pretty hidden in the outline:
“If the plaintiff in a defamation action is a private individual and the defendant’s statement does not involve a matter of public concern, then the constitutional requirements do not apply. At common law, the defendant was strictly liable. Most states today require at least negligence by the defendant for all defamation actions, and some now require actual malice in all defamation actions.”