2019 July California Bar Forum

[jc9812]

I pray for the State Bar employee who pushed “send” on the email...s/he is having a horrible, no-good, very bad day!

That person can kiss my ass and the ass of every person having to take the bar. I look forward to hearing the fairy tale explanation of how some law school deans getting the essay topics happened "inadvertently."

Fucking around with the bar exam is fucking around with people's future. One of the biggest jobs the state bar has is to fairly administer this test. They can't even get that right. The test can be hard, but it should be fair.

I cannot imagine how examinees feel. I'm enraged and I already passed the bar.

Yeah. The level of incompetence here is unbelievable. Like everyone else this exam has been my entire life since May and it just boggles the mind that they could fuck up this badly.

[arose928]

I'm kinda confused. So they emailed some deans the topics. Is the assumption that those deans automatically turned around and emailed all of their students what the topics are? If so, did anyone on here actually get one of those emails (and what school)? Twitter seems to be freaking out that "omg other people had these topics for 3 WHOLE DAYS before we did" but that's assuming 1) they got leaked first thing Thursday morning 2) deans automatically passed them on Thursday morning. And other people are saying it would be a 'lose your bar card' level offense if those deans DID pass that info on.

I'm also wondering what schools those would be... afaik Berkeley didn't get it (or it wasn't passed along). Would it be the schools with lower pass rates, to try and give them a boost?

Btw if you are taking the bar next week I would just keep your head down and avoid trying to figure all this nonsense out. I took it last year so I'm just an amused bystander.

[Snowflake1]

Guys this is crazy. The state bar broke the internet. Now that the subjects have been released, it's a good idea to strategically take today to some study past questions with similar subjects. This was just posted in the July 2019 California Bar Exam Facebook group:

Three past essays to study for Tuesday:
Feb 1992 Con Law/Remedies: I just posted to this message group. We do not have any model or graded examples for this.

July 2016 Civ Pro: This is the only time California Civ Pro was tested and there is a decent chance it will be tested again. The Cal Bar website has released model answers and you can see a range of real graded answers scoring 55-75 on BarEssays.com.

July 2013 performance exam B: This is a 3 hour performance exam so take it with a grain of salt. But it does test evidence issues. The Cal Bar website has released model answers and you can see a range of answers from 50-70 on BarEssays.com including a handwritten example.

Always remember that the released answers are among the top in the state (the top 1% of the top 1% according to the former head of the state bar who chose these released answers). They might include a lot of minor issues you don't need to get a 65+. Do not get discouraged by these.

[GARYGW]

Does anyone not have their admittance ticket mine was never emailed to me help please.

[arose928]

Ah the email the Hastings dean sent out clarifies things a little bit. Apparently some deans/professors were invited to a thingie *after* the bar to see how the grading is calibrated. Included in that invitation was an attachment of the list of the subjects on this year's bar. The dean didn't notice it and said another professor noticed it but assumed it was confidential.

So it doesn't *seem* like it was a 'HEY PSSSST PASS THIS ON TO YOUR STUDENTS' kinda thing. Just a run of the mill fuck up, lol.

[Moabit]

Folks, you have been given a lifeline. Stop freaking out. Be grateful. This year's pass rate will be through the roof.

[Billy Batts]

Folks, you have been given a lifeline. Stop freaking out. Be grateful. This year's pass rate will be through the roof.

Agreed. If they were to to give failing scores to answers that in past years would have passed, it will make this look even worse. I understand there is a curve, but I doubt there will be a substantial difference in grading standards. I guarantee there is at least a handful of applicants who will walk into the test center completely unaware of what has happened--didn't check email, went camping to relax before the exam, etc. To subject their answers to a higher standard would be totally unfair.

[wildmadagascar]

Folks, you have been given a lifeline. Stop freaking out. Be grateful. This year's pass rate will be through the roof.

I KNOWWW IM FOREVER GRATEFUL I ONLY HAVE TO COVER SIX TOPICS!!! We've always known what subjects would be covered in the MBE & didn't freak out. Now we know the same about the essays. No need to freak out.

[rcharter1978]

Ah the email the Hastings dean sent out clarifies things a little bit. Apparently some deans/professors were invited to a thingie *after* the bar to see how the grading is calibrated. Included in that invitation was an attachment of the list of the subjects on this year's bar. The dean didn't notice it and said another professor noticed it but assumed it was confidential.

So it doesn't *seem* like it was a 'HEY PSSSST PASS THIS ON TO YOUR STUDENTS' kinda thing. Just a run of the mill fuck up, lol.

That doesn't even pass the stink test. Explaining how a test is calibrated doesn't require any mention of the topics at all.

And why were only SOME deans invited and not others? Also makes no sense. Until I see receipts I don't assume that they only had the topics for three days.

And to the poster above, yeah, I assume the dean's who "accidentally" got this information found a way to get it to their students.

[cheaptilts]

Ah the email the Hastings dean sent out clarifies things a little bit. Apparently some deans/professors were invited to a thingie *after* the bar to see how the grading is calibrated. Included in that invitation was an attachment of the list of the subjects on this year's bar. The dean didn't notice it and said another professor noticed it but assumed it was confidential.

So it doesn't *seem* like it was a 'HEY PSSSST PASS THIS ON TO YOUR STUDENTS' kinda thing. Just a run of the mill fuck up, lol.

That doesn't even pass the stink test. Explaining how a test is calibrated doesn't require any mention of the topics at all.

And why were only SOME deans invited and not others? Also makes no sense. Until I see receipts I don't assume that they only had the topics for three days.

And to the poster above, yeah, I assume the dean's who "accidentally" got this information found a way to get it to their students.

How would this work in practice? the deans email the students? (If so, I’m surprised no emails leaked). The deans email the Barbri/Themis reps closest to the school? (If they did, I’m surprised the reps didn’t inform the corporate bigwigs at Barbri and Themis/the bigwigs didn’t disseminate this info to everyone else.) The deans just called each student individually?

I mean, what are you assuming happened here?

[rcharter1978]

Folks, you have been given a lifeline. Stop freaking out. Be grateful. This year's pass rate will be through the roof.

This assumes that people have had this information 6 days before the exam or 3 days before the exam. I dont believe any of that, until I see receipts. And they should be easy enough to find if this was all done via email.

If the bar can't manage to hire people with the good sense god gave a billygoat, the half wit who sent the email should be fired as should whoever is in charge of them or hired them.

Even assuming some people had this information three extra days that is a lot of extra time to study. That is double the time that has been granted to examinees who weren't privy to the information.

[cheaptilts]

Congress should subpoena chemerinsky and see what he knew

[rcharter1978]

Ah the email the Hastings dean sent out clarifies things a little bit. Apparently some deans/professors were invited to a thingie *after* the bar to see how the grading is calibrated. Included in that invitation was an attachment of the list of the subjects on this year's bar. The dean didn't notice it and said another professor noticed it but assumed it was confidential.

So it doesn't *seem* like it was a 'HEY PSSSST PASS THIS ON TO YOUR STUDENTS' kinda thing. Just a run of the mill fuck up, lol.

That doesn't even pass the stink test. Explaining how a test is calibrated doesn't require any mention of the topics at all.

And why were only SOME deans invited and not others? Also makes no sense. Until I see receipts I don't assume that they only had the topics for three days.

And to the poster above, yeah, I assume the dean's who "accidentally" got this information found a way to get it to their students.

How would this work in practice? the deans email the students? (If so, I’m surprised no emails leaked). The deans email the Barbri/Themis reps closest to the school? (If they did, I’m surprised the reps didn’t inform the corporate bigwigs at Barbri and Themis/the bigwigs didn’t disseminate this info to everyone else.) The deans just called each student individually?

I mean, what are you assuming happened here?

I assume that the dean's made the information known to those working with their students on exam prep. Nearly every school has their own program that supplements Barbri. At out school, that program was run by professors in house. So no, no one would need to directly email students. The information could have been given to someone who then sent out "predictions.".
or changed study schedules to reflect their knowledge of the topics. Barbri and themis would not need to have any sort of contact with the dean's. Or individual student emails/calls. The information could easily be spread without direct contact by the dean's.

I think it's very sweet that people would assume and impute the most innocent motives and intent to the people involved. I do not. CBX pass rates have been dismally low and law school deans want to protect/improve their rankings. But there is no reason to invite some deans to something and not all deans, and there is no need to include a list of tested topics in an email about grade calibration. If the topic was grade calibration for a test that all law school students take why wouldn't you invite all law school deans.

[Pema]

Folks, you have been given a lifeline. Stop freaking out. Be grateful. This year's pass rate will be through the roof.

This assumes that people have had this information 6 days before the exam or 3 days before the exam. I dont believe any of that, until I see receipts. And they should be easy enough to find if this was all done via email.

If the bar can't manage to hire people with the good sense god gave a billygoat, the half wit who sent the email should be fired as should whoever is in charge of them.

Even assuming some people had this information three extra days that is a lot of extra time to study. That is double the time that has been granted to prove who weren't in the know.

The scores may be a bit higher, but they will take the pass rate from last July and back into it. If they find 60% passed and they need 40%, they will drop each essay by x points to achieve the outcome and call it an equitable adjustment. Probably between 3-5 points per essay I suspect. They can't just have a 60% pass rate or they will have problems in perpetuity when it goes back to 39%. Now that would be unfair.

[ReasonableNprudent]

I think its unlikely more than a small handful of exam takers learned of the list before the intentional release, if any at all.

Professors and deans know the list is confidential. If they wouldn't keep the list confidential due to ethical reasons, they would for the purpose of self-preservation. Yes, faculties have an interest in improving their bar passage rates; they also have an interest in not having their names show up in the various blogs for having done something unscrupulous.

I stand by my earlier statement: this is a gift for the slackers but a detriment to those that diligently studied the entire breadth of courses. But I don't think it'll change the outcome much at all, if any. The range will just be tighter. Outliers at the right end will still pass; outliers at the left end would have failed anyways.

Yes, this was a big mix up. But worse gaffs happen in the profession of law on a daily and routine basis that have very substantial consequences.

The situation is embarrassing and shows that someone majorly effed up. But the sky isn't falling. Y'all will be ok.

[Tenzen]

Passed the bar years ago and have been practicing for a while, but this has me livid. There needs to be accountability.

Truly looking forward to hearing about lawsuits next week, with eventual success.

[Moabit]

So there are two competing theories.
1. They (CA bar) will curve out any gained advantage because doing otherwise would be unfair to past and future exam takers.
2. They will not curve the results to any additional degree because that would be unfair to this year's exam takers who should not be punished for someone else's screwup.

But whichever theory you subscribe to, it is important not to let this snafu get to you (and for this reason you should subscribe to #2!). Have a positive outlook, in any case you are not going to be at any significant disadvantage, as most likely not many (if any) exam takers have known this information prior to yesterday.

[jski]

Does anyone not have their admittance ticket mine was never emailed to me help please.

I received an email on June 5, 12:09 AM, with the subject "Eligibility Approved for the California Bar Examination (Admittance Ticket)," and my ticket was within the email at the bottom.
I tried looking for it with my test application on the Calbar website and couldn't find it anywhere.

Calbar's website says, "If admittance tickets are lost, a duplicate can be requested by contacting the Office of Admissions prior to the exam." http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... xamination

[wildmadagascar]

Does anyone not have their admittance ticket mine was never emailed to me help please.

I received an email on June 5, 12:09 AM, with the subject "Eligibility Approved for the California Bar Examination (Admittance Ticket)," and my ticket was within the email at the bottom.
I tried looking for it with my test application on the Calbar website and couldn't find it anywhere.

Calbar's website says, "If admittance tickets are lost, a duplicate can be requested by contacting the Office of Admissions prior to the exam." http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... xamination

So we're supposed to just print the email right? It wasn't a separate attachment or anything so when I printed it it was on two pages, first page containing the email contents, and the second page the ticket.

[jski]

Does anyone not have their admittance ticket mine was never emailed to me help please.

I received an email on June 5, 12:09 AM, with the subject "Eligibility Approved for the California Bar Examination (Admittance Ticket)," and my ticket was within the email at the bottom.
I tried looking for it with my test application on the Calbar website and couldn't find it anywhere.

Calbar's website says, "If admittance tickets are lost, a duplicate can be requested by contacting the Office of Admissions prior to the exam." http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Admissions/Exa ... xamination

So we're supposed to just print the email right? It wasn't a separate attachment or anything so when I printed it it was on two pages, first page containing the email contents, and the second page the ticket.

I printed two copies, one as the full email (I also had two pages) and one as a selection print of just the ticket information. This is my first time taking it, so I'm not sure which is appropriate, but I'm so paranoid I'm bringing both just in case.

[Happy88]

This leak is making me freak out so much that I’ve been staring at my notes for the past hour.

[Ciedam08]

This leak is making me freak out so much that I’ve been staring at my notes for the past hour.

Have no idea why, but it also messed me up. I couldn't focus all day and then my anxiety was through the roof. it would seem like it would calm us, but I guess since we have no idea how this is going to turn out in the end by trying to "remedy" the situation, it is a horrible feeling.

[calbartaker13]

Does anyone know if Pasadena testing center (Pasadena Convention Center) allows for phone storage? I was hoping to take my phone to Uber there/back to my hotel. Is it possible to take the phone to the center and then leave in a box or with a proctor? Thank you.

[2807]

Old timer here.

Back in it for a friend taking this test.

Can anyone give some direction on Remedy/Con Law ?

I saw a few posts/concerns already, but wondering if anyone new has some advice on these two together?

You think this is a remedy that is unconcstutnoial ?

Or a constitutional remedy for an alleged government (or private) wrong? (ie: all this current immigration stuff, or funding for the wall ..?)
Or maybe like the bakery that refuses to make a cake for a protected class...?

Hmmm... yep.

Any thoughts?

thanks folks

Good luck to you all.

A MALE HUMAN ?? WHERE ARE YOU ol Buddy !?

[Billy Batts]

Old timer here.

Back in it for a friend taking this test.

Can anyone give some direction on Remedy/Con Law ?

I saw a few posts/concerns already, but wondering if anyone new has some advice on these two together?

You think this is a remedy that is unconcstutnoial ?

Or a constitutional remedy for an alleged government (or private) wrong? (ie: all this current immigration stuff, or funding for the wall ..?)
Or maybe like the bakery that refuses to make a cake for a protected class...?

Hmmm... yep.

Any thoughts?

thanks folks

Good luck to you all.

A MALE HUMAN ?? WHERE ARE YOU ol Buddy !?

I think the fact that remedies is listed before con law in the name of the question may have some significance. For example, in February 2019, Question 4 was identified as "evidence/civil procedure," but civ pro was just a very minor portion. If con law is just a very minor issue, the question would be what remedy would have a constitutional implication.