February 2016 California Bar Exam Forum

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Anyone taking the exam in Sacramento? I am staying at The Residence Inn, but would prefer to find something cheaper if possible.

I stayed at a Quality Inn, a 5-minute walk to the convention hall. Good price and the manager was flexible with checkout times since he knew we were taking the bar.

Bring earplugs in case they still have metal banging next door at 2 am.

Thanks for the info I might stay there.

[BrokenMouse]

Has everyone gone through the outline for all the subjects? I feel like I am studying way too slow and not enough.

[rcharter1978]

Has everyone gone through the outline for all the subjects? I feel like I am studying way too slow and not enough.

me too, it took me multiple days to get through corporations I'm trying to speed up now.

[Raiden]

super slow on going through my outlines too, I have barely touched the california subjects, need start doing those essays asap. Only 3 weeks left!

[barprepblues]

Need to hurry as well. My essays need improvement, and Barbri's course just started CA topics.

[Raiden]

Call me crazy, but for CA topics that are only tested on essays, wouldn't it just be more efficient to study the essays instead of an outline? After all these years, there are probably only so many issues that they consistently use in certain permutations.

[a male human]

Call me crazy, but for CA topics that are only tested on essays, wouldn't it just be more efficient to study the essays instead of an outline? After all these years, there are probably only so many issues that they consistently use in certain permutations.

That's true for all subjects, though.

As a devil's advocate argument, I might even go as far as to say that CA subjects need more attention on outlines because they don't have MBE questions to help you understand the rules. But then again historically there are only 2-3 CA subjects each exam (vs. 3-4 MBE subjects). You know what, just study it all, fuck

Ultimately, though, do what works for you. At this point of my studies 2 years ago, I both studied outlines and practiced for all subjects. What differed was how I spent more/less time on certain subjects based on how comfortable I was with them and/or how long they were (how much stuff I had to know).

Here was my schedule:

[+] Spoiler

You shouldn't copy it, but here's my rationale for my schedule (which you can use for ideas)...

For essays, there were two cycles:
In the 1st cycle (1/19 – 2/13), I gave 2 days to subjects that (i) I wasn’t as comfortable with and/or (ii) were longer like Contracts or Property, 1 day for subjects that (i) I was more confident with and/or (ii) were shorter.

For 2-day subjects, I dedicated (i) one day for review and learning and (ii) the other day for practice. For 1-day subjects, I did both review and practice within the day. Open-note practice is acceptable, but this needs to be weaned out ASAP.

I allocated one day (on 2/14) as a buffer to catch up to any falling behind or get ahead of the 2nd cycle. (also my birthday)

In the 2nd cycle (2/15 – 2/23), I dedicated each remaining day for practicing multiple subjects. Turns out practice is what lets you memorize rules and see how to raise issues.

Closed-note practice is a must here, at least to force you to frequently recall the issues and rules. Use notes to verify your issues and rules and to cross-reference with answers, of course. Keep in mind:
– Frequent recall is the basis for memorization.
– Essay cooking will come in most handy here since you (probably) have a good handle on the subjects and how to apply the rules.
– Don’t be afraid to redo questions.

In both cycles, I ordered the subjects such that my toughest subjects were later so that I had a better chance of remembering them.

(I admit I took into consideration online predictions, hence Community Property being so early on despite my subpar understanding because I decided incorrectly that it wouldn’t appear. I recommend against this because all subjects are fair game, which I think I noted some time ago. Imagine my disappointment when a shaky subject that I last studied for 10 days ago came up.)

MBE practice was mostly daily (the shaded bar across all days).
Remember to monitor which subjects or areas you’re weakest (such as the worst 3 subjects) and place emphasis on them.

A full, 200-question mock MBE was near the beginning of February (2/5, Wednesday). This is a good place to identify your weak areas. Emanuel’s Strats and Tacts Vol. 1 is perfect for this because it has a full exam of real questions plus explanations, as well as categorization of each question in the full exam.

PT was almost weekly (on Tuesday afternoons it looks like, most likely because that’s when PTs are on the bar).

PT days were inevitably shorter, so I scheduled 1.5 essay days for subjects where (i) my confidence level wasn’t the best but still high and/or (ii) that were shorter.

[captainplanet]

Call me crazy, but for CA topics that are only tested on essays, wouldn't it just be more efficient to study the essays instead of an outline? After all these years, there are probably only so many issues that they consistently use in certain permutations.

I recommend studying the essays for all the subjects, because the same topics come up again and again. In the week leading up to the exam, I went through and memorized the rule statements in the essay answers in the Barbri essay book (I did 5 per subject). I wrote them out by hand again and again and repeated them in my head (translated and simplified to the way I would naturally write them, not word-for-word from the book) until I had them down cold. This absolutely saved me during the exam. This will get you through the main issues for most essay topics, but to get the rarer issues, or the sub-issues, the outline is important.

[InTheWideLand I Walk]

Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 2, who does not record

then, Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 3, who records

the recording staute says “ a conveyance of an estate in land, other than a lease for less than one year, shall not be valid as against any subsequent purchaser for value, except such persons having notice of it, unless the conveyance is properly recorded.”

who has superior rights to blackacre, person 2 or person 3?

[MrMustache]

Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 2, who does not record

then, Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 3, who records

the recording staute says “ a conveyance of an estate in land, other than a lease for less than one year, shall not be valid as against any subsequent purchaser for value, except such persons having notice of it, unless the conveyance is properly recorded.”

who has superior rights to blackacre, person 2 or person 3?

Person 2. The recording statutes only protect bona fide purchasers for consideration. Here, P3 is not a bone fide purchaser because he got blackacre as a gift. Thus, P3 is not protected by the notice statute, so P2's rights to blackacre remain superior to P3.

However, Person 2 failed to record, so he'll still be under "threat" until he does. If P1 goes ahead and sells blackacre to P4, P4 will have superior rights to P2 even without recording anything.

[Metal_Inquisition]

Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 2, who does not record

then, Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 3, who records

the recording staute says “ a conveyance of an estate in land, other than a lease for less than one year, shall not be valid as against any subsequent purchaser for value, except such persons having notice of it, unless the conveyance is properly recorded.”

who has superior rights to blackacre, person 2 or person 3?

Person 2. The recording statutes only protect bona fide purchasers for consideration. Here, P3 is not a bone fide purchaser because he got blackacre as a gift. Thus, P3 is not protected by the notice statute, so P2's rights to blackacre remain superior to P3.

However, Person 2 failed to record, so he'll still be under "threat" until he does. If P1 goes ahead and sells blackacre to P4, P4 will have superior rights to P2 even without recording anything.

In what scenario would the shelter rule kick in? Would it not kick in here, since P1 wouldn't be labeled as a BFP (since hes the original grantor?)

[MrMustache]

Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 2, who does not record

then, Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 3, who records

the recording staute says “ a conveyance of an estate in land, other than a lease for less than one year, shall not be valid as against any subsequent purchaser for value, except such persons having notice of it, unless the conveyance is properly recorded.”

who has superior rights to blackacre, person 2 or person 3?

Person 2. The recording statutes only protect bona fide purchasers for consideration. Here, P3 is not a bone fide purchaser because he got blackacre as a gift. Thus, P3 is not protected by the notice statute, so P2's rights to blackacre remain superior to P3.

However, Person 2 failed to record, so he'll still be under "threat" until he does. If P1 goes ahead and sells blackacre to P4, P4 will have superior rights to P2 even without recording anything.

In what scenario would the shelter rule kick in? Would it not kick in here, since P1 wouldn't be labeled as a BFP (since hes the original grantor?)

Yes. Shelter rule kicks in when someone buys the property from the BFP. Let's say P1 purchased Blackacre after the original grantor had sold Blackacre to someone else, and that someone else did not record. P1 would then be the BFP, and P2 in this question would be protected by the shelter rule from claims of the unnamed party.


I think a better example would be this. P2 did not record. P1 then sells blackacre to P3. P3 is now a BFP. Then P4 comes along. P4 hates P2 and he knows that P2 paid for Blackacre first, so he has actual notice of the conveyance. But P4 is like "f*** P2, I'll rub Blackacre in his face." P4 goes and buys blackacre from P3. Even though P4 had notice of P2, he will be protected b the Shelter Rule and keep the land.

[nelife22]

So...for whatever reason I cannot comprehend remedies...does anyone have any advice or material they recommend. I'm a repeater and for whatever reason up until now Remedies still kills me. Thanks!

[juniormint33]

So...for whatever reason I cannot comprehend remedies...does anyone have any advice or material they recommend. I'm a repeater and for whatever reason up until now Remedies still kills me. Thanks!

Are you utilizing past exams? For me, it helps to think of remedies in either a Tort world or a Contracts world, and not just as this stand alone thing.

[nelife22]

So...for whatever reason I cannot comprehend remedies...does anyone have any advice or material they recommend. I'm a repeater and for whatever reason up until now Remedies still kills me. Thanks!

Are you utilizing past exams? For me, it helps to think of remedies in either a Tort world or a Contracts world, and not just as this stand alone thing.

Yeah, I've been using baressays.com to look over past exams and have spent some time really going over them. I have a tutor and practiced a Remedies exam and her response after reviewing the exam was....you really don't know remedies. So I'll keep trying...

[Metal_Inquisition]

Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 2, who does not record

then, Person 1 grants blackacre as a gift to person 3, who records

the recording staute says “ a conveyance of an estate in land, other than a lease for less than one year, shall not be valid as against any subsequent purchaser for value, except such persons having notice of it, unless the conveyance is properly recorded.”

who has superior rights to blackacre, person 2 or person 3?

Person 2. The recording statutes only protect bona fide purchasers for consideration. Here, P3 is not a bone fide purchaser because he got blackacre as a gift. Thus, P3 is not protected by the notice statute, so P2's rights to blackacre remain superior to P3.

However, Person 2 failed to record, so he'll still be under "threat" until he does. If P1 goes ahead and sells blackacre to P4, P4 will have superior rights to P2 even without recording anything.

In what scenario would the shelter rule kick in? Would it not kick in here, since P1 wouldn't be labeled as a BFP (since hes the original grantor?)

Yes. Shelter rule kicks in when someone buys the property from the BFP. Let's say P1 purchased Blackacre after the original grantor had sold Blackacre to someone else, and that someone else did not record. P1 would then be the BFP, and P2 in this question would be protected by the shelter rule from claims of the unnamed party.


I think a better example would be this. P2 did not record. P1 then sells blackacre to P3. P3 is now a BFP. Then P4 comes along. P4 hates P2 and he knows that P2 paid for Blackacre first, so he has actual notice of the conveyance. But P4 is like "f*** P2, I'll rub Blackacre in his face." P4 goes and buys blackacre from P3. Even though P4 had notice of P2, he will be protected b the Shelter Rule and keep the land.

Ah, thank you!

[Metal_Inquisition]

So...for whatever reason I cannot comprehend remedies...does anyone have any advice or material they recommend. I'm a repeater and for whatever reason up until now Remedies still kills me. Thanks!

Are you utilizing past exams? For me, it helps to think of remedies in either a Tort world or a Contracts world, and not just as this stand alone thing.

Yeah, I've been using baressays.com to look over past exams and have spent some time really going over them. I have a tutor and practiced a Remedies exam and her response after reviewing the exam was....you really don't know remedies. So I'll keep trying...

Have you tried handwriting out your own outline? Remedies is short enough to where you can actually handwrite a full outline. Or at least handwrite out the elements of the rules that you are having trouble with. I did that for specific performance and injunctions for remedies and it really helped me. Also, Remedies essay July 2008 is great one to go over. It's got so many issues to work out that taking the time (without time constraints since the exercise is to learn) to do that essay and review the answers and the laws, is really worth it. Good luck!

[Raiden]

So riddle me this, adaptibar is suppose to use only actual bar exam questions, then where in the world are they getting these civ pro questions?

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

So riddle me this, adaptibar is suppose to use only actual bar exam questions, then where in the world are they getting these civ pro questions?

Yeah...I was reading their promo material, and somewhere buried in there they say 1500+ actual MBE questions plus 200 Civ Pro questions...which implies the civ pro q's are not actual MBE q's. I think they just authored the civ pro questions themselves and made them really hard. But why isn't the NCBE licensing the past actual Civ Pro questions? Is there a moratorium before they license questions?

[jackbauer10]

This may be a dumb question, but is there a limit on how many CA essays they can give us? From the past essay frequency chart I have, it looks like it can be as high as 4 CA subjects and 2 MBE subjects. Is this right? Should we be scared?

[Raiden]

This may be a dumb question, but is there a limit on how many CA essays they can give us? From the past essay frequency chart I have, it looks like it can be as high as 4 CA subjects and 2 MBE subjects. Is this right? Should we be scared?

Considering that I haven't studied any of the california subjects yet really, I am inclined to say yes. But since you are Jack Bauer, no we shouldn't be scared.

[BrokenMouse]

This may be a dumb question, but is there a limit on how many CA essays they can give us? From the past essay frequency chart I have, it looks like it can be as high as 4 CA subjects and 2 MBE subjects. Is this right? Should we be scared?

Any topic is fair game including ca civ pro.

[rcharter1978]

This may be a dumb question, but is there a limit on how many CA essays they can give us? From the past essay frequency chart I have, it looks like it can be as high as 4 CA subjects and 2 MBE subjects. Is this right? Should we be scared?

Any topic is fair game including ca civ pro.

Be warned those of you testing on Ontario, if there is a question on CA civ pro, or CA evidence -- I'm likely to be that examinee that goes batshit in the testing facility.

[RoseBuddy]

Wow! Had no idea this forum existed. Failed July 2015, will be taking the bar again Feb 2016 in Oakland. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one in this position (though I'm sorry to everyone who has to so this again). Really starting to stress out and afraid I am just paying money to fail again. I really hope it sticks this time because I can't imagine doing this all over...I shouldn't even be posting here right now haha! Ok back to studying...and good luck everyone If any other SF/Oakland test takers want to chat, let me know.

[rcharter1978]

Wow! Had no idea this forum existed. Failed July 2015, will be taking the bar again Feb 2016 in Oakland. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one in this position (though I'm sorry to everyone who has to so this again). Really starting to stress out and afraid I am just paying money to fail again. I really hope it sticks this time because I can't imagine doing this all over...I shouldn't even be posting here right now haha! Ok back to studying...and good luck everyone If any other SF/Oakland test takers want to chat, let me know.

I feel the exact same way. Sucks having the exact same conversation with my family that I had six months ago ("don't ask me about the exam, I will tell you in my own time," "there may be tears, which I will hide from you," "I will probably not want to see anyone for awhile") and trying to convince myself that third times the charm.