February 2016 California Bar Exam Forum

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Any advice for Pasadena? Is it too cold inside the test room?

I was there July 2015. Seems fine to me. I believe the building is a newer construction, so the temp control should be decent. Women's bathroom lines were long though from what I saw.

[Zaizei]

What is the CA rule as it relates to contingency fees in divorce matters?

I am seeing conflicting sources.

Allowed if it doesn't encourage divorce.

[BrokenMouse]

Wow Emanuel MBE 100 AM questions were pretty good. The review answers are very very good. I will thumbs up on this and recommend.

I noticed that I got accuracy raging anywhere from 70%-90% on each subject. These are supposedly real MBE questions. Although accuracy on each subject has improved, the overall accuracy out of the total was still only 68% which is almost an average. My hope is it will improve to 75% overall and I will be happy.

[lakers3peat]

well hopefully i didnt screw myself again but i had planned to spend this final week really grilling essays. cooking them out big time, but somehow managed to end up reviewing outlines too much. Hopeflly these last 3 days I can get some more essay practice in. I did like 6 pts and I realized a big mistake that i have is spending too much time trying to make 1 issue sound pretty then end up rushing analysis on the later one... ALthough its quite random and I have no idea how my pts are going to end up. Maybe i get lucky. EVeryone was saying pt-A was the hard one in july but i got a 65 on that one but a 50 on pt-B. jeez a 50 is so crippling. Our pts count more than any other states. IS it worth doing more of these??

gl to all.

[attjen]

What is the CA rule as it relates to contingency fees in divorce matters?

I am seeing conflicting sources.

Allowed if it doesn't encourage divorce.

Thanks!

[attjen]

Any advice for Pasadena? Is it too cold inside the test room?

I was there July 2015. Seems fine to me. I believe the building is a newer construction, so the temp control should be decent. Women's bathroom lines were long though from what I saw.

What about the Oakland convention center??? I'm from a tropical island and can barely handle a gentle chill.

Also, for those who were asking...I called the San Fran Cali Bar office and they said we are "required to go and see the location" on Monday between 2-4...Don't think I can spare the study time though.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Also, for those who were asking...I called the San Fran Cali Bar office and they said we are "required to go and see the location" on Monday between 2-4...Don't think I can spare the study time though.

Why? That sounds strange.

[MrMustache]

What is the CA rule as it relates to contingency fees in divorce matters?

I am seeing conflicting sources.

In CA, contingency fees in Divorce Matters are allowed, as long as the agreement doesn't promote dissolution of a savable marriage.

[a male human]

Wow Emanuel MBE 100 AM questions were pretty good. The review answers are very very good. I will thumbs up on this and recommend.

I noticed that I got accuracy raging anywhere from 70%-90% on each subject. These are supposedly real MBE questions. Although accuracy on each subject has improved, the overall accuracy out of the total was still only 68% which is almost an average. My hope is it will improve to 75% overall and I will be happy.

Nice dude, excited for you! I got like 135/200 on the entire thing when I took it mid-February.

[nelife22]

Are there any bar essay predictions besides that doctor guy on Youtube? I heard Professor Heilman(??) usually has one out for each exam. I think he was half right last time for July. Would appreciate it if someone can share a link.

Heilman breaks them down by likeliness of being seen on the test. He has a full length e-mail that breaks down the previously tested subjects since 2011 and a description of what he thinks may show up. Unfortunately, if you cross over his predictions with Bar Guru, all the subject are basically predicted...hope this helps.

More likely:
PR, Evidence, Con Law, Torts, Crimes, Wills/Trusts

Possible Subjects:
Contracts, Community Property, Remedies

Less likely:
BA, Civ Pro, Real Property

[a male human]

My predictions:

Business Association may show up
Community Property may show up
Civil Procedure (federal or CA -- hot potato!) may show up
Constitutional Law may show up
Contracts may show up
Criminal Law may show up
Criminal Procedure may show up
Evidence (federal or CA) may show up
Professional Responsibility (ABA and/or CA) may show up
Real Property may show up
Remedies may show up
Torts may show up
Wills & Trusts may show up
Crossovers of any of the above may show up

[MrMustache]

My predictions:

Business Association may show up
Community Property may show up
Civil Procedure (federal or CA -- hot potato!) may show up
Constitutional Law may show up
Contracts may show up
Criminal Law may show up
Criminal Procedure may show up
Evidence (federal or CA) may show up
Professional Responsibility (ABA and/or CA) may show up
Real Property may show up
Remedies may show up
Torts may show up
Wills & Trusts may show up
Crossovers of any of the above may show up

I like these predictions, they are more trustworthy. Heilman predicted as many subjects for July and STILL manages to miss some.

[BrokenMouse]

So the consensus is that evidence and contracts WILL SHOW UP and all others are equally probable.

[RoseBuddy]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

[a male human]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

Practice.

[jackbauer10]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

I'm with you. I've been pretty positive this whole time but the last few days have been close to unbearable. Today I'm on Prof. Resp (per Barbri) which I KNOW will be on there, but I can't bring myself to focus. I want to cry, or sleep, or both. Part of me feels like I know it and I'm just struggling today. The other part of me thinks I'm totally effed.

[RoseBuddy]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

I'm with you. I've been pretty positive this whole time but the last few days have been close to unbearable. Today I'm on Prof. Resp (per Barbri) which I KNOW will be on there, but I can't bring myself to focus. I want to cry, or sleep, or both. Part of me feels like I know it and I'm just struggling today. The other part of me thinks I'm totally effed.

I know exactly how you feel. Waking up has been the worst thing to do these past few days. I've been having a lot of trouble focusing too, which sucks because then it takes me longer to do everything, and I have to push something back, and then I get stressed all over again. It's miserable, I almost just want to say screw it and sleep all day lol. But we're almost there. And I'm sure you understand it and it will come to you as you are writing. Good luck

[fadedsunrise]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

I'm with you. I've been pretty positive this whole time but the last few days have been close to unbearable. Today I'm on Prof. Resp (per Barbri) which I KNOW will be on there, but I can't bring myself to focus. I want to cry, or sleep, or both. Part of me feels like I know it and I'm just struggling today. The other part of me thinks I'm totally effed.

I think I've hit an all time low today on misery today too. Most of the time I can focus very well, or if I get sidetracked it will only be for 20 min, half an hour, hell an extra hour than I planned for, and then the study time is made up the next day.

Today I tried two essays, misread major parts of both, got a series of MBEs wrong, gave up for lunch after three hours and now after lunch still can't bring myself to focus.

[RoseBuddy]

Wow, how do people pass this thing? There are just too many rules to memorize. And you can't just know the rules, but how to use them...ugh. I feel like such a mess right now trying to make the most out of these last few days. I cannot wait until this time next week

Practice.

Thanks for the link! I've been trying to do a mix of practice/memorizing, but I just feel so crammed for time and there are so many subjects.

[barprepblues]

Stupid question... are we allowed to bring a small backpack to carry our laptops into the exam room with?

[RoseBuddy]

Stupid question... are we allowed to bring a small backpack to carry our laptops into the exam room with?

No. You have to bring all your stuff in a clear ziploc bag. There is a page with info regarding what you can bring/cant bring into the exam.

[barprepblues]

Stupid question... are we allowed to bring a small backpack to carry our laptops into the exam room with?

No. You have to bring all your stuff in a clear ziploc bag. There is a page with info regarding what you can bring/cant bring into the exam.

How do we fit a laptop in a ziplock bag??

[Zaizei]

Stupid question... are we allowed to bring a small backpack to carry our laptops into the exam room with?

No. You have to bring all your stuff in a clear ziploc bag. There is a page with info regarding what you can bring/cant bring into the exam.

How do we fit a laptop in a ziplock bag??

hahahahaha this is just what I needed to read

[RoseBuddy]

Stupid question... are we allowed to bring a small backpack to carry our laptops into the exam room with?

No. You have to bring all your stuff in a clear ziploc bag. There is a page with info regarding what you can bring/cant bring into the exam.

How do we fit a laptop in a ziplock bag??

Sorry, the laptop doesn't have to be placed in the bag lol (but all the other stuff does, like a pens, etc.) You just have to carry your laptop in.

When I took it in Oakland, there was a space for people to leave prohibited items outside of the exam room, but it's at your own risk if someone steals your stuff. But it depends on the set up of where you are taking it, I can only speak about the Oakland test center.

You can only bring in certain items that are allowed into the exam room, there is a list somewhere on the bar website.

http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Portals ... 0216_R.pdf - see page 2.

[rcharter1978]

My predictions:

Business Association may show up
Community Property may show up
Civil Procedure (federal or CA -- hot potato!) may show up
Constitutional Law may show up
Contracts may show up
Criminal Law may show up
Criminal Procedure may show up
Evidence (federal or CA) may show up
Professional Responsibility (ABA and/or CA) may show up
Real Property may show up
Remedies may show up
Torts may show up
Wills & Trusts may show up
Crossovers of any of the above may show up

If California evidence shows up, I'm going to fake a heart attack. Its going to be loud and ugly, so I apologize in advance to those of you in Ontario.