Just Failed CA Bar for the 6th Time... Forum

[NY_Sea]

I'm posting this here because I came across this issue in a sample Civ Pro MBE question. AFAIK my Barbri notes does not cover this issue.

Is there diversity jurisdiction with these facts?
Plaintiff citizen of State B
Defendant corporation's second largest plant in State A, largest plant in State B, incorporated in State C, Board of Dir. in State D.
Amount in controversy excess of $75K

I initially thought there was no diversity jurisdiction because the P and D share a citizenship state (State B). But the answer explanation said there is diversity jurisdiction on these facts. So does that mean a D corporation can choose its citizenship state in order to satisfy diversity?

A person resides where they live (State B for P in your example)... A corporation resides where it is incorporated (State C in your example) or their principal place of business. In this example, I would say the principle place of business is state D, since the Board of Directors are there and that's where all the big decisions are being made. Having manufacturing plants wouldn't be considered the principle place of business, so the corp doesn't reside in either A or B.

There's diversity because P resides in State B (because he's a citizen of state B) and the corp resides in either State C or D and that the amount in controversy is OVER $75k... Be sure to remember it has to exceed $75k, because I'm sure there will be a Q where the amount in controversy is EXACTLY $75k, which would not be good enough.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

I'm posting this here because I came across this issue in a sample Civ Pro MBE question. AFAIK my Barbri notes does not cover this issue.

Is there diversity jurisdiction with these facts?
Plaintiff citizen of State B
Defendant corporation's second largest plant in State A, largest plant in State B, incorporated in State C, Board of Dir. in State D.
Amount in controversy excess of $75K

I initially thought there was no diversity jurisdiction because the P and D share a citizenship state (State B). But the answer explanation said there is diversity jurisdiction on these facts. So does that mean a D corporation can choose its citizenship state in order to satisfy diversity?

A person resides where they live (State B for P in your example)... A corporation resides where it is incorporated (State C in your example) or their principal place of business. In this example, I would say the principle place of business is state D, since the Board of Directors are there and that's where all the big decisions are being made. Having manufacturing plants wouldn't be considered the principle place of business, so the corp doesn't reside in either A or B.

There's diversity because P resides in State B (because he's a citizen of state B) and the corp resides in either State C or D and that the amount in controversy is OVER $75k... Be sure to remember it has to exceed $75k, because I'm sure there will be a Q where the amount in controversy is EXACTLY $75k, which would not be good enough.

Ah I see...so "primary place of business" is HQ, not manufacturing plants. Ok thanks.

Wondering though, let's say P is resident of State D. Can the defendant still remove to fed court claiming diversity jurisdiction by choosing State C (incorporation state) as its citizenship state? Or is the corporation a citizen of State C & D at the same time, and thus no diversity with state D Plaintiff?

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Ah I see...so "primary place of business" is HQ, not manufacturing plants. Ok thanks.

Wondering though, let's say P is resident of State D. Can the defendant still remove to fed court claiming diversity jurisdiction by choosing State C (incorporation state) as its citizenship state? Or is the corporation a citizen of State C & D at the same time, and thus no diversity with state D Plaintiff?

Nevermind, I think I got it from some other notes...no diversity in the 2nd scenario. The primary place of business through me off on the first scenario. Thanks for clearing that up NY_Sea.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

After reviewing more notes, apparently manufacturing location is sufficient for "principle place of business" (PPB), when evaluating CA state court general personal jurisdiction. But manufacturing location is not sufficient for PPB when evaluating fed court diversity jurisdiction. Anyone disagree?

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Pretty pissed right now...I just finished reviewing one of my bar essays that scored a 55. Then I compared it to a 70 essay or Baressays.com. The 70 essay covered the exact same issues as mine, and also missed the exact same issues as mine. And we both irac'd!!! So pissed right now at the large point discrepancy!!!

[KatieSpades]

Pretty pissed right now...I just finished reviewing one of my bar essays that scored a 55. Then I compared it to a 70 essay or Baressays.com. The 70 essay covered the exact same issues as mine, and also missed the exact same issues as mine. And we both irac'd!!! So pissed right now at the large point discrepancy!!!

That is really infuriating. I'm convinced that I've had some essays where the grader only looked at the headings before giving me a score. Did the 70 essay use different headings or organize it any differently at all? It's all so arbitrary, really.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

Pretty pissed right now...I just finished reviewing one of my bar essays that scored a 55. Then I compared it to a 70 essay or Baressays.com. The 70 essay covered the exact same issues as mine, and also missed the exact same issues as mine. And we both irac'd!!! So pissed right now at the large point discrepancy!!!

That is really infuriating. I'm convinced that I've had some essays where the grader only looked at the headings before giving me a score. Did the 70 essay use different headings or organize it any differently at all? It's all so arbitrary, really.

Yea my heading closely matched-up with the 70 essay too. And the organization was the same too (BTW it was Q3 from Feb 2015). Just to make myself feel better, I am treating this as if the 70 essay got was the wrong grade, and mine got the correct grade...because if is the other way around, I'd be still be upset for days.

[BrokenMouse]

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[needaday]

Pretty pissed right now...I just finished reviewing one of my bar essays that scored a 55. Then I compared it to a 70 essay or Baressays.com. The 70 essay covered the exact same issues as mine, and also missed the exact same issues as mine. And we both irac'd!!! So pissed right now at the large point discrepancy!!!

That is really infuriating. I'm convinced that I've had some essays where the grader only looked at the headings before giving me a score. Did the 70 essay use different headings or organize it any differently at all? It's all so arbitrary, really.

Yea my heading closely matched-up with the 70 essay too. And the organization was the same too (BTW it was Q3 from Feb 2015). Just to make myself feel better, I am treating this as if the 70 essay got was the wrong grade, and mine got the correct grade...because if is the other way around, I'd be still be upset for days.

I'm a firm believer that bar graders are straight up incompetent assholes who don't fully do their jobs. So little is at stake for them (a few bucks per essays?) but so much for us. There are multiple essays I felt deserved 70+ but ended up getting a 60.

i volunteer robinhood to review your essays and see if he agrees that they deserved higher scores. i'm simply curious (and likely dont have the skill to do a proper analysis myself), though the results could be very eye-opening for you guys. Either you are correct and can take comfort in the fact that you prepared for and wrote the essays the "right" way or you are incorrect and the exercise will help you properly assess your weaknesses in order to kill the exam in Feb. i admit that i am skeptical when ppl claim their essays should've gotten higher scores (probably b/c it makes me feel better). at the same time, i'm a firm believer that the essay grading can at times be completely arbitrary. go figure.

[FinallyPassedTheBar]

i volunteer robinhood to review your essays and see if he agrees that they deserved higher scores. i'm simply curious (and likely dont have the skill to do a proper analysis myself), though the results could be very eye-opening for you guys. Either you are correct and can take comfort in the fact that you prepared for and wrote the essays the "right" way or you are incorrect and the exercise will help you properly assess your weaknesses in order to kill the exam in Feb. i admit that i am skeptical when ppl claim their essays should've gotten higher scores (probably b/c it makes me feel better). at the same time, i'm a firm believer that the essay grading can at times be completely arbitrary. go figure.

I am not necessarily disputing that my 55 grade was justified...just shocked that a very similar essay got a 70 grade. That large point discrepancy makes me suspicious regarding the fairness of essay grading overall. I would be up for someone to compare my 55 against the 70...but not entirely sure it is kosher to redistribute essays from Baressays.com (probably not)

[BrokenMouse]

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[narfkarta]

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 1&t=221012

[BrokenMouse]

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[starryski]

...never have I been so depressed.

Failed attempts:
July 2001
Feb 2002
July 2002
July 2003
Feb 2015
July 2015

(graduated from an ABA school that straddles the 3rd/4th tier)

i feel for you. what were your MBE scores? i would recommend a tutor. i dont know much else to say i failed NY July 2015 by 5 points

[Icametowin]

Any Oakland California hotel recommendations? $100 or less.

[cbr2019]

I am researching the numbers and "difficulty" of past exams, specifically the raw score per essay that was needed to pass; & was wondering if any unsuccessful applicants still had their "Info For Unsuccessful Applicants" memo?

What I need from this memo is the equation for "written scaled score" under the "phased grading" section.
For example: in Feb 2018 it was 1440=((Raw written score x 4.6947) - 601.6471)

So far the raw scores per essay that I have calculated are as follows for those interested (assuming the standard for passing as 1440):
Feb 2019: 61.8
Jul 2018: 61.18
Feb 2018: 62.09
Jul 2017: 61.758
Feb 2017: 62.7
Feb 2016: 61.6743
(Need to go back and correct for sig-figs.)

I also could use the equation for July 2016, and 2015 - 2009.

This info is not easily found online, so unless you know someone who had the unfortunate experience of receiving such a memo, it's impossible.

Any help would be appreciated.