Themis Bar Review Hangout - July 2014 Exam Forum

[071816]

I'm on the MBE Torts lecture with Sherman Clark. Now I get what everyone was saying about him looking to the left. Like every 30 seconds!

I like to think he's in the witness protection program but he's just compelled to talk about torts, man. He's risking his life! FOR US!

Or maybe he smoked dust before he got on camera

[Shane]

How are you guys memorizing all this stuff?

[JoeFish]

How are you guys memorizing all this stuff?

Writing it down helps. Like, I have a notebook where, whenever I get an MBE question wrong, or misstate (or flat out miss) elements or factors or something in an essay, I'll write down exactly what the rule is.

Also flashcards. I've never made flashcards for anything in my life, but I'm chillaxing at my parents' place this summer so I can sit on the couch and say "mom come ask me these 147 questions about the proper formulations of torts, conlaw, evidence, etc rules and elements and such." I really hope that by the 12th time I am asked the same question (like "what are the elements of assault") I'll be able not just to mumble something like "umm... act and... apprehension... and... intent... and reasonable something" but be able to say "Yo dawg it's 'the plaintiff's reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive bodily contact caused by the defendant's action or threat with the intent to cause either the apprehension of such contact or the contact itself.'"

In fact, I plan on beginning every one of my Pennsylvania Essay questions with "Yo dawg"

[dudnaito]

How are you guys memorizing all this stuff?

Through smartness. OH SNAP son, no i just didn't.

Ahem, i use a software program called Anki, it's a flashcard program

[ConsiderMeMilesDavis]

Considering Adaptibar for more questions. If using AB, are you watching their lectures too or just doing questions?

FL taker at 11%. About to kick it up a notch (putting down the big outlines)

CMR + Lectures and handouts + tons of questions.

[nowinGA]

Does anyone else not have the MBE Criminal Law and Procedure Outlines assigned? And no MBE lectures available? I only have my state (NY) distinctions outlines assigned, and those are the only lectures provided. Not sure what's up with that.

Anyone else?

FYI, for anyone doing NY, I got an answer:

The generic MS outlines for both Criminal Law and Criminal Proceudre are not assigned. The reason is that there is SO much NY local law to learn, that the NY Distinctions almost envelop the MS Law. Thus, the two have been incorporated TOGETHER into the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure NY Distinctions Outlines and the NY Lectures for your convenience.
Because these subjects are so important and are tested on both days of the exam, we have done some of the work for you to make the subjects manageable.
See the Editor's Note on page 1 of the NY Criminal Law and NY Criminal Procedure Distinctions Outlines for further clarification about the contents.
Good Luck.

[Bronx Bum]

People taking NY+NJ -

I have 3 big books (& 2 little ones i'm ignoring for now), NY Vol 1 and 2, and NJ + Multistate. It says on the Themis site that for the NJ bar, we have to know "All MBE distinctions plus New Jersey Civil Procedure"

NJ Civil Procedure is distinguished in the NJ + Multistate book. NY Vol 2 has MBE Distinctions, but only NY's distinctions are pointed out for each topic, not NJ's. Are we supposed to assume that the NJ ones are the same as NY?

Of course not. NJ civil proocedure is basically the SAME as Federal Civ. Let me tell you a little something. Last year I took the NY/NJ. I didn't TOUCH NJ civil procedure or anything NJ throughout my entire bar studying. I had it planned that I would briefly look over a NJ civil procedure outline the night before the NJ exam (3rd day).

Well, on the night of the MBE, after I was completely done with NY, I sat in my bed, watched Seinfeld, and fell asleep. I never looked over the NJ. I also didn't study federal civil procedure throughout the bar. I literally walked into the NJ bar NEVER studying or seeing ANYTHING relating to NJ law.

Passed. You know why? Because every single essay only tests MBE subjects. Yeah yeah yeah, there's one essay that's on NJ civil procedure. They always throw it in to confuse the NY people taking it. Last year it was class actions. I know nothing about class actions. I B.S.'d for a few paragraphs about how there has to be a class and everyone has to have the same problem and I made up a NUMBER of how many people had to be in a class to "certify it". All made up. But I wrote it like I knew what I was talking about.

Point is: for NJ, if you do ok on the MBE and write SOMETHING, you're going to pass.

[nowinGA]

I realize we've beat this topic to death, but: do you get a notification in the communication center when your Graded Essay's are graded? Or do you just have to keep checking the myProgress tab link? I just did my first one yesterday (was out of town all last weekend). Apparently if you're late they can take 4 days to get it back to you. (Lame)

I also haven't gotten a call from my Adviser yet. Anyone else?

[Kincade12]

I realize we've beat this topic to death, but: do you get a notification in the communication center when your Graded Essay's are graded? Or do you just have to keep checking the myProgress tab link? I just did my first one yesterday (was out of town all last weekend). Apparently if you're late they can take 4 days to get it back to you. (Lame)

I also haven't gotten a call from my Adviser yet. Anyone else?

I received an e-mail when my essay was graded. And I haven't gotten a call yet either.

[klbisho4]

Considering Adaptibar for more questions. If using AB, are you watching their lectures too or just doing questions?

FL taker at 11%. About to kick it up a notch (putting down the big outlines)

CMR + Lectures and handouts + tons of questions.

I've been using Adaptibar since Feb. and I just bought access to the multiple choice questions. Been doing them as a supplement to Themis'. I feel they are more straightforward in regards to the law with their answers.

[klbisho4]

Just got my first graded essay back. For FL takers it was a torts essay. I was concerned when I got a 41/100, but then I noticed the average was a 22/100. My grader was pretty good too. They provided great comments and help with organizational structure.

[Xifeng]

I realize we've beat this topic to death, but: do you get a notification in the communication center when your Graded Essay's are graded? Or do you just have to keep checking the myProgress tab link? I just did my first one yesterday (was out of town all last weekend). Apparently if you're late they can take 4 days to get it back to you. (Lame)

I also haven't gotten a call from my Adviser yet. Anyone else?

I received an e-mail when my essay was graded. And I haven't gotten a call yet either.

Same for both.

[Kiwi917]

Anyone willing to share a completed lecture handout for CA remedies? I think someone mentioned earlier - it's hard to know what to put in some of the blanks because he doesn't lecture as closely to the handouts as the other professors so far. I didn't take remedies in school and had a rough time following some of the lectures. The long outline also seems sort of confusing and isn't helping me fill things in. I'm relieved at least that the essay workshop handout seems to make sense.

Also, any CA people who are "on track" in terms of the schedule, what percent are you at?

[j1987]

Those taking NY/NJ - did the Con Law lecture/outline go into the 8th Amendment at all? I have found 3 mentions of the 8th in the long outline. The reason I am asking is because I just got an essay question that required knowledge of the test required in challenging he 8th Amendment, and I feel like I missed something...

[SisyphusHappy]

How do y'all know what most people selected on an MBE question? I can see the national average overall, but can't see the individual question breakdown.

Also, checking in with 74% on the milestone, yet I haven't memorized ANY law for the essays. Banking hard on DF's MBE strategy.

[Tanicius]

Wow, Duffy was not kidding when he said that the Contracts MBE test writers are inconsistent. I'm doing my first MBE Contract's practice session, and I've got both the handout and short outline in front of me on the computer, addressing them whenever I'm unfamiliar with a concept. I'm still getting 75% of the questions wrong. Most of these problems have 2-3 answers that are legitimately correct, and the test writer just seems to have arbitrarily picked whatever answer they think is more controlling than the others.

[Kiwi917]

How do y'all know what most people selected on an MBE question? I can see the national average overall, but can't see the individual question breakdown.

Also, checking in with 74% on the milestone, yet I haven't memorized ANY law for the essays. Banking hard on DF's MBE strategy.

The little "I" button on the far right will bring up a list of all the questions in the set, and then click on "details" for a particular question to get the answer explanation and a little graph of what other people answered. It's in the same pop-up window as the explanation of the right and wrong answers.

[SisyphusHappy]

How do y'all know what most people selected on an MBE question? I can see the national average overall, but can't see the individual question breakdown.

Also, checking in with 74% on the milestone, yet I haven't memorized ANY law for the essays. Banking hard on DF's MBE strategy.

The little "I" button on the far right will bring up a list of all the questions in the set, and then click on "details" for a particular question to get the answer explanation and a little graph of what other people answered. It's in the same pop-up window as the explanation of the right and wrong answers.

Thank you!

[SilverE2]

Just got my first graded essay back. For FL takers it was a torts essay. I was concerned when I got a 41/100, but then I noticed the average was a 22/100. My grader was pretty good too. They provided great comments and help with organizational structure.

I got a 44/100. I think for Florida the "goal" is 50/100 for the essays (but of course, you should aim higher than that to be safe). I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I did not vomit out the rules but instead "made them up" as I went along, using what I was pretty sure to be the law. Apparently, rule statements don't have to be absolutely perfect and just need to kind of approximate what the law is to get credit.

Anyway, my point is, I think that we're both in a pretty good spot regarding the essays. I just hope that I don't bomb this week's.

*Edit*

As an example, if I wrote something like "a battery is an intentional unwanted touching on another person that is unreasonable," while that's a pretty terrible rule statement (and pretty terrible english to boot) I'm fairly certain I would get a decent amount of credit for it.

[Shawshank33]

Just got my first graded essay back. For FL takers it was a torts essay. I was concerned when I got a 41/100, but then I noticed the average was a 22/100. My grader was pretty good too. They provided great comments and help with organizational structure.

I got a 44/100. I think for Florida the "goal" is 50/100 for the essays (but of course, you should aim higher than that to be safe). I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I did not vomit out the rules but instead "made them up" as I went along, using what I was pretty sure to be the law. Apparently, rule statements don't have to be absolutely perfect and just need to kind of approximate what the law is to get credit.

Anyway, my point is, I think that we're both in a pretty good spot regarding the essays. I just hope that I don't bomb this week's.

*Edit*

As an example, if I wrote something like "a battery is an intentional unwanted touching on another person that is unreasonable," while that's a pretty terrible rule statement (and pretty terrible english to boot) I'm fairly certain I would get a decent amount of credit for it.

RE: Florida Torts Graded Essay... At the top of the graded essay there are three scores out of one hundred( structure, legal analysis, legal knowledge)..however, my overall score does not reflect a combined score of those three?? Did your overall score reflect the total from those three scores?

[bobanderson]

Does anyone else feel like themis is incredibly slow at answering questions? I thought I read in one of their advertisements that they answer questions within 24 hours. I have questions from last thursday that are still unanswered.

[kapital98]

Does anyone else feel like themis is incredibly slow at answering questions? I thought I read in one of their advertisements that they answer questions within 24 hours. I have questions from last thursday that are still unanswered.

Ask it again. You never know when something gets lost in the shuffle.

[SilverE2]

Just got my first graded essay back. For FL takers it was a torts essay. I was concerned when I got a 41/100, but then I noticed the average was a 22/100. My grader was pretty good too. They provided great comments and help with organizational structure.

I got a 44/100. I think for Florida the "goal" is 50/100 for the essays (but of course, you should aim higher than that to be safe). I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I did not vomit out the rules but instead "made them up" as I went along, using what I was pretty sure to be the law. Apparently, rule statements don't have to be absolutely perfect and just need to kind of approximate what the law is to get credit.

Anyway, my point is, I think that we're both in a pretty good spot regarding the essays. I just hope that I don't bomb this week's.

*Edit*

As an example, if I wrote something like "a battery is an intentional unwanted touching on another person that is unreasonable," while that's a pretty terrible rule statement (and pretty terrible english to boot) I'm fairly certain I would get a decent amount of credit for it.

RE: Florida Torts Graded Essay... At the top of the graded essay there are three scores out of one hundred( structure, legal analysis, legal knowledge)..however, my overall score does not reflect a combined score of those three?? Did your overall score reflect the total from those three scores?

No. I think the three scores are added together and then divided by 3.

[klbisho4]

Just got my first graded essay back. For FL takers it was a torts essay. I was concerned when I got a 41/100, but then I noticed the average was a 22/100. My grader was pretty good too. They provided great comments and help with organizational structure.

I got a 44/100. I think for Florida the "goal" is 50/100 for the essays (but of course, you should aim higher than that to be safe). I was pleasantly surprised, especially because I did not vomit out the rules but instead "made them up" as I went along, using what I was pretty sure to be the law. Apparently, rule statements don't have to be absolutely perfect and just need to kind of approximate what the law is to get credit.

Anyway, my point is, I think that we're both in a pretty good spot regarding the essays. I just hope that I don't bomb this week's.

*Edit*

As an example, if I wrote something like "a battery is an intentional unwanted touching on another person that is unreasonable," while that's a pretty terrible rule statement (and pretty terrible english to boot) I'm fairly certain I would get a decent amount of credit for it.

RE: Florida Torts Graded Essay... At the top of the graded essay there are three scores out of one hundred( structure, legal analysis, legal knowledge)..however, my overall score does not reflect a combined score of those three?? Did your overall score reflect the total from those three scores?

No. I think the three scores are added together and then divided by 3.

Mine added up... 5 + 18 + 18 = 41. And I also threw together some shoddy rules sections. It was quite humorous at some parts. We are on a good track though like you said. Keep pounding these out and we should be doing quite well by the end of this.

*Edit: At the end of my essay the grader gave me 5 for structure, 18 for legal knowledge, and 18 for analysis, totaling 41 pts. At the top where it tells you what your essay was graded on, it says I got a 41/100, 41/100, and 41/100. Guess my grader got to the same result, just a different way than your all's.

[Gotti]

People taking NY+NJ -

I have 3 big books (& 2 little ones i'm ignoring for now), NY Vol 1 and 2, and NJ + Multistate. It says on the Themis site that for the NJ bar, we have to know "All MBE distinctions plus New Jersey Civil Procedure"

NJ Civil Procedure is distinguished in the NJ + Multistate book. NY Vol 2 has MBE Distinctions, but only NY's distinctions are pointed out for each topic, not NJ's. Are we supposed to assume that the NJ ones are the same as NY?

Of course not. NJ civil proocedure is basically the SAME as Federal Civ. Let me tell you a little something. Last year I took the NY/NJ. I didn't TOUCH NJ civil procedure or anything NJ throughout my entire bar studying. I had it planned that I would briefly look over a NJ civil procedure outline the night before the NJ exam (3rd day).

Well, on the night of the MBE, after I was completely done with NY, I sat in my bed, watched Seinfeld, and fell asleep. I never looked over the NJ. I also didn't study federal civil procedure throughout the bar. I literally walked into the NJ bar NEVER studying or seeing ANYTHING relating to NJ law.

Passed. You know why? Because every single essay only tests MBE subjects. Yeah yeah yeah, there's one essay that's on NJ civil procedure. They always throw it in to confuse the NY people taking it. Last year it was class actions. I know nothing about class actions. I B.S.'d for a few paragraphs about how there has to be a class and everyone has to have the same problem and I made up a NUMBER of how many people had to be in a class to "certify it". All made up. But I wrote it like I knew what I was talking about.

Point is: for NJ, if you do ok on the MBE and write SOMETHING, you're going to pass.

No offense, but I don't really wanna take that $675 (and countless hours of studying) risk... I'm just asking where the NJ distinctions are in the Themis materials.