July 2016 Virginia Bar Thread Forum

[jaysgirl42671]

Is anyone taking Themis willing to help me out with my course handout for Criminal Law? This professor is so hard to pay attention to and to know what he actually wants us to answer, and his concepts aren't in Themis' large handout. I would be forever grateful! Not sure that it would matter, but don't want to find that out later.

[justonemoregame]

I am embarrassed by some of the law I do not know after three years.

[philippian413]

That is why law schools really need to change the way they present the information. As without passing the bar what do those 3 years really mean. Could you imagine writing on the bar exam "Well It Depends ...."

Looking forward to all the great information we have to squeeze in.

P.S. Don't forget about detinue.

[doctoroflaw91]

I am embarrassed by some of the law I do not know after three years.

I feel completely inadequate. And I'm doing terribly on the contracts questions.

[bsktbll28082]

I am embarrassed by some of the law I do not know after three years.

I feel nothing about the fancy JD I just earned for exactly this reason. We're finally actually learning law, but just the surface.

[philippian413]

We forge ahead and learn every day to become better and help our future clients.

[justonemoregame]

Contracts is starting to make sense, bros. Needed to share. Why didn't I know about these outlines during 1L.

[justonemoregame]

Friendly reminder to register your laptop

[doctoroflaw91]

Contracts is starting to make sense, bros. Needed to share. Why didn't I know about these outlines during 1L.

I wish I could say the same.

[ironbmike]

I woke up after having a nightmare about laptop registration...what a life

[bsktbll28082]

I woke up after having a nightmare about laptop registration...what a life

In the beginning of bar prep, I dreamt about rule statements. That's sort of stopped now, which I'm grateful for. Bad enough to think about the bar during waking hours.

[First Offense]

Oh shit - so I paid for the software, but I did it all on my PC and didn't do anything on the laptop I'll be using. Do I need to do that soon or is it fine? (Think the e-mail said something about a test to make sure that it works, basically).

[kcdc1]

I am embarrassed by some of the law I do not know after three years.

Nothing magical about memorizing legal rules that you would research if they ever came up in a real case. Only useful part of bar review (useful defined as serving an interest other than become licensed) has been the tax lecture.

[doctoroflaw91]

Anyone else completely confused by the wills lecture?

[kcdc1]

Anyone else completely confused by the wills lecture?

Only thru pt. 1, but wills guy and tax guy have been my favorites so far. I learn so much better when the lecturer bothers to explain why a rule is the way it is.

[bsktbll28082]

Oh shit - so I paid for the software, but I did it all on my PC and didn't do anything on the laptop I'll be using. Do I need to do that soon or is it fine? (Think the e-mail said something about a test to make sure that it works, basically).

I think you just download the software to your computer by the deadline. Shouldn't matter you registered using your PC, if you download to your laptop.

I actually have to do that before I forget...

[vthokies88]

Anyone else completely confused by the wills lecture?

Only thru pt. 1, but wills guy and tax guy have been my favorites so far. I learn so much better when the lecturer bothers to explain why a rule is the way it is.

Listening to the wills guy is like watching paint dry. And if he keeps clicking his tongue every 10 seconds during the trusts lecture like he has during both wills lectures, I might jump out of a window.

[bsktbll28082]

VA CivPro is my least favorite topic so far.

[kcdc1]

VA CivPro is my least favorite topic so far.

There's no logic to it. It's just a thousand independent rules to memorize.

[bsktbll28082]

VA CivPro is my least favorite topic so far.

There's no logic to it. It's just a thousand independent rules to memorize.

And nothing exciting to it. I actually took a break and moved on to VA Domestic Relations just to spice things up.

[justonemoregame]

Maybe I should post this in a self-study thread, but was hoping for fellow VA takers' advice.

I recently switched from a month of MBE study to focusing on the essays. I'm using the big Kaplan outline book for the state-specific subjects, and I'm not sure how much time I should devote to essays. There's obviously a lot of material, so I've ruled out the time-intensive exercise of making notecards, which I've found helpful for learning the MBE material.

I feel like just reading tons of rules isn't the best way to go. Would anyone recommend making a more condensed outline of each subject as I read through it? Or maybe just doing this for the subjects most likely to be substantially tested, like Wills/trusts, Va. Civ Pro, Domestic Relations, etc). Is anyone just powering through the material a couple of times, and then outlining practice Qs?

I would at least like to get some familiarity with the law before looking at past essays, but was hoping not to spend more than a couple weeks on the essay portion. Maybe I should rethink that.

[ironbmike]

These quizzes are really getting on my nerves. Some of the questions just aren't well-written I feel like.

[ironbmike]

Anyone else completely confused by the wills lecture?

Only thru pt. 1, but wills guy and tax guy have been my favorites so far. I learn so much better when the lecturer bothers to explain why a rule is the way it is.

Listening to the wills guy is like watching paint dry. And if he keeps clicking his tongue every 10 seconds during the trusts lecture like he has during both wills lectures, I might jump out of a window.

Yeah, the wills / trusts guy is horrific but I can't quite put my finger on why.

[vthokies88]

Maybe I should post this in a self-study thread, but was hoping for fellow VA takers' advice.

I recently switched from a month of MBE study to focusing on the essays. I'm using the big Kaplan outline book for the state-specific subjects, and I'm not sure how much time I should devote to essays. There's obviously a lot of material, so I've ruled out the time-intensive exercise of making notecards, which I've found helpful for learning the MBE material.

I feel like just reading tons of rules isn't the best way to go. Would anyone recommend making a more condensed outline of each subject as I read through it? Or maybe just doing this for the subjects most likely to be substantially tested, like Wills/trusts, Va. Civ Pro, Domestic Relations, etc). Is anyone just powering through the material a couple of times, and then outlining practice Qs?

I would at least like to get some familiarity with the law before looking at past essays, but was hoping not to spend more than a couple weeks on the essay portion. Maybe I should rethink that.

I bought flashcard paper from Avery through Amazon. It's much faster than handwriting them. That's been the best thing for me - it forces me to pay attention when I read the stuff, and I digest more of it.

Considering that the essays are worth 60%, you might want to spend more than a couple weeks on the state stuff.

[ironbmike]

Maybe I should post this in a self-study thread, but was hoping for fellow VA takers' advice.

I recently switched from a month of MBE study to focusing on the essays. I'm using the big Kaplan outline book for the state-specific subjects, and I'm not sure how much time I should devote to essays. There's obviously a lot of material, so I've ruled out the time-intensive exercise of making notecards, which I've found helpful for learning the MBE material.

I feel like just reading tons of rules isn't the best way to go. Would anyone recommend making a more condensed outline of each subject as I read through it? Or maybe just doing this for the subjects most likely to be substantially tested, like Wills/trusts, Va. Civ Pro, Domestic Relations, etc). Is anyone just powering through the material a couple of times, and then outlining practice Qs?

I would at least like to get some familiarity with the law before looking at past essays, but was hoping not to spend more than a couple weeks on the essay portion. Maybe I should rethink that.

I bought flashcard paper from Avery through Amazon. It's much faster than handwriting them. That's been the best thing for me - it forces me to pay attention when I read the stuff, and I digest more of it.

Considering that the essays are worth 60%, you might want to spend more than a couple weeks on the state stuff.

I think I'm going to start handwriting flashcards based off the CMR outlines. Flashcarding other stuff just takes way too long, but I'm not absorbing enough from the Barbri lectures. I think notecarding just the CMR outlines should be manageable and get me the most important stuff to know, even if I'm missing some of the finer details (which I can pick up from practice quizzes/essays I hope).