Maryland Bar Exam (July 2014) Forum

[phooey182]

Just starting a topic for Maryland's Summer 2014 bar exam. I'm using Themis to study while working full-time. So I have no life at the moment.

[jdx2014]

Just starting a topic for Maryland's Summer 2014 bar exam. I'm using Themis to study while working full-time. So I have on life at the moment.

Do you plan to keep working fulltime while studying?

[phooey182]

Just starting a topic for Maryland's Summer 2014 bar exam. I'm using Themis to study while working full-time. So I have on life at the moment.

Do you plan to keep working fulltime while studying?

Yup. I gots bills to pay!

[jdx2014]

Just starting a topic for Maryland's Summer 2014 bar exam. I'm using Themis to study while working full-time. So I have on life at the moment.

Do you plan to keep working fulltime while studying?

Yup. I gots bills to pay!

ok, but Statistically you are going to fail then though.
Not any bad wishes, just hope you are factoring that in.

[dreakol]

Just starting a topic for Maryland's Summer 2014 bar exam. I'm using Themis to study while working full-time. So I have on life at the moment.

Do you plan to keep working fulltime while studying?

Yup. I gots bills to pay!

ok, but Statistically you are going to fail then though.
Not any bad wishes, just hope you are factoring that in.

jfc

[jdx2014]

@JFC

It doesn't help people to lie to them
Be prepared, I think a boyscout told me that as a kid once before he got lost in the woods or something.
But the moral remains accurate.

[phooey182]

@JFC

It doesn't help people to lie to them
Be prepared, I think a boyscout told me that as a kid once before he got lost in the woods or something.
But the moral remains accurate.

Well I've already passed the NY and NJ bar. And I'm working as a lawyer here in Maryland (that's my full-time job). And my boss is giving me time during the workday to study as well. Just not a lot of time. It's not like I'm working full-time in McDonald's.

[Grapes]

@JFC

It doesn't help people to lie to them
Be prepared, I think a boyscout told me that as a kid once before he got lost in the woods or something.
But the moral remains accurate.

Well I've already passed the NY and NJ bar. And I'm working as a lawyer here in Maryland (that's my full-time job). And my boss is giving me time during the workday to study as well. Just not a lot of time. It's not like I'm working full-time in McDonald's.

Did you use Themis for NY and NJ?

[TTRansfer]

@JFC

It doesn't help people to lie to them
Be prepared, I think a boyscout told me that as a kid once before he got lost in the woods or something.
But the moral remains accurate.

You do get that practicing attorneys do this all the time, right? You don't normally take two months off to go to BarBri lectures.

[BmoreSmarter]

anyone in here (im assuming most are) taking the barbri class online only?

I signed up for the live version but was trying to see how different the schedule was since theres a delay between them recording the session and posting online

So to online takers what subject was "today" for example (no need to post full schedule, Im sure that would violate some barbri policy anyhow)

[JDorBust]

anyone in here (im assuming most are) taking the barbri class online only?

I signed up for the live version but was trying to see how different the schedule was since theres a delay between them recording the session and posting online

So to online takers what subject was "today" for example (no need to post full schedule, Im sure that would violate some barbri policy anyhow)

Yesterday was Crim Law. Today is Crim Pro.

[BmoreSmarter]

^^thanks

Just switched over from the live course to online only (i was wasting 2 hrs a day just driving) and now Im like 4 days ahead of schedule lol

[phooey182]

@JFC

It doesn't help people to lie to them
Be prepared, I think a boyscout told me that as a kid once before he got lost in the woods or something.
But the moral remains accurate.

Well I've already passed the NY and NJ bar. And I'm working as a lawyer here in Maryland (that's my full-time job). And my boss is giving me time during the workday to study as well. Just not a lot of time. It's not like I'm working full-time in McDonald's.

Did you use Themis for NY and NJ?

I used BarBri for NY and NJ. I would recommend BarBri, even though its very expensive. I am taking Themis for Maryland and its pretty good too. But a lot of this material is 'review' for me. The MBE hasn't changed much in two years. I do think the BarBri lecturers are a bit better; more entertaining. The Property Law lectures for BarBri are phenomenal.

[TheFutureLawyer]

ok, but Statistically you are going to fail then though.
Not any bad wishes, just hope you are factoring that in.

Source?



Also, checking in. Using Themis. Heads up for y'all using Themis: it looks like starting next week shit's gonna be getting much busier. Not looking forward to that simulated MBE morning and afternoon sessions. Then a week after that I'm looking forward even less to the essay morning and afternoon sessions.




eta;

So when is it that we pay the fee to use our laptops during the exam?

And on that note, presumably we can bring in our laptops in a backpack/briefcase, right? It's just that I remember reading somewhere that backpacks were not allowed into the testing site.

[TheFutureLawyer]

Anyone have a condensed MD Civ Pro outline? Hell, a condensed outline on any MD subject?

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[wannabeapd2014]

Hope everyone gets good news tomorrow!

And putting it out there: I will buy your materials. PM me if you are willing to sell me your books, please!!

[dce7]

By my calculations there was a 71.7% pass rate for July 2014, based on the results posted this afternoon. The pass rate in July 2013 was 78%.

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[crimsontide]

@TheFutureLawyer: Sorry to hear.

Me, I haven't checked my bar results yet. And waking up to 16 (yes, sixteen) phone messages from the parentals eager to know my results really doesn't help one iota. I feel confident about the MBEs, but after not triumphing the past 2 times, I kind of want to escape to a desert island somewhere...ugh.

I am currently working (contract role) in a high-profile agency but I'm just so sick of my parents pressuring me to retake constantly. It's made me come to hate the law/legal industry with every fiber of my very being.

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[crimsontide]

Re: dropping out of legal industry/profession altogether: I don't know.

When I was in law school, I held an internship at a major organization (ie. equivalent to world's top pharma, Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca) policy-related. I always knew I wanted a policy role, and when I had a legal assistant role in-house a couple years previous, I was bored out of my mind--the work topics always stayed the same.

I've never pictured myself as a run-of-the-mill atty or anything. I don't have any family members or friends in the legal industry--they all went into nursing, medicine, or medical biotechnology studies.

And I still haven't checked my bar score, and told the parentals as much. I really don't care at this point.

[TheFutureLawyer]

x

[hncsarge34]

I was really disappointed that no one got to be seat number 0666.

http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/examresults.html

That would have been metal.

[crimsontide]

@TheFutureLawyer: I dunno about stressing. More like extreme family pressure making me a tad jumpy. It's not essential to a policy role. It could actually be a detriment if they think you're too overqualified.

I didn't check my numerical seat number. I did log into my jportal account though, and noticed it looked heck of a lot sparser than usual, saying "you do not have a valid petition to show." It does *not* mention "retake," or "petition" or "retake order."

I was also wondering how your approach to the exam changed each time?
First time: I was burned out, it was right after law exams, I came home to a tense situation (mother screaming at me all the time--literally, because I wanted to do a masters and she didn't want me to. Yes, the one I got cum laude in). It was absolutely impossible to concentrate. I took night bar classes, studied during the day.

Second time: 2 years post law school, right after masters program. Used BarBri. Since I was studying 3200+ miles from home, I missed the deadline to look at my past exam answers. Repeated my mistakes, plus had added stress from work re: a horrible manager who almost didn't let me take time off. Also, a lot of self-sabotage re: MBEs because I doubted myself too much and switched several answers to (probably) wrong ones.

Third (now) time: Wised up, moved to a different state/region/county away from the family, got my exam answers mailed to me, had the summer to study. I honed in on my essay weak areas, looked at/reframed MPTs carefully. MBEs were rough on me, so I had to completely reframe my train of thought. Lots of self-study.

MBE questions:
Is it a trick answer meant to trip you up? (Do you know what answer they want you to pick, do you know why that's wrong, and do you know the true answer and why?)
Also, I left 1/2 an hour early on both MBE sections because I didn't want to repeat my mistake of self-sabotage where I switched around 7-10 answers in round 2.

Hope this helps.