MD February 2016 Exam Forum

[Em_Banc]

I believe discussing essay questions here is permissible because we are allowed to take our questions home immediately following the exam...?

General thoughts? After reading the partnerships question (I think it was first after the lunch break) did anyone else feel like they were missing something major? I finished that essay on the way early side, and my answers were on the way shorter side (2 subparts, if I remember correctly)... With crim pro, I think I talked too much 6th Amendment (post-indictment right to counsel) and not enough 5th.

And I've seen people mention this in other states' threads, but did anyone else have trouble wrapping up the MPT? I didn't finish my last sentence, and I really could've used three more sentences squeezed in there towards the end.

[GAattorney]

The MPT was on the long side for me too.

The essays seemed fairly straightforward but for a couple I felt like I was missing something. I would love to hear what people thought.

[hndls022]

MPT was long. essays seemed straight forward to me. Does anyone know if the "grandma in the nursing home" question was testing agency or something else?

[Em_Banc]

MPT was long. essays seemed straight forward to me. Does anyone know if the "grandma in the nursing home" question was testing agency or something else?

That essay was my roughest. I wrote some agency, power of attorney stuff (which I fudged badly), and I mentioned grandma just signing with an "x" but said that's all good. The first prompt (what would you advise granddaughter about grandma) was so open-ended. The checks tripped me up for a min and made me think I was supposed to talk negotiable instruments...hope not.

[hndls022]

MPT was long. essays seemed straight forward to me. Does anyone know if the "grandma in the nursing home" question was testing agency or something else?

That essay was my roughest. I wrote some agency, power of attorney stuff (which I fudged badly), and I mentioned grandma just signing with an "x" but said that's all good. The first prompt (what would you advise granddaughter about grandma) was so open-ended. The checks tripped me up for a min and made me think I was supposed to talk negotiable instruments...hope not.

Yeah that first prompt was very open ended. It threw me for a loop.

[hndls022]

MPT was long. essays seemed straight forward to me. Does anyone know if the "grandma in the nursing home" question was testing agency or something else?

That essay was my roughest. I wrote some agency, power of attorney stuff (which I fudged badly), and I mentioned grandma just signing with an "x" but said that's all good. The first prompt (what would you advise granddaughter about grandma) was so open-ended. The checks tripped me up for a min and made me think I was supposed to talk negotiable instruments...hope not.

I was thinking about implied agency and express agency. Even though the checks were in the question, I didn't think negotiable instruments was an issue being tested. I hope I'm right about that.

[GAattorney]

I was surprised there was so much agency on the exam. I hope the checks didn't mean much. I definitely didn't talk about negotiable instruments.

[hndls022]

I was surprised there was so much agency on the exam. I hope the checks didn't mean much. I definitely didn't talk about negotiable instruments.

Sounds like we all passed brahs.

[hndls022]

http://all4jds.com/forums/aft/25299

This link has more discussion on the essays.

[GAattorney]

Can we talk about the extract questions? Thoughts?

Reminder - sales with the purchase of a tv and appealing a magistrate decision.

[hndls022]

.

[Em_Banc]

Can we talk about the extract questions? Thoughts?

Reminder - sales with the purchase of a tv and appealing a magistrate decision.

Sales I think I wrote about breach of warranty (pulled from the extract) and products liability for the manufacturing defect. I think the first call of the question was something like "what claims should tv buyer include in his complaint." And then second half was what defenses should the defendants raise.

I thought the second extract question was fair if you had allocated enough time for it :/. I think the questions were something along the lines of: as woman's attorney, (1) what do we need to do to secure review of the magistrate finding, and (2) if the findings are upheld by the Circuit Court how can she seek further appellate review? I think the "what do we need to do part" required tediously restating all of the things the rules say you have to do, as applied to her case. That was annoying. For the appellate review part, at the very end of the extract the last provision said she can't have both in banc AND COSA review. Can only have one or the other, and if she filed a notice seeking in banc review, she would have to withdraw it before filing for COSA review if she subsequently changed her mind and decided to do so. There was a lot to get through with that one, but I tried to put a few extra minutes towards extract questions because the extracts are usually pretty helpful.

Also, is MD the only state that calls en banc review "in" banc...?

[BWill23]

Now that the bender is over, I'm starting to look at the questions and try to assess how I did. This was my third time taking a bar exam- Failed VA the first go, passed the second try, and hopefully will be one and done for MD.

I mostly agree with this breakdown from the other forum:
Partnership Liability - partnership property, personal liability, joint/severally liable
Evidence - objections, hearsay, relevance, agency, exceptions
Sales, Contracts - breach of warranty, damages, liability, UCC
Con Law - confrontation clause, ex post facto, due process
Crim Pro - Confessions, right to counsel
Md Civ Pro - divorce settlement agreement, appeal procedure
Torts - battery, wrongful death, agency, defense
Contracts - contract formation, agency, a little dual representation/ethics in there too
Family law - Divorce, division of property, custody

I thought the MPT was pretty straight forward. eight part test + totality of the circumstances. Throw in some definitions from the black letter law and you're there. It was a lot to type, but it wasn't difficult to arrive at a justified conclusion.

Also, during my Character and Fitness interview I was told that I was on a list that they had to have completed by April 1. My interviewer suggested that was a good sign about passing, however I'm doubtful that my essays have even been looked at yet, let alone graded. Anyone have any similar experience or knowledge?

[GAattorney]

I haven't been contacted about my Character and Fitness interview. Anyone else still waiting? Also, what do they ask? (for anyone who has had one).

[Em_Banc]

I haven't been contacted about my Character and Fitness interview. Anyone else still waiting? Also, what do they ask? (for anyone who has had one).

Hm. I haven't heard anything at all from them. Also, I know people who passed in July who didn't hear from them about interviews until after results came out.

[Em_Banc]

Bumping this because I got a letter in the mail this week from the attorney/firm responsible for my character investigation/interview. The letter states that reference materials from my listed references and info from schools/employers need to be received before bar results come out, and that my interview needs to be conducted prior to results as well. The interview can't happen until the interviewer gets those materials from your references. My listed references received the requests for info this week.

I hadn't heard a peep from them until now. So for anyone worried about not having heard about interviews and any correlation that might have with your bar results, I hope this helps. In addition, the letter said the interview is to inquire about my character and fitness to practice and my appreciation for the rules of prof. conduct.

As time passes I feel worse and worse about my essays. Blah.

[BWill23]

The interview was no big deal. My guy was super nice. He did want to talk about debt and how the MD Char & Fit committee is seriously concerned about he ability of new lawyers to pay back what they owe. Besides that, we just chit chatted about resources for new attorneys, and moved on. I got an email about a week later saying that I was approved by the committee. Pretty easy.

I had my first dream about bar results about a week ago, and the first twinge of anxiety a couple days later. Still feeling like my essays gave me a fighting chance... but reading that this was the lowest MBE average scale score in 30 years means that my essays had better been good! I never thought I'd be thankful that MD only counts the MBE as 1/3 of the test!

[waitingonresults]

Bumping this because I got a letter in the mail this week from the attorney/firm responsible for my character investigation/interview. The letter states that reference materials from my listed references and info from schools/employers need to be received before bar results come out, and that my interview needs to be conducted prior to results as well. The interview can't happen until the interviewer gets those materials from your references. My listed references received the requests for info this week.

I hadn't heard a peep from them until now. So for anyone worried about not having heard about interviews and any correlation that might have with your bar results, I hope this helps. In addition, the letter said the interview is to inquire about my character and fitness to practice and my appreciation for the rules of prof. conduct.

As time passes I feel worse and worse about my essays. Blah.

So there is no correlation? I had my interview on Friday - he said he had a deadline for today 4/6 to submit his recommendation for me.

[Em_Banc]

Bumping this because I got a letter in the mail this week from the attorney/firm responsible for my character investigation/interview. The letter states that reference materials from my listed references and info from schools/employers need to be received before bar results come out, and that my interview needs to be conducted prior to results as well. The interview can't happen until the interviewer gets those materials from your references. My listed references received the requests for info this week.

I hadn't heard a peep from them until now. So for anyone worried about not having heard about interviews and any correlation that might have with your bar results, I hope this helps. In addition, the letter said the interview is to inquire about my character and fitness to practice and my appreciation for the rules of prof. conduct.

As time passes I feel worse and worse about my essays. Blah.

So there is no correlation? I had my interview on Friday - he said he had a deadline for today 4/6 to submit his recommendation for me.

I'm betting that the reviewing attorneys' deadlines are in waves and reflect when you submitted your petition/application and/or when yours was finished processing. If grading was finished weeks ago, we wouldn't be waiting another 4 weeks for results.

[waitingonresults]

Ugh. I figured, but was hopeful nonetheless considering I didn't file my application until the week it was due. I'll just continue wondering in agony for the next month!

[Em_Banc]

Ugh. I figured, but was hopeful nonetheless considering I didn't file my application until the week it was due. I'll just continue wondering in agony for the next month!

Ugh. I filed very late as well but literally just heard from them last week. But my letter nevertheless said everything needs to be completed by the date results come out? So maybe there's hope for me? Maybe just some applications were faster to process than others?

*Edit--did you or anyone else receive a similar letter in the mail from their interviewer prior to the interview?
**Edited again--maybe some interviewers are just way more on top of their stuff than others.................

Let's just keep hypothesizing and catastrophizing

[waitingonresults]

Ugh. I figured, but was hopeful nonetheless considering I didn't file my application until the week it was due. I'll just continue wondering in agony for the next month!

Ugh. I filed very late as well but literally just heard from them last week. But my letter nevertheless said everything needs to be completed by the date results come out? So maybe there's hope for me? Maybe just some applications were faster to process than others?

*Edit--did you or anyone else receive a similar letter in the mail from their interviewer prior to the interview?

I got a letter from my interviewer introducing himself maybe a month ago. Then a couple weeks ago I got an email from his assistant requesting that I contact a few people that had not sent in their stuff yet then we set up an interview for last Friday - that's when he said they imposed a deadline for him to return his recommendation by today. Of course, he also said there is nothing to be construed with regard to bar results from the interview. However, I couldn't help but wonder if *some* of the exams have been completed.

[waitingonresults]

Ugh. I figured, but was hopeful nonetheless considering I didn't file my application until the week it was due. I'll just continue wondering in agony for the next month!

Ugh. I filed very late as well but literally just heard from them last week. But my letter nevertheless said everything needs to be completed by the date results come out? So maybe there's hope for me? Maybe just some applications were faster to process than others?

*Edit--did you or anyone else receive a similar letter in the mail from their interviewer prior to the interview?
**Edited again--maybe some interviewers are just way more on top of their stuff than others.................

Let's just keep hypothesizing and catastrophizing

I know, right! I have to think that the requirement of getting the character stuff in prior to results is a good sign, if anything (it's keeping me more sane over the next month so I'm just going to keep thinking that ). It might mean absolutely nothing (most likely) but if it means something, it's a good sign. I know someone who passed the md bar in 2014 and didnt have his interview until after results so I know it's nothing super telling.

[Em_Banc]

Ugh. I figured, but was hopeful nonetheless considering I didn't file my application until the week it was due. I'll just continue wondering in agony for the next month!

Ugh. I filed very late as well but literally just heard from them last week. But my letter nevertheless said everything needs to be completed by the date results come out? So maybe there's hope for me? Maybe just some applications were faster to process than others?

*Edit--did you or anyone else receive a similar letter in the mail from their interviewer prior to the interview?
**Edited again--maybe some interviewers are just way more on top of their stuff than others.................

Let's just keep hypothesizing and catastrophizing

I know, right! I have to think that the requirement of getting the character stuff in prior to results is a good sign, if anything (it's keeping me more sane over the next month so I'm just going to keep thinking that ). It might mean absolutely nothing (most likely) but if it means something, it's a good sign. I know someone who passed the md bar in 2014 and didnt have his interview until after results so I know it's nothing super telling.

Thanks for making me feel like I'm not crazy. If I were you I'd want to think of hearing early as a good sign as well. Just like I'm now thinking of me not hearing from them until last week as a bad sign. But given that the grading procedures in MD incorporate the mean and standard deviation of all test takers' raw essay and MPT scores, I would think that it'd take longer than two or so weeks to determine who passed and who failed (the time between taking the exam and the earliest people appeared to have heard from interviewers). But what do I know. It's not like any of us really know how long it actually takes them to grade those things.

[MDGirl]

I took the July exam and didn't pass. I had a hunch I hadn't passed because my character investigation status said it was still under review -- even after my interviewer told me everything was fine. I was 100% sure I didn't pass the night before results were released because I was able to submit a retake application that evening. Before the Feb bar I saw that my status still says my investigation is in committee so I contacted my interviewer and she said they told her I didn't pass the July exam so she concentrated on getting out the reports for the people that had passed before the results were out. As of today, my status still says it's under review. Does anyone else have this issue? I'm wondering if this is an indication that I failed again....

This is so frustrating. And to make matters worse, MD results come out 2 days after the DC deadline for the July exam. There is NO WAY I'm taking the MD exams again if I fail this time.