2019 July California Bar Forum

[TangibleChange33]

I can all but guarantee they will take off points. And judging by the way they grade, it won't be a little amount. I know that for the UBE's MPT they will start you off at 50% from the start.

Source? It's my understanding that the individual states are in charge of grading the MPTs, so wouldn't each state administering the MPT come up with the appropriate rubrics/deductions for mistakes?

Honestly, I doubt you'd receive anything more than a 10 point deduction off your total scaled score. Why? Because that's the deduction you receive if you fail to upload your essays on time (arguably a way bigger mistake than putting your name on your test). The bar also feels the need to announce the sanction for this mistake on their website, which leads me to believe if they felt a mistake was worth more than that, they'd also put that sanction up there as well.

A candidate who so carelessly — or just plain stupidly — writes his or her real name on any portion of the test doesn't deserve a law license.

Oh, come on.

I know my remark seems overly severe — and it probably is. But in the real world of litigation, it's a merciless, bloody dogfight. Your opponents will seize and take advantage of you every chance they get. They'll burn you to the ground at all costs. Don't go into this profession hoping to find nice people who will give you a pass. They don't.

This person is not asking this question "in the real world of litigation." The question is being posed because she is concerned about a mistake she made on her PT. I assume she is hoping for an accurate answer (based on experience or reliable information) about how this may change her score. There is no need for a lesson on the real world of litigation because it is not relevant. The lessons the Bar exam teaches us are to 1) pay attention to small details because they are necessary in achieving a larger goal; 2) patience; 3) persistence ("dog fight" of academic rigor mixed with the emotion of studying for the exam; 4) Learn from your mistake; and 5) Pay attention to yourself and what works best for you...ALL of these lesson are far more valuable and applicable towards being a good attorney than your overly harsh, irrelevant comment....Yes, litigation can be merciless blahblah, maybe she wants to be a transnational lawyer? or work for a non-profit? Just be honest with yourself and realize you are not being nice. Lets choose to support rather than attack behind a screen.

That being said I actually don't know the answer for the PT question. Call the Bar and ask. Sorry for the mental anguish you are going through. Everyone has a few regrettable moments during the Bar. Try not to dwell.

[yespasscbx]

'approximately 8% of applicants did not show up for the exam'

https://abovethelaw.com/2019/08/hundred ... opic-leak/

Considering this no-show rate, I think we're going to see a lower pass rate for this administration

[rcharter1978]

'approximately 8% of applicants did not show up for the exam'

https://abovethelaw.com/2019/08/hundred ... opic-leak/

Considering this no-show rate, I think we're going to see a lower pass rate for this administration

That's surprising. I'd be pissed too, but by the time the situation came to light everyone had been studying for like three months. I couldn't imagine putting my life on hold any longer after being hyped up and putting in that work.

Even if they got a rebate on the exam, what about hotel room?

But yeah, maybe it was mostly people who already felt unprepared and we're only taking the exam because they couldn't get a refund

[Bingo_Bongo]

'approximately 8% of applicants did not show up for the exam'

https://abovethelaw.com/2019/08/hundred ... opic-leak/

Considering this no-show rate, I think we're going to see a lower pass rate for this administration

That's only very slightly above the usual no-show rate. Usually it's around 6-7%. I'm guessing that very slight bump might be attributed to applicants being able to get their money back. In most cases, the applicants who go into the bar not having passed a single practice test can't seek a refund, so they usually just tough it out and fail anyway. This year, since refunds were offered, I'm guessing quite a few people took the bar up on that offer knowing that they would fail if they took the exam.

There also might be a few applicants who were praying for certain essay subjects to save them. When they saw what the essay topics were, that might have killed any hope they had and made the choice to seek the refund easier.

But, I'm guessing very very few of the people who sought refunds did so because of the leak. The no-shows were already probably planning on just no-showing it, but figured they might as well get their money back.

[JDJM6215]

Those who took the exam, how was professional responsibility tested? Did that come into play on the PT? Did the essay require discussion on any of the new CA rules?

[yespasscbx]

'approximately 8% of applicants did not show up for the exam'

https://abovethelaw.com/2019/08/hundred ... opic-leak/

Considering this no-show rate, I think we're going to see a lower pass rate for this administration

But, I'm guessing very very few of the people who sought refunds did so because of the leak.

I agree with you: the leak was not the reason ... it was the excuse.

I believe very few people have that 'I'm well prepared' feeling when stepping into the test center; and I believe most of us have that anxiety, uncertainty and lack of confidence in the last couple of days before the exam. I ask myself what I would do if I was given the chance of refund within the last 24 hours. To be honest, I might have withdrawn ... as rcharter1978 said 'we're only taking the exam because we couldn't get a refund'

[belmont123]

Does anyone know what was the third issue on the contracts question? With the exclusive agency? What was I missing...

[storrez0724]

In all honesty, I thought knowing the topics was a huge advantage. If you weren't ready by then, you weren't ready. And for the most part, you could guess those topics, contracts and con law hadnt been on the exam since last summer and they were major topics. PR is on every exam and Civ Pro also had not been a stand alone essay while being a major topic for at least two years. Crim Pro and Crim law also had not bee on the essays for almost two years and they are MBE topics. Just knowing the patterns would have given you 5 out of 5 topics.

Contracts third issue? it was a valid contract, due to the sale of the vehicle being the condition to performance by the other side; the death of the person selling the car would not excuse the estate from the contract. You could go into it being unilateral and bilateral but I had no time at that point. You could also state that it was anticipatory repudiation on part of the seller, saying he no longer needed the agent to sell the car, breaching a valid contract. That would lead to either expectation damages or specific performance discussion with monetary damages being quantifiable and leading to the agent gaining a portion of the sale if specific performance were granted to either the first or second buyer.

[Alexandra99]

Also wanted to add that I'm self-studying. Took barbri before my first try and the one-size-fits-all didn't work for me. I felt like a deer in headlights the entire time, going through the motions perfectly tho because I'm an ace at passive studying.

My roadblock has been the MBEs. Writing was a strength, my scaled written for F12 was 1489. I don't even want to say what my MBE score was because it hurts. I've always had this impractical fear of practice questions - even in law school - as if the stuff I learned/memorized would disappear. So in the past, I approached prep simply by rote memorizing EVERYTHING... I know why I didn't pass. I suck at preparation and have gotten by my entire life just winging it but I'm here to learn to change that.

For a general law refresher, I'm using:
barbri Conviser Mini J18/F19

For essays:
Mary Basick's Essay Exam Writing - great attack sheets, will probably use this to memorize later
Jeff Adachi's Bar Breaker (old) - great essay approach tips
Will be signing up for BarEssays

For MBE's:
S&T - started this last month and am at like 55%
PMBR's red and blue books (old)
Will be signing up for Adaptibar

For PT's:
PTs were a strength, got a 70 on one with no practice beforehand. But with the new 90-min format I'll have to do a few full PTs

I've given up on outlining. I love busywork, makes me feel like I'm being productive but I end up overwhelmed with like 38 outlines and then I feel compelled to ditch practice questions and start memorizing because of the sheer amount of material in front of me. I'm scared to death of not doing that because that's my comfort zone, but need to truly learn the law this time. Hoping that practice brings on some natural memorization, like some of you have said. And I suppose I'll focus on memorization 2 weeks before the bar when I plan to take some time off of work. Feel free to chime in if any of this could use tweaking.

Hello, nappingwolf. How did your July exam go?

I am new to this forum and am planning on taking the Feb. 2020 exam. I have similar, if not exact, concerns, fears, etc. that you posted about. I'm a repeat taker; this will be attempt number five. As such, I no longer have the luxury of taking time off and work full-time. Did you continue to work full-time during your studying? If so, how did organize your studying? I feel like this is my biggest hurdle. I, too, used Barbri the first couple of times and I, too, felt overwhelmed. It was too much information. I've inherited resources from friends from other box prep companies; my outlines, friend's outlines, outlines from the web and even a box of the infamous Critical Pass flash cards (should I really use them?) I'm drowning though I'm going to look up Mary Basick's book right after I hit the "Submit" button on this message.

Any input and advice would be appreciated. Thank you and I hope you get some good news in November!

[thizzinmybrainsout]

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/docu ... stions.pdf

July '19 essay questions/PT are up on site

[Ksapatlawyer]

Results now only only one month away!

[BrainToast]

I can all but guarantee they will take off points. And judging by the way they grade, it won't be a little amount. I know that for the UBE's MPT they will start you off at 50% from the start.

Source? It's my understanding that the individual states are in charge of grading the MPTs, so wouldn't each state administering the MPT come up with the appropriate rubrics/deductions for mistakes?

Honestly, I doubt you'd receive anything more than a 10 point deduction off your total scaled score. Why? Because that's the deduction you receive if you fail to upload your essays on time (arguably a way bigger mistake than putting your name on your test). The bar also feels the need to announce the sanction for this mistake on their website, which leads me to believe if they felt a mistake was worth more than that, they'd also put that sanction up there as well.

A candidate who so carelessly — or just plain stupidly — writes his or her real name on any portion of the test doesn't deserve a law license.

Oh, come on.

I know my remark seems overly severe — and it probably is. But in the real world of litigation, it's a merciless, bloody dogfight. Your opponents will seize and take advantage of you every chance they get. They'll burn you to the ground at all costs. Don't go into this profession hoping to find nice people who will give you a pass. They don't.

Yes future attorneys, please know that in the real world opposing counsel will definitely start a war over you writing your name in the wrong place. That is EXACTLY how the profession works. LOL.

Law & Order: Clerical Error Unit

I guess 9xSound never heard of a Notice of Errata and CCP 473.

Most law students don't get that not many mistakes in practice are fatal. If you mess up, you just have to fix it in a timely manner. The law understands and allows for mistakes.

[Recentgrad]

Does anyone know, assuming all other requirements are satisfied, how quickly can one expect to receive an enrollment card with the oath in the mail after passing the exam on Nov. 15? Apparently you have to mail back to the Bar that exact copy of the card, and I’m trying to figure out how soon after Nov 15 (assuming I pass) I can fly out of the country for the rest of the year.

[xoxoBlairWaldorf]

Does anyone know, assuming all other requirements are satisfied, how quickly can one expect to receive an enrollment card with the oath in the mail after passing the exam on Nov. 15? Apparently you have to mail back to the Bar that exact copy of the card, and I’m trying to figure out how soon after Nov 15 (assuming I pass) I can fly out of the country for the rest of the year.

If everything is satisfied, the oath card will come with your results on Monday or Tuesday (depending on where you live in CA).

I attended the swearing-in so not sure about mailing the oath card. I can tell you that I received my bar number about 1-2 days after the swearing-in. Remember that CLEs don't count until you have a bar number so if you're at a firm and know you passed, I would try and avoid CLE eligible trainings until you receive the bar number.

[Happy88]

Is anyone else freaking the f out now that the results are around the corner?

[Anonymous User]

Any chance it releases early? Or is 11/15 @ 5pm firm.

[a male human]

It NEVER releases early. There's no way to know ahead of time.

Then again, with the fiasco of the subjects leaking, you never know... But you can bet on it not releasing early.

Again, for those in the back (because there's someone who asks every time), it always comes out at the stated time.

Good luck to everyone!

[Anonymous User]

Is anyone else freaking the f out now that the results are around the corner?

Right here! Totally freaking out! What sucks is that I keep trying to "grade" myself. Just cannot get it out of my mind 7 more days

[WhatsUP?]

Wishing everyone all the best!!!!!

[rcharter1978]

Good luck everyone!

[a male human]

Best of luck to all! I'm rooting for everyone and will be here before 6 to report the pass rates ASAP (sometimes released a few minutes early) and congratulate/commiserate.

Any MTYLT readers out there will start seeing a new batch of emails until Feb starting tomorrow.

[barprepforca]

It NEVER releases early. There's no way to know ahead of time.

Then again, with the fiasco of the subjects leaking, you never know... But you can bet on it not releasing early.

Again, for those in the back (because there's someone who asks every time), it always comes out at the stated time.

Good luck to everyone!

Hey all! As someone who took the exam in July 2018 just wanted to share my experience. Last year the July results started appearing in peoples accounts ~10 minutes before the results were supposed to be released. I didn’t get any word that I passed until like a minute before the results were supposed to come up (I.e. bar results were supposed to come out at 5 pm, notified I passed at 4:59 pm) and thought I had failed so if your friends tell you they’ve passed but the results have yet to officially come out don’t give up hope!

[a male human]

Pass rate goes up to 50.1%!

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/About-Us/News- ... am-results

How'd y'all do?

[yespasscbx]

Pass rate goes up to 50.1%!

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/About-Us/News- ... am-results

How'd y'all do?

Wow! Is it the highest pass rate ever?

Congratulations to all those who passed!

[Necho2]

Pass. For future reference, slightly above 70% raw scores on the MBE section, but stubbornly low scores on the graded essays (averaged probably slightly below passing), although I felt like I usually did pretty well when self-grading. Will believe for the rest of my life that my essay grader was intentionally low-grading me since I got a really good score on my first essay which I literally never equaled...