Dr. Vook Ph.D - Bar Exam Preparation 101: The TextVook

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Bar Exam Preparation 101: The TextVook
by Dr. Vook, Ph.D and Charles River Editors

In Bar Exam Preparation 101: The TextVook, Dr. Vook, Ph.D, breaks the multifaceted world of MBE prep into eight chapters that will keep you engaged and help you remember all that youve learned. Youll begin your journey with a brief introduction to the exam and what you can expect. Then youll dive into the specifics of the questions you'll encounter: specific state topics, the MBE and torts, contracts questions, and constitutional law questions. Finally, youll cover Criminal Law Questions, Evidence Questions, and Real Property Questions. Tip boxes in each lesson give you fascinating facts, hints and history about each topic. Dr. Vook has got it all covered.

Copyright 2011 Vook, Inc.
Compilation copyright 2011 Vook, Inc.
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Chapter 1

A t first glance, the bar examination looks like it deserves its reputation as a very intimidating test. Every February and July, tens of thousands of test takers cram into convention centers across the United States to spend either two or three days writing complex essays and answering difficult multiple choice questions. Each day is a grueling six hours, broken up into morning and afternoon sessions.

For three years, students in law school stare down this evil monster at the end of the road, often approaching bar studying with a deer in the headlights look. Most students prepare for the bar in the months leading up to it, while beginning to study intensely after finishing law school in mid to late May. Recognizing this, several businesses offer six to eight-week-long study courses, replete with books, workbooks, lectures, and practice questions. Sensing students desperation, these businesses offer their services for several thousands of dollars.

Today, the most common bar preparation course is offered by BarBri, which dominates the market, offering a course for every state and Washington D.C. For the princely sum of about $3,000, BarBri makes potential test takers sit through about six weeks of video lectures, where they take notes on their states tested areas of law, as well as notes on the areas covered by the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), which consists of 200 multiple choice questions testing torts, contracts, real property, evidence, criminal law, and constitutional law. Many individuals will take out a loan to cover the expenses of registering for the bar and BarBri, piling on to already excessive loans for tuition.

The good news is that many test takers can successfully pass the bar without spending thousands of dollars on BarBri. With good study habits, the necessary self-initiative, a structured timeline, and the proper study materials, test takers will pass the bar examination with scores that are just as good as their Barbri counterparts.

This Vook will assist anybody preparing for the bar by detailing the way to obtain necessary study materials, while also breaking down the most important aspects of each area of law. Moreover, it will provide an insiders knowledge of what is most likely to be on the bar examination, the type of experience that can only be learned after successfully completing and passing multiple bar exams.

The very first steps are to obtain practice questions and study materials. Every bar exam is administered by a jurisdictions Board of Bar Examiners or similar office, most of which will allow individuals to purchase practice questions for their states essays and possibly practice MBE questions for a very affordable price. Similarly, outlines for the MBEs topics and the laws of each state are available in several places, including ebay. Many test takers who study on their own will also purchase older study guidebooks, counting on the fact that a 2010 study guide will be just as accurate in 2011.

Chapter 2

W hen a potential test taker first sees the list of areas of law that may be covered on a states essays section, he or she may begin to panic. Some states use the Multistate Essay Examination, a six-essay section with very general topics. However, most states essays section will consist of seven or eight essays broken down into two sessions, listing up to a dozen potential areas of law that may be tested. In other words, not all of the areas of law will be tested, but students will still put in hours of time studying all of them. The good news is there are ways to accurately predict what the states essays will cover.

If test takers do not study past essay questions, they may attempt to learn everything about each area and prepare for questions that only test one area at a time. Those test takers are in trouble. The key to a strong answer on the essay question is to realize each essay will test multiple areas of law, which also makes the potential questions easier to predict.

For example, New York may test students on several business formats, including agency, partnerships, and corporations. But New York also lists contracts and sales as topics. As any law student will realize, contracts and businesses are topics that fit together naturally, making it more likely that if an essay tests one of those areas, it will also be testing the other. Another perfect example is evidence and criminal law, as is torts and conflict of laws.

Attempting to fully learn everything in each area is overwhelming, especially because most of the individuals study time should be spent on the MBE. For that reason, there are two important principles to understand and embrace: the first is that the individuals who grade the essays do not expect a test taker to know everything, and the second is that a study of previous years essays will greatly help test takers recognize what aspect of each area is most likely to be tested. In 2009, New Yorks exam included a conflict of laws question that used the exact same aspect of law as the one found in a large majority of past exams conflict of laws essays.