Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus - The Bar Exam in a Nutshell

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JESSE H. CHOPER

Professor of Law and Dean Emeritus,
University of California, Berkeley

JOSHUA DRESSLER

Distinguished University Professor, Frank R. Strong Chair in Law
Michael E. Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University

YALE KAMISAR

Professor of Law Emeritus, University of San Diego
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of Michigan

MARY KAY KANE

Professor of Law, Chancellor and Dean Emeritus,
University of California, Hastings College of the Law

LARRY D. KRAMER

President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

JONATHAN R. MACEY

Professor of Law, Yale Law School

ARTHUR R. MILLER

University Professor, New York University
Formerly Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, Harvard University

GRANT S. NELSON

Professor of Law, Pepperdine University
Professor of Law Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles

A. BENJAMIN SPENCER

Earle K. Shawe Professor of Law,
University of Virginia School of Law

JAMES J. WHITE

Robert A. Sullivan Professor of Law Emeritus,
University of Michigan

THIRD EDITION

SUZANNE DARROW-KLEINHAUS

Professor of Law
Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center

The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or other professional advice, and this publication is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. If you require legal or other expert advice, you should seek the services of a competent attorney or other professional.

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In memory of
our beloved Cindy

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Recent changes in legal education and the arrival of the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) are the reasons for this new edition. Increasingly, law schools are adding bar prep courses to the curriculum to prepare their students for the bar exam while the steadily growing number of jurisdictions adopting the UBE means that more and more candidates are sitting for this exam. These changes factor into bar preparation in different ways and this edition addresses them where applicable.

Nonetheless, much remains the same: bar candidates still need help to get them through the challenge of the bar exam. In addition to such practical information as bar planner checklists, suggestions on how to get a head start on bar prep during law school, and advice on how to stay on schedule when taking an online bar review course, I have included information about the UBE and added an Appendix with practice essays, self-assessment rubrics, and MPT exercises.

Many thanks to Staci Herr, Senior Acquisitions Editor at West Academic. None of this would be possible without her support, enthusiasm, and receptivity to new ideas.

Thank you, also, to Daniel Pojero, a Touro 2L student and my research assistant, for his diligence and dedication in helping me prepare this new edition. His comments and research were invaluable.

My deepest appreciation to Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and particularly to our dean, Patricia Salkin. She is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. From the moment she arrived on the Touro campus, she galvanized the faculty, captivated the student body, and devoted herself to this institution. We are very grateful for her vision, her leadership, and her heart.

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The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) questions, the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) questions, and excerpts from the Multistate Performance Tests (MPT) have been reprinted by permission from the NCBE. Copyright by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. All rights reserved.

SUZANNE DARROW-KLEINHAUS

March 2016

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I have learned a lot in the five years since writing the first editionmost, if not all, has been from my students. Perhaps because of the intensity of the experience, but the time I spend working with students in the crazy weeks before the bar exam are the best of my teaching times. The hours are insane and the pressure is intensealmost as much for the teacher as the studentbut the feeling that comes from sharing such an experience is without equal. Its not the same as what happens in a regular classroom. The dynamics and the stakes are so different. Everything is heightenedthe highs, the lows, and the gotcha moments. For many students, it finally comes together when studying for the bar exam and I get to be there when it does. It doesnt get much better than thatexcept when I learn that they passed the exam.

The additions to this book were stimulated by learning what my students needed to help them through this challenging time. Consequently, this edition adds some very practical information absent from the first edition: suggestions on how to get a head start on bar preparation, guidelines for selecting a bar review course that suits individual learning styles, bar planner checklists for the entire bar preparation period, from the initial planning VIII phases to the actual days of the bar exam, advice on how to manage the mountains of material you cover in bar review courses, and how to learn the law you need to know in a way that you can remember it and use it to answer exam questions. I have also included a greater range of examples from additional jurisdictions.

I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the students with whom I have worked so closely in the past couple of years. They have shared their thoughts, ideas, hearts, and hopes with me and I am forever grateful to have had this time with them: Kristina Milone, John Anselmo, Lauren Bernard, Erica Borgese, Wayne Broder, Ross Carmel, James Ciscone, Courtney Davy, Tianna Lyons, Miriam Metwaly, Alisa Sondak, Matthew Zimmelman, Ferron Lien, Anita Gupta, Jessica Terranova, Lindsay Godt, Aimee Alix, Kristen Buttafuoco, Oren Gerber, Kerri Flynn, Tara Hakimi, Tyrone Nurse, Gabriela Pacheco-Castillo, Alexander Sherman, and Maria Stavrakis.

I have also had the delightful and unexpected pleasure of making new friends as a result of writing this book. I have had emails from around the country and around the globe, including Japan and Korea. It has been my pleasure to correspond and get to know Masi Takeda and Thomas Song. I never would have believed that a book about the bar exam would bring me together with such hard-working, fascinating, and talented individuals.

Thanks again to Heidi Hellekson, Publisher for the West Law School imprint at Thomson-West. Her IX receptivity to new ideas and faith in my judgment means more to me than I can say. I endeavor to repay it always with the best work of which I am capable.

My deepest appreciation to Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center and Dean Lawrence Raful. Thank you for the research support and stipend which allowed me to pursue this project.