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Reading on Screens—Where will you encounter it?

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Reading on Screens—Where will you encounter it?As lawyers and law students, we are living in an increasingly digitized world. From law school to the bar exam to practice, many tasks that were exclusively paper-based have been transferred to an online format.

Perhaps we won’t be able to call it “book” briefing much longer? In law school, you might find yourself needing to read an online casebook or study aid. The major book publishers now all offer digitized texts. In most cases, though, you will still have the option to choose a print book or digitized text. [Read more…] about Reading on Screens—Where will you encounter it?

Podcast Episode 118: More on Memorization for the Bar Exam

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Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! Today, we’re revisiting the best memorization techniques for long-term retention of material. There are many different ways to memorize, and you have to test them to figure out which ones work best for you.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Why is memorization such a problem for many bar studiers?
  • How much is realistic to memorize for each of the heavily-tested areas?
  • Some of the most effective ways to memorize
  • How to focus your time so you are as productive as possible
  • Practicing the material you have memorized
  • When is it too late to start memorizing?

Thanks for listening!
[Read more…] about Podcast Episode 118: More on Memorization for the Bar Exam

Should I Wait Until After the Covid-19 Pandemic to Re-Sit if I failed the Bar Exam?

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I Failed the Bar Exam. Should I Wait Until After the Covid-19 Pandemic to Re-Sit?As 2020 closed and perhaps the most bizarre and uncertain bar exam season comes to an end, we are now faced with the reality of bar exam results.

For the majority of examinees who were guinea pigs for the first remote exam administered in their jurisdiction, awaiting these results must have been especially hard amid a pandemic.

Faced with an unprecedented scenario, examinees had no mentor who could truly help to manage their expectations for this experience. Furthermore, the anxiety of waiting must have been magnified by the fear of having to re-sit the exam with no end to the pandemic in sight. A fear that has been realized for many examinees who have received a failing score.

So, what next?

If you failed the 2020 bar, with the next examination just a few weeks out, you’re probably wondering whether you should re-sit the next bar exam in February or even later in July. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly made bar prep an almost impossible experience; therefore, these are valid concerns to have.

If you’re wondering whether you should re-sit the exam during the pandemic, consider the below factors.

[Read more…] about Should I Wait Until After the Covid-19 Pandemic to Re-Sit if I failed the Bar Exam?

Podcast Episode 117: Listen and Learn — Due Process and Equal Protection (Con Law)

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Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! In this week’s episode, as part of our “Listen and Learn” series, we’re talking about an important area of Constitutional Law — the Fourteenth Amendment. Specifically, we take a look at procedural due process, substantive due process, and equal protection.

In this episode we discuss:

  • A review of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause and Equal Protection Clause
  • The procedure for analyzing substantive due process, procedural due process, and equal protection
  • The Supreme Court case Mathews v. Eldridge
  • Strict scrutiny, intermediate scrutiny, and rational basis
  • How to identify state interest
  • Going through a Constitutional Law fact pattern from the July 2013 California bar exam

Thanks for listening!
[Read more…] about Podcast Episode 117: Listen and Learn — Due Process and Equal Protection (Con Law)

Podcast Episode 116: California Bar Exam Results Are Out! What’s Next If You Didn’t Pass?

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Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! Results from the latest California bar exam have just come out, and there’s not a lot of time to prepare for the February 2021 exam if you failed. Is it feasible to sit for the exam that’s coming up, or would it be better to postpone? Join us for this episode, where we try to help you make this decision as rapidly as possible.

In this episode we discuss:

  • Important questions to ask yourself based on your exam results
  • What if you are working and studying?
  • Advice for foreign-trained attorneys
  • If you decide to try again in February, what should you focus on?
  • Tools that can help improve your scores quickly
  • To what extent can you predict the essay topics?

Thanks for listening!
[Read more…] about Podcast Episode 116: California Bar Exam Results Are Out! What’s Next If You Didn’t Pass?

Podcast Episode 115: Listen and Learn — Dying Declaration vs. Excited Utterance

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Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! In episode 101 we covered two hearsay exceptions, namely present sense impression and state of mind. Today, we’ll discuss two more exceptions that are also commonly tested, and those are dying declaration and excited utterance.

In this episode we discuss:

  • How to structure your Evidence essay
  • A review of what hearsay and hearsay exceptions are
  • The rules of the dying declaration and excited utterance exceptions
  • Analyzing several hypos involving hearsay
  • The importance of evaluating each statement at issue as to whether or not it’s hearsay

Thanks for listening!
[Read more…] about Podcast Episode 115: Listen and Learn — Dying Declaration vs. Excited Utterance

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