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Today we’re excited to have author (and attorney) Jessica Klein here to answer some questions about self-studying for the California bar exam. Jessica is the author of the book The Goat’s Guide: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide To Preparing for the California Bar Exam On Your Own (affiliate link).
Without further ado…
You have likely read about my bar binder (and why I think it can be helpful to build one of your own).
I also want to recommend a somewhat old-school approach to building out your study materials (yes, you do need to build your own study materials). As we all appreciate, these days most of our work is done on computers. In law school you likely built most of your outlines on the computer. And you may be building study materials for the bar exam on the computer as well.
But I think there is a lot of value in turning off the computer and writing study materials by hand.
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When I work with students, I often find that I need to remind them that one of their jobs while preparing for the bar exam is to become an expert fact pattern reader.
Now this may sound kind of silly. At this point in your legal studies you have likely read hundreds of fact patterns. Aren’t you an expert already? I will argue that if you are struggling with the essay portion of the bar exam, you are not.
What is an expert fact pattern reader?
[Read more…] about Bar Study Tip: Bar Exam Essays—You Must Become an Expert at Reading the Facts
When I was studying for the bar exam, I found the amount of paper I was collecting for each subject a little overwhelming. As I continued to review more and more subjects, I started to get concerned that I might actually lose or misplace some materials.
To remedy this, I put my organizational skills to work and built a bar binder. And I am glad that I did! Once the binder was built, I never wasted any time looking for an outline or attack plan as everything was all in one location. I was so proud of my bar binder that I passed it around to friends taking the bar after me—and they added in their materials. Quite a few people have found bar exam success with my bar binder (which is now well worn from much use, I might add).
[Read more…] about Bar Study Tip: Organize by Using a Bar Binder
One thing about taking the bar exam is definitely very different from taking a law school exam: You cannot ask what is important (the analytical approach to a question) or what is going to be on the exam!
EEK! So, how do you figure out how the bar examiners want you to answer essay questions? By working backward from the sample answers (and listening carefully during the bar prep courses).
[Read more…] about Bar Study Tip: You Should Spend Time Studying Sample Answers
When I was studying for the bar exam, my now-husband and I had been dating for about a year. He isn’t a lawyer (and is proud of it) and he didn’t know many lawyers until we got together.
Now I, on the other hand, am from a family of lawyers. My parents attended law school at different times and each was the spouse of the other when they took their respective bar exams. I grew up hearing the stories about each of their bar experiences and, well, frankly what it was like to live with someone who was studying for and taking the bar exam. The message was clear,