Barry overwhelmedOur BarIssues.com database contains 162 essays from the California Bar Exam going all the way back to July 2001 (with more essays added for each coming exam). That’s a lot of essays! Reviewing as many essays as possible can be the difference between a pass and a fail. Some fact patterns have been known to be repeated and the more you study from these essays and their corresponding answers, the more you get an understanding of what the bar examiners are looking for. Read More →

Male Law Student SurprisedThe first time we published our Bar Exam Essay Bloopers back in May of 2014, we had a lot of essays to go through to find those golden nuggets of comical student answers written under bar exam pressure. Since then we’ve been on the look-out for some more, but it seems that today’s law students have either become more serious or more careful. Whatever the case, we did find a few things that sparked a “wow!” Read More →

coffee cupWhen you’re faced with three essay questions on the morning of the bar exam, how will you write them up?

Will you read all the questions first before you write or will you endure the surprise (or anguish!) of not knowing what to expect until you get to the next question. Will you rearrange the order of questions to suit your strengths or weaknesses? Hardest first? Easiest first?

Find out Nadine’s method that she used to help her pass the California Bar Exam by reading her post on the popular bar prep blog, Make This Your Last Time.

Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

law canva draftI would like to welcome our guest-blogger, Brian Hahn, the founder of Make This Your Last Time and a second-time passer of the California Bar Exam. He is here to share one of his techniques that flipped his entire approach to essays.

If you’re here reading this on the website BarIssues.com, you must have some inkling of an interest in identifying issues on the CA essays.

Which is good because issues are the most important part of IRAC. Don’t get me wrong, rules and their application are still important, no, critical. You still need to make sure you’re solid in those areas. But without the seeds of issues, IRACs can’t even sprout in the first place.

Consider this another way: Although you can still get partial credit if you make up a reasonable rule or shove in facts until your application looks hefty enough (classic BS techniques), you will get zero credit for an issue that should have been raised but is never raised.

This was actually the biggest game-changing insight I had for my second time. We all have issues that we want to show off, but let’s see if there’s a way to nail down the right issues and fearlessly present them to the grader. Read More →

8 steps fdpThe essays on the California Bar Exam make up 39% of your score. You must do well on the essays in order to pass the bar! Here is my method for the 1 hour “hypos,” which you will have to write 6 of (3 on Tuesday morning and 3 on Thursday morning).

Follow these 8 steps for each essay on the bar exam. If you practice them now, you will know exactly what to do so that you can be on “auto-pilot” the days of the exam. Read More →

bar-examIt’s inevitable. At some point you will reach utter boredom while studying for the bar exam. This boredom will become even more apparent if you are a repeater – that is, you are studying for the exam a second (or maybe even third) time because you have not yet successfully passed.

So, how do you stay motivated and persevere during this crucial time of your life?

I’ve put together some tips to make your study time just a tad bit more appealing. However, I give no guarantees that you’re going to fall in love with Remedies any time soon!  Always keep in mind that what works for one person may not work for you, therefore, take any study tips as mere recommendations that you may or may not want to try. Read More →

ID-10091893Reading and analyzing hundreds of bar exam essays might not be your idea of a good time, but we at BarIssues.com have found some hidden gems of humor buried within all those IRACs that made us LOL. We thought we’d share some of these ‘funny moments in bar exam history’ with you.  Especially if you’re suffering from bar prep fatigue, these might make you smile.  Courtesy of those who’ve gone before you and came out with State Bar recognized answers – despite the bloopers. However, please note we do not recommend trying to be witty on your bar exam answers!  We believe these snippets of otherwise good answers were just the unintended result of writing under pressure.   Read More →