In can never be too early to figure out what to take to the bar exam. Being prepared is a mental necessity and getting these details out of the way early can alleviate some of the stress. The California State Bar website will tell you exactly what you can and can’t bring into the exam center, so here is our summary and tips on what we feel is most important.
How on earth are you going to get through 3 full days of the bar exam without falling apart? If it’s your first time sitting for the bar, it’s impossible to predict how you are going to react to the mental task ahead. But, you can be well prepared by having a good routine in place that sets you up for success. I took the California bar exam twice, each time in Pasadena, thankfully passing the second one. My schedule was pretty much the same each time and I felt very assured and mentally prepared with each sitting. Here is my day-by-day routine of what I did from my first day of arrival to my final day of departure. Read More →
I 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 →
Lets face it, studying for the bar exam is incredibly monotonous and boring. You can’t be creative, there is no opportunity for self-expression, and there’s no need for research. Basically just the same mundane rules of law over and over again. So, how do you stay motivated and interested? Some will tell you that fear of failing is the motivating factor! Perhaps this works to some degree, but I found that to be the most productive and keep up the bar prep pace, I needed some inspiring techniques during this arduous process.
Here are the 6 best tips that helped me stay focused and productive. Read More →
It seems inevitable that at some point during your law school studies you will need to prepare some flashcards, or perhaps I should say, it’s “foreseeable” – a favorite word among law students, second only to “reasonable.” So, let’s have a look at the best possible method to make your flashcard creation a success. Perhaps you just might recognize yourself in one of these types and be inspired to try out a new method that could give you that boost you’ve been looking for, taking the dreariness out of a mundane task that law students just can’t seem to avoid. Read More →