Josh Doin’ Work
Day 2
Day 2 of the exam was a whole lot more relaxed than day 1. I knew what to expect. I knew where to park and where not to park. I knew where the restrooms were. I know what to expect. Walked out, everyone is a lot more relaxed. We’ve been through day 1, now lets do this dance again.
As I said previously, day 2 of the bar exam is the Multistate Bar Exam. 100 questions in 3 hours in the morning. The same thing in the afternoon. You’re not allowed to bring in your computer that day, so all I had was my plastic bag full of pencils and my clock. I had my watch on too, just in case the clock screwed up.
So once the test begins, my clock stops working. Great…these 99 cent store batteries messing up in the most opportune of times. I was ok because I still had my watch, but it sucked for the gal next to me because she asked if she could use my clock too. So she ended up having to ask the proctors how much time was left. This is a perfect time to offer another bit of bar exam advice. ALWAYS BE PREPARED. Have a plan B, plan C, plan D, and plan E and be prepared mentally to have to go to your backup plans without freaking out.
The MBE
The MBE questions have a certain format (at least for most). There is about a paragraph or two describing a certain set of facts. There is the call of the question. There are four answer choices. On a typical MBE question, each answer choice falls into one of four categories.
A. The Correct Answer
B. The “moral answer.” The answer that makes you FEEL good because it brings about a result that feels right. But it is wrong because it misapplies facts to a rule of law or has no basis in the law.
C. The “correct statement of law misapplied to the facts answer.” This answer is where you can really get tripped up on because it’ll be a right rule of law. Unless you really know your law, it’s very tempting to use this.
D. The “ridiculous answer.” There is always one answer you can just cross off. This could be an answer that misapplies rules and is so wrong, it’s not even funny. It could be an answer that states the facts wrong (to test your ability to read). Sometimes, they’ll just make up rules (the rule in ‘Dagget’s Case’? Federal police power clause? Really?)
As I was going through the test, I was pretty locked in. Black letter law was flying through my brain. Memory recall was as good as it’s ever been for me. I was reading the fact patterns fast and seeing the issues before I ever read the question choices. I would see issues and come up with an answer before even completing reading the call. For most questions, I would know what answer would work even before reading the options.
One thing that did cause me pause at one point was that I thought to myself, “this is a little too easy, am I rushing too fast?” So I started slowing down a bit. The answer choices were just as obvious and doable for me. There wasn’t anything that was really a headscratcher. They instructed us not to discuss the contents or answers on the MBE, so I’ll oblige. I’ll say this. If you know your law, you would have passed it. I wasn’t walking out of there saying, “this is crap!” or “that was tougher than any Bar/Bri question” and throwing a hissy fit.
At one point, the MBE actually became FUN. Yes, you read correctly, FUN. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t choose taking six hours of multiple choice bar questions instead of going to a Dodger game (actually, the way the boys in blue are going, I may have to rethink that). But I mean it in the sense that it became enjoyable and something that you take pleasure in doing. Each question became like a little puzzle that I would need to solve. As I was answering questions, I had a soundtrack in my mind that was playing in the background. Well…basically, “Winner” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtWGx5_pHU0) and “Don’t Stop Believin” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=barLaHrtvoM). Yes, I watch a lot of basketball.
I had plenty of time in both sessions to finish up and to check all my answers again. I reviewed each answer “de novo,” meaning, I basically did them all over again. In the first session, the proctor called “five minutes” left when there were actually ten. It didn’t affect me, but if I were running out of time and had to guess because I thought I had five less minutes than I actually did, I would have been angry. How much do you want to bet some person won’t complain/sue over that? That’s just how law students roll.
Afterward, had dinner with the boys at Roscoe’s House of Chicken N’ Waffles. I had chicken with gravy with a couple of waffles. I always say this whenever I go there, but it’s amazing. It’s expensive, but its amazing. But one bad thing did come out of it. I really wanted to look over some of my checklists again, especially for wills/trusts and corporations. I don’t know if you know this, but fried chicken and waffles is kind of heavy. And when I eat heavy/fatty foods, I tend to be sleepy. So as I was attempting to do a quick review, I was really falling asleep. I couldn’t even play NBA live with the guys!
After day 2, I was feeling very good. I was feeling like I had done more than enough to pass the first two days. If the bar were a best of three series, I could go home and call it a day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The bar is more like being down 2-0 in a 5 game series and needing to sweep all three remaining games. This was no time to relax, game 5 was ahead. Win or go home (and yes, I recognize the inadequacy of the sports analogy in this case. Even if I “lost” I would have gone home anyway, but you get the point)
