A Toy Story This Ain't . . .
Law school itself might be over, but now the masochistic experience known as "BARBRI" begins.
No, not Barbie. BARBRI. The New York Bar Exam begins on July 25, ends the next day (my 36th birthday). From now until then, I take a special bar exam study course called BARBRI. Classes 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. But that's not the end of it. We were told to expect to put in 5 to 9 hours of additional study each day as well, including one day on the weekend. Eek!
But, there's really no other choice. The NY Bar Exam covers up to 22 different subjects, most of which any given law student has not actually taken (and certainly not me!). From the expected, like Contracts, to the totally off the wall, like Secured Transactions, and (the horror, the horror) Conflicts of Law. And it all requires both rote memorization and analytical ability.
The first day of the Bar is "New York" day. It is six hours long and covers various test formats, but the most important section are the five "New York essays". You get 40 minutes per essay, and each essay will raise issues that touch on up to 4 of the 22 subject areas. You have to know New York law in particular. The ironic thing about better American law schools is that they do NOT teach you the law of any specific location, but rather general principles, and perhaps, common majority and minority rules. So, it's like starting anew, with some subjects at least.
The second day is also 6 hours long, and devoted completely to the "Multistate". This is a multiple choice exam used by nearly every state (which is why all states will be having their bar exams in late July--so everyone gets the test at once). In contrast to the first day, it only covers six topics: Contracts, Torts, Evidence, Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law, and (the most dreaded subject) Property. Since the ABA requires all American law students to study all these subjects except Criminal Procedure and Evidence, you'd think this section would be easier. After all, only 6 subjects and multiple choice...piece of cake, right?
However, here's the insane part. You have 6 hours for 200 multiple choice questions. That's one for about every 1.8 minutes. Mind you, these are not short questions. Each takes up an entire column on a two column page. And usually, more than one answer is right, or none of them are right, and you have to find the least wrong answer. Cuh-razy!
Secondly, and even crazier, because laws do vary widely from state to state, you have to learn rules that might contradict the law you have to know on "NY day": what is legally correct on New York day may very often be completely wrong on Multistate day.
So what is correct on Multistate day? The correct law is the law that the majority of states follow. Nonetheless, you have to know minority rules too, because the multistate will sometimes specify that they are asking about a minority rule. Moreover, sadistic demons that they are, on Day One, the New York Bar Examiners will purposefully have tried to trip up would-be lawyers by asking questions where New York differs from the Multistate day. Eek!
The final kicker: criminal law in the US varies so greatly from state to state that the bar examiners mostly don't bother with "majority rules". Rather, they turn the clock back several hundred years, and test you on the criminal law of England as it existed around 1700.
No, I'm not making that up!
What does this all add up to? On Multistate Day, you are tested on the law of NOWHERE!
Nor am I making this up, my favorite NY bar exam anecdote. Two years ago, halfway through the multistate, a female test taker began to eat her exam, and rather loudly at that. When approached by a proctor, she jumped out of her seat, and began to run around the convention center where the test was being conducted, shouting "I am a covenant, and I run with the land!"
Like I said, cuh-razy!!
But it could be worse. The California Bar is three days!
No wonder so many lawyers are miserable human beings ;)
No, not Barbie. BARBRI. The New York Bar Exam begins on July 25, ends the next day (my 36th birthday). From now until then, I take a special bar exam study course called BARBRI. Classes 5 days a week, 4 hours a day. But that's not the end of it. We were told to expect to put in 5 to 9 hours of additional study each day as well, including one day on the weekend. Eek!
But, there's really no other choice. The NY Bar Exam covers up to 22 different subjects, most of which any given law student has not actually taken (and certainly not me!). From the expected, like Contracts, to the totally off the wall, like Secured Transactions, and (the horror, the horror) Conflicts of Law. And it all requires both rote memorization and analytical ability.
The first day of the Bar is "New York" day. It is six hours long and covers various test formats, but the most important section are the five "New York essays". You get 40 minutes per essay, and each essay will raise issues that touch on up to 4 of the 22 subject areas. You have to know New York law in particular. The ironic thing about better American law schools is that they do NOT teach you the law of any specific location, but rather general principles, and perhaps, common majority and minority rules. So, it's like starting anew, with some subjects at least.
The second day is also 6 hours long, and devoted completely to the "Multistate". This is a multiple choice exam used by nearly every state (which is why all states will be having their bar exams in late July--so everyone gets the test at once). In contrast to the first day, it only covers six topics: Contracts, Torts, Evidence, Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law, and (the most dreaded subject) Property. Since the ABA requires all American law students to study all these subjects except Criminal Procedure and Evidence, you'd think this section would be easier. After all, only 6 subjects and multiple choice...piece of cake, right?
However, here's the insane part. You have 6 hours for 200 multiple choice questions. That's one for about every 1.8 minutes. Mind you, these are not short questions. Each takes up an entire column on a two column page. And usually, more than one answer is right, or none of them are right, and you have to find the least wrong answer. Cuh-razy!
Secondly, and even crazier, because laws do vary widely from state to state, you have to learn rules that might contradict the law you have to know on "NY day": what is legally correct on New York day may very often be completely wrong on Multistate day.
So what is correct on Multistate day? The correct law is the law that the majority of states follow. Nonetheless, you have to know minority rules too, because the multistate will sometimes specify that they are asking about a minority rule. Moreover, sadistic demons that they are, on Day One, the New York Bar Examiners will purposefully have tried to trip up would-be lawyers by asking questions where New York differs from the Multistate day. Eek!
The final kicker: criminal law in the US varies so greatly from state to state that the bar examiners mostly don't bother with "majority rules". Rather, they turn the clock back several hundred years, and test you on the criminal law of England as it existed around 1700.
No, I'm not making that up!
What does this all add up to? On Multistate Day, you are tested on the law of NOWHERE!
Nor am I making this up, my favorite NY bar exam anecdote. Two years ago, halfway through the multistate, a female test taker began to eat her exam, and rather loudly at that. When approached by a proctor, she jumped out of her seat, and began to run around the convention center where the test was being conducted, shouting "I am a covenant, and I run with the land!"
Like I said, cuh-razy!!
But it could be worse. The California Bar is three days!
No wonder so many lawyers are miserable human beings ;)