So how did it go?
This should be my last emo bar exam post for awhile, at least until it gets closer to November and I start worrying about my score.
Monday night, I was at home with my parents. They were pretty good about not asking me too many questions, and just letting me relax. They gave me my birthday present, a giftcard for Talbots so I can get some nice lawyer-ly clothes. I got in bed pretty early and just read over some RI law before turning out the light by 10. I slept terribly, I’m not even sure I slept at all. I just laid there listening to every little sound, thinking about all the stuff I still didn’t know. Everything was irritating me… the stupid dog next door, the ridiculously hard twin bed, scratchy sheets, loud neighbors, cars driving by, hearing buzzing bugs at the window, the creaky floorboards. I was lying awake when I heard my mum’s alarm go off and she came in to wake me. I got up, 6am, took a quick shower and had a couple cups of coffee before heading out an hour early to the RI convention center (which is about 10 minutes from my parent’s house, but my mum and dad made me paranoid about the traffic.) I was there way to early to go mill around other nervous people, so I sat in my car and reread some tips on writing a good bar essay.
I headed into the convention center, to Exhibit Hall D and checked in. I got my very official looking picture ID badge and picked a seat in the hall. I sat right in front so I wouldn’t have to stare at the 160 other bar examinees. I tried to eat a danish they had graciously provided, but it just made me nauseous so I gave up and just paced the hallway for the next half-hour. Finally we were sitting down and about to begin. I set up my spot, laid out my pens, watch, and goodluck charm (thanks Ashke!) on the table, and was ready to go, but first they had the new RI Supreme Court Justice give us a little good luck speech. That was actually quite nice. He was funny and I calmed down a bit.
First up for RI was the MPT (the multistate performance test). I wish the whole bar could have been like this section. It consisted of a hypo casefile and a hypo library of statutes and cases. Then you were given a task. This particular task was to write a memo to a senior partner advising him whether our client had failed to disclose some defects in a property she was selling and whether the buyer of the property could receive any damages. I really liked this question, there were some historical district zoning issues and some other property questions that I actually found pretty interesting (I know I am a total dork, I get excited over zoning!) This exam actually simulated what a lawyer does, what a concept. We had 90 minutes for this task. I felt pretty confident about my answer, I am used to working with those kind of time pressures, and the question felt a lot like the stuff I used to do at work… here is a question, I think you’ll find the answer here, give me something by 4…
Next were the 3 RI specific essays. There was a child custody question- that was no problem, I have a pretty good handle on family law stuff. Then a partnership question- not so bad. Last was a conflict of law question- meaning in a case between RI and MA, which law should the court use. That answer I kinda made up, I had no clue but I think what I wrote at least made sense.
Then lunch. The convention center is attached to the mall, so I just headed to the food court and got myself a yummy greasy burger, since I was finally hungry.
After lunch was the MEE, the Multistate essay exam, which was 6 essay questions that weren’t RI specific. It was a really business heavy exam, not so great for hippie law students like myself who stayed as far away from the business courses as possible. There was a commercial paper question (yuck), a partnership question (meh), a corporations question (ugh), a Uniform Commercial Code Secured Transaction question (yuckyuckyuck), a civil procedure question (bleh), and a wills question (finally one I felt I could answer!). By the end of the three hours, I just thrilled to be finished. I thought it was a very tough exam, but I was able thinking of some sort of answer for everything (even if for some I may have made some shit up).
I headed home, did some practice MBE (the multiple choice exam) questions, and went out to dinner with Mich. Mich and her mom had bought me birthday presents while I was gone, and Mich is terrible at surprises so wanted me to open them all up right away. (Yay, DDR!!)
Another not so great nights sleep. Up at 6am again. Wednesday was the multiple choice, which I was dreading. I headed to WNEC, again getting there too early, but this time I went inside and chatted with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I was assigned to the classroom I was in my first year of law school, so the room was familiar and I knew to expect too much air conditioning. My assigned seat was next to a girl who went to Uconn law who Mich recently started chatting with on Okcupid. She was really friendly and it was nice to have someone seated near me I could chat with.
Six hours of multiple choice questions… nuf said
Got home around 5. Read through some stuff on MA specific law to prep for Thursday’s essays, then headed over to Project Runway night. I am glad I finally decided to leave the apartment, it helped my stress, as did the really yummy wine Ashke and Sylvari gave us. :) I finally got some good sleep Wednesday.
I didn’t head to WNEC nearly as early on Thursday, milling around with other nervy people is not great for my stress.
The final day was 10 MA specific essays. 5 in the morning, and 5 in the afternoon. The first essay was a land use, eminent domain question. The facts of the question were very similar to Kelo v. New London, and since I am a dork who finds land use problems fascinating I had actually followed that case pretty closely, so I felt pretty comfortable with that question and had plenty to say. It was nice to have a question I felt good about first, because it set a good tone for the morning. I felt pretty good about my next essays: a property question, a trust question, a contract question, and criminal question. I took my lunch hour to lie in the grass.
After lunch, there was a UCC sales question, a family law paternity problem, a civil procedure question, professional responsibility (how not to be a jerk) question, and a torts question. The only one that I found really tricky was the civ pro question. I actually finished the afternoon session about 30 mins early.
So my final thoughts… It was not easy, but not as awful as I was expecting. It do not think this exam accurately reflects my skills as an attorney. Attorneys do NOT rely on their memory when preparing for a case, attorneys look shit up. Asking me to regurgitate all of MA or RI law or common law for 18 hours of exams does not prove that I will be a credit to the bar. Maybe it shows endurance, or an ability to deal with stress… but any attorney who relied on their memory for an applicable statute of limitation, or rule about motions to dismiss, or elements of a tort would be sued for malpractice… and probably disbarred and rightly so. I was so tempted to write in some of my answers, “Well, when I am actually practicing I will look up whether I can blah blah blah….” But the instructions said not to be flippant, so I figure that wasn’t the best answer.
I am very glad to be done, there is a huge weight off my shoulders. I am looking forward to taking a little time for myself, having some fun, and then getting serious about my job search. Tomorrow is my B-day and I am going to Six Flags with Ashke and then Rocky. Sunday, Mich and I are planning on going camping as long as the weather isn’t crummy. Next week is vacation on Mich’s parent’s boat (after my job interview on Wednesday). Lots of fun planned.
Monday night, I was at home with my parents. They were pretty good about not asking me too many questions, and just letting me relax. They gave me my birthday present, a giftcard for Talbots so I can get some nice lawyer-ly clothes. I got in bed pretty early and just read over some RI law before turning out the light by 10. I slept terribly, I’m not even sure I slept at all. I just laid there listening to every little sound, thinking about all the stuff I still didn’t know. Everything was irritating me… the stupid dog next door, the ridiculously hard twin bed, scratchy sheets, loud neighbors, cars driving by, hearing buzzing bugs at the window, the creaky floorboards. I was lying awake when I heard my mum’s alarm go off and she came in to wake me. I got up, 6am, took a quick shower and had a couple cups of coffee before heading out an hour early to the RI convention center (which is about 10 minutes from my parent’s house, but my mum and dad made me paranoid about the traffic.) I was there way to early to go mill around other nervous people, so I sat in my car and reread some tips on writing a good bar essay.
I headed into the convention center, to Exhibit Hall D and checked in. I got my very official looking picture ID badge and picked a seat in the hall. I sat right in front so I wouldn’t have to stare at the 160 other bar examinees. I tried to eat a danish they had graciously provided, but it just made me nauseous so I gave up and just paced the hallway for the next half-hour. Finally we were sitting down and about to begin. I set up my spot, laid out my pens, watch, and goodluck charm (thanks Ashke!) on the table, and was ready to go, but first they had the new RI Supreme Court Justice give us a little good luck speech. That was actually quite nice. He was funny and I calmed down a bit.
First up for RI was the MPT (the multistate performance test). I wish the whole bar could have been like this section. It consisted of a hypo casefile and a hypo library of statutes and cases. Then you were given a task. This particular task was to write a memo to a senior partner advising him whether our client had failed to disclose some defects in a property she was selling and whether the buyer of the property could receive any damages. I really liked this question, there were some historical district zoning issues and some other property questions that I actually found pretty interesting (I know I am a total dork, I get excited over zoning!) This exam actually simulated what a lawyer does, what a concept. We had 90 minutes for this task. I felt pretty confident about my answer, I am used to working with those kind of time pressures, and the question felt a lot like the stuff I used to do at work… here is a question, I think you’ll find the answer here, give me something by 4…
Next were the 3 RI specific essays. There was a child custody question- that was no problem, I have a pretty good handle on family law stuff. Then a partnership question- not so bad. Last was a conflict of law question- meaning in a case between RI and MA, which law should the court use. That answer I kinda made up, I had no clue but I think what I wrote at least made sense.
Then lunch. The convention center is attached to the mall, so I just headed to the food court and got myself a yummy greasy burger, since I was finally hungry.
After lunch was the MEE, the Multistate essay exam, which was 6 essay questions that weren’t RI specific. It was a really business heavy exam, not so great for hippie law students like myself who stayed as far away from the business courses as possible. There was a commercial paper question (yuck), a partnership question (meh), a corporations question (ugh), a Uniform Commercial Code Secured Transaction question (yuckyuckyuck), a civil procedure question (bleh), and a wills question (finally one I felt I could answer!). By the end of the three hours, I just thrilled to be finished. I thought it was a very tough exam, but I was able thinking of some sort of answer for everything (even if for some I may have made some shit up).
I headed home, did some practice MBE (the multiple choice exam) questions, and went out to dinner with Mich. Mich and her mom had bought me birthday presents while I was gone, and Mich is terrible at surprises so wanted me to open them all up right away. (Yay, DDR!!)
Another not so great nights sleep. Up at 6am again. Wednesday was the multiple choice, which I was dreading. I headed to WNEC, again getting there too early, but this time I went inside and chatted with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. I was assigned to the classroom I was in my first year of law school, so the room was familiar and I knew to expect too much air conditioning. My assigned seat was next to a girl who went to Uconn law who Mich recently started chatting with on Okcupid. She was really friendly and it was nice to have someone seated near me I could chat with.
Six hours of multiple choice questions… nuf said
Got home around 5. Read through some stuff on MA specific law to prep for Thursday’s essays, then headed over to Project Runway night. I am glad I finally decided to leave the apartment, it helped my stress, as did the really yummy wine Ashke and Sylvari gave us. :) I finally got some good sleep Wednesday.
I didn’t head to WNEC nearly as early on Thursday, milling around with other nervy people is not great for my stress.
The final day was 10 MA specific essays. 5 in the morning, and 5 in the afternoon. The first essay was a land use, eminent domain question. The facts of the question were very similar to Kelo v. New London, and since I am a dork who finds land use problems fascinating I had actually followed that case pretty closely, so I felt pretty comfortable with that question and had plenty to say. It was nice to have a question I felt good about first, because it set a good tone for the morning. I felt pretty good about my next essays: a property question, a trust question, a contract question, and criminal question. I took my lunch hour to lie in the grass.
After lunch, there was a UCC sales question, a family law paternity problem, a civil procedure question, professional responsibility (how not to be a jerk) question, and a torts question. The only one that I found really tricky was the civ pro question. I actually finished the afternoon session about 30 mins early.
So my final thoughts… It was not easy, but not as awful as I was expecting. It do not think this exam accurately reflects my skills as an attorney. Attorneys do NOT rely on their memory when preparing for a case, attorneys look shit up. Asking me to regurgitate all of MA or RI law or common law for 18 hours of exams does not prove that I will be a credit to the bar. Maybe it shows endurance, or an ability to deal with stress… but any attorney who relied on their memory for an applicable statute of limitation, or rule about motions to dismiss, or elements of a tort would be sued for malpractice… and probably disbarred and rightly so. I was so tempted to write in some of my answers, “Well, when I am actually practicing I will look up whether I can blah blah blah….” But the instructions said not to be flippant, so I figure that wasn’t the best answer.
I am very glad to be done, there is a huge weight off my shoulders. I am looking forward to taking a little time for myself, having some fun, and then getting serious about my job search. Tomorrow is my B-day and I am going to Six Flags with Ashke and then Rocky. Sunday, Mich and I are planning on going camping as long as the weather isn’t crummy. Next week is vacation on Mich’s parent’s boat (after my job interview on Wednesday). Lots of fun planned.