The Last Post

I got my MBE score: 154.9 scaled.

I honestly have no clue how it was that high...but I'll take it. :)

Good luck to all future test takers who may stumble upon this page!

I passed :)

I'm really surprised about it, but I did pass somehow. As you can see, I wasn't terribly optimistic about it going into the exam or after I took the exam.

I haven't gotten the score breakdown yet, so I don't know whether the MBE helped me pass or dragged me down.

Either way, though, I'm so glad I don't have to take this test again. Good luck to anyone who reads this in the future and is taking the NY Bar!

(This will likely be my last post, but I might put up one more after I get the MBE breakdown.)

Bar Time

Alright, time for me to leave for NY.  After another week of studying, I'd say there's a chance I pass.  Maybe 50/50.  I would still love another week or two.

Good luck to all the rest of you crazy bar takers as well!

Dear Board of Bar Examiners:

While I realize you have likely thought about the questions for the exam on Tuesday already, if you have not, please allow me to help.

1. Do not include a Wills question.  I know, I know.  It's almost heresy to say this because Wills has been on almost every bar exam.  Now is the time to keep everyone on their toes though! 
2. Do not include obscure subjects like Commercial Paper or No Fault Insurance.  I know what I said about keeping people on their toes, but there's only so much craziness we bar takers need.  Not including Wills is enough, so there's no need to include minor topics like these.
3. Include most of the rest of the biggies, like Contracts, Torts, Criminal Law, and Property.  These are already on the MBE, so people should know them reasonable well.  A fair challenge if you will.
4. For the last essay, Domestic Relations or Corporations will work fine.  If you want to get really crazy, throw some Conflict of Laws or Partnership questions in. 

Thanks for your consideration,

A concerned bar taker

Panic...

...or justified concern?

For a long time on the schedule posts there was a (5-6 days behind) at the end.  For some reason, I just could not seem to get caught up.  There is so much material that it overwhelms you.

Anyway, the reason for this post is because I'm pretty sure I'm not going to pass.  Since the lectures ended, I've been going over everything again and I really just don't know that much.  As I've done some of these practice questions (that's the reason why I was still 4.5 days behind...lots of practice questions), I've realized that I'm missing way too many.

I understand that everyone sort of panics and worries that they don't know enough.  I also understand that 80% of NY's test takers who are JD graduates of ABA approved law schools pass.

That being said, those 4.5 days seem really crucial right about now. 

Now back to studying Torts.  And praying.

Ranking of Lecturers

This list is my subjective ranking of the lecturers for the NY BarBri course.  You can feel free to agree or disagree and I'll try to update the ranking periodically.

1. Roger E. Schechter (George Washington) -- Torts
   This man is in a league of his own.  I could honestly listen to his lectures as entertainment.  He is funnier than most sitcoms and he is really straightforward.  If all BarBri lecturers were this good, it might be worth the money!
2. Roger E. Schechter (George Washington) -- Domestic Relations
   I liked the Torts lecture slightly better, but this should really be ranked 1A because it's almost as good.
3. Paula A. Franzese (Seton Hall) -- Property
   Franzese is amazing.  She is entertaining, clear, concise, and funny.  Prior to having Schechter, I liked her lecture the best, but the gulf between them is much bigger than the gulf between her and Simons.
4. Michael A. Simons (St. John's) -- Criminal Law
   Simons is engaging, clear, and, dare I say, almost entertaining.
5. Michael A. Simons (St. John's) -- Evidence
   Yes, he gets ranked slightly below himself.  A bit less entertaining here, but just as clear.
6. Richard D. Freer (Emory) -- Corporations
   Freer is just a tiny bit below Simons.  He is funny, irreverent, and engaging.  He does kind of sound like he's on a huge caffeine high the entire time though, but not necessarily in a bad way.  He is the Frankie Hejduk of BarBri lecturers.
7. Richard D. Freer (Emory) -- Federal Jurisdiction
   All of Civ Pro I and II in 3 hours.  Yet, he's just as crazy (in a good way) as for corporations.  He realizes that the subjects he teaches are boring and self-awareness helps keep him more engaging as a lecturer.
8. Paula A. Franzese (Seton Hall) -- Secured Transactions / Commercial Paper
   Franzese is not nearly as good here, but that might be a result of the material.  This is some of the most dry and boring material on the bar.
9. J. Kip Cornwell (SHU) -- Criminal Procedure
   Cornwell is somewhat boring, but explains the material fairly clearly.  He is about what I expected out of these lectures.
10. Paul M. Lisnek -- Professional Responsibility
    Lisnek was actually much better for his MPRE lecture.  This New York specific version seemed less focused and poorly organized. 
11. David S. Sokolow (Texas) -- Contracts
    Sokolow is solidly in the middle tier of lecturers.  He knows he's not entertaining, but tries to teach clearly and avoid ridiculous jokes.  In short, he does his job with little fanfare.
12. Joe Tom Easley -- Conflict of Laws
    Similar to Sokolow, he's very clear, very straightforward and just goes over the material.  Can't complain, but certainly won't remember him in 5 years.
13. Tanya K. Hernandez (George Washington) -- Trusts
    She has a good energy level about a boring subject, but has a verbal tic of saying "humh" after a rhetorical question that gets annoying after a few hours.
14. Erwin Chemerinsky (Duke) -- Constitutional Law
    Every lecturer tells bad jokes riddled with puns.  Chemerinsky takes the cake though.  His style is similar to Cornwell's: straightforward and pretty boring.
15. Michael J. Kaufman (Loyola) -- Agency and Partnership
    I've heard that many people really like him, but he seemed genuinely crazy to me. 
16. Vincent C. Alexander (St. John's) -- NY Practice and Procedure
    Alexander uses ridiculous voice inflections and repeats himself much too often.  Many times it feels like he is lecturing to 4th graders rather than law school graduates.  He gets a few points for trying I guess.
17. Erica Fine (BarBri) -- Wills
    I said at the top that this is just one person's subjective ranking.  I'm not trying to be mean about this.  That being said, Fine is dreadful.  She struggles to read from the handout she prepared, she fails to provide clear statements of the rules, and her hypos are the least clear of any BarBri lecturer.  About the only reason I can figure that she is allowed to continue to lecture for BarBri is because she is the Eastern Regional Associate Director of BarBri.  Others seem to share my assessment.

Day 30: Domestic Relations (4.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: July 15
• Actual: July 16
• Subject: Domestic Relations

This was the last lecture, so no more iPod for me.  :)

Perhaps the most interesting fact from the lecture: New York is the only state in the country that does NOT have "no-fault divorce."  Even Mississippi is more progressive than New York!

Schechter is still hilarious though.  I want to go drinking with that guy and just listen to him tell stories. 

Day 29: Federal Jurisdiction (4.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: July 14
• Actual: July 14
• Subject: Federal Jurisdiction

So this was basically like all of Civ Pro I and II in a 3 hour lecture.  Kind of odd, but I do feel like I've heard it all before.

In less exciting news and the reason this post is delayed, my computer died.  Yes, the one that I'm supposed to be taking the New York Bar Exam on in 2 weeks.  I've rush-ordered a new one and I hope it gets here before I have to leave.  If not, I guess I'll cancel the order and go buy a cheap one at Best Buy.  Or rent one from somewhere.  Or something.

Unfortunately, finding a new computer and contacting the exam software people ate up a huge chunk of yesterday.  Not exactly a perfect way to begin the last 2 weeks. 

Day 28: Secured Transactions / Commercial Paper

• Scheduled: July 11
• Actual: July 12
• Subject: Secured Transactions and Commercial Paper

The bright side: these two subjects rarely appear on the bar. 

The not-so-bright side: I just got through with the lecture and I'm not much more clear about them than I was before I started.  And I didn't take either one in law school.  I understand that New York is the financial capital of the world, but do these really need to be on the bar? 

Day 27: Conflict of Laws (5 days behind)

• Scheduled: July 10
• Actual: July 10
• Subject: Conflict of Laws

While I did actual complete this on the scheduled day, I'm still approximately 5 days behind because of things other than lectures that I haven't done yet (like practice questions and reviewing).  At least I'm caught up on lectures though!

Conflicts wasn't bad at all...perhaps because I took the class in my last semester of law school that finished a little over 2 months ago.  I guess I really haven't forgotten much of it yet.  It also rarely appears on the NY bar, so there's a bit less pressure to memorize everything.

Day 26: Trusts (5 days behind)

• Scheduled: July 1
• Actual: July 7
• Subject: Trusts

I know nothing about trusts, but so far the lecturer seems much, much better than the lecturer for Wills.  So, hopefully by the end of today I will know enough to get by about trusts.

Day 25: Wills II (5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 27
• Actual: July 6
• Subject: Wills II

Ok.  I finished Wills and it was actually worse than I thought.  The lecturer (Erica Fine) was the worst I've had in BarBri and maybe the worst I've had for any subject in any level of education.  She should not be a public speaker.

I'm not sure I understand Wills and I'm not sure the lecture helped out all.  Outstanding combo.

On the bright side, I had a lovely 4th of July and got to see some friends.  My parents were also in town for the long weekend and I got to hang out with them too.  It will likely be the last time I hang out with anyone until after the bar. 

I also watched the last two sets of the Wimbledon final this afternoon because I just couldn't bear to listen to Erica Fine any longer.  I have to say I feel like I made the right decision.  Fantastic match and congratulations to Nadal for what looks like the passing of the torch:

On to trusts.

Day 24: Wills I (5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 26
• Actual: July 2
• Subject: Wills I

Now for the material I don't know anything about.  Should be just great....

Seriously, why is this on the bar?  Although most people don't plan to practice criminal law, at least with that bar subject you can impress people by critiquing Law & Order.

All I can picture when I think of wills is a really long and really boring document using over-the-top flowery lawyerese. 

Sort of like this thing:

Day 23: Torts III (5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 25
• Actual: July 1
• Subject: Torts III

A little strict liability, a little workers' compensation, a little vicarious liability.  Another good lecture from Schechter.

Day 22: Torts II (5.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 24
• Actual: June 30
• Subject: Torts II

Too much soccer and not enough torts caused me not to catch up more.  I still liked the torts material a lot though.  Yeah Negligence!

Day 21: Torts I (5.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 23
• Actual: June 28
• Subject: Torts I

Because this is an after the fact post, I can tell that I absolutely loved Roger Schechter.  The man is amazing.  Torts was easily the best lecture.

Day 20: Professional Responsibility (5.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 20
• Actual: June 26
• Subject: Professional Responsibility & MPT Workshop

Whoops.  So I kinda forgot to update this for a while.  Yeah, PR was not so hot.  Didn't like it in law school, didn't like it here. 

In the meantime, congrats to Spain for winning Euro 2008.

This guy HAD to have been happy about it.

According to his Wikipedia page, he goes to every Spanish National Team game with his drum.  Even more shockingly:

He owns a bar next to the Valencia Stadium that doubles as a sports museum. Due to frequent travels in support of his team and his unwillingness to let others run the bar, Manolo has suffered financial losses for his passion. He has also lost his family, who he found gone upon returning from a match in 1987.

So he might not have a family anymore, but at least he has a winning national team!

Day 19: Contracts III (5.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 18
• Actual: June 25
• Subject: Contracts III

Only one more multistate bar exam (MBE) subject left to go: Torts.  Theoretically, if I can do very well on these six subjects and ok on the rest, I will pass.  At least I know these subjects will be ON the bar.  The rest it's an educated guess.

PR tomorrow and hopefully I can start Torts as well.  We'll see.

Day 18: Contracts II (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 17
• Actual: June 23
• Subject: Contracts II

I'm getting a bit sick of trying to catch up.  Ugh.

Day 17: Contracts I (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 16
• Actual: June 22
• Subject: Contracts I

I'm stunned at how much of this I remember from law school.  I think my first-year contracts professor must have done an excellent job.  I honestly feel like I could take this section of the bar right now. 

So that makes one section. ;)

Day 16: Evidence III (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 13
• Actual: June 21
• Subject: Evidence III

Not a big fan of hearsay.  It's confusing.  That is all.

Day 15: Evidence II (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 12
• Actual: June 20
• Subject: Evidence II

I don't think I like Simons quite as much for evidence, but evidence is just more boring.  He's definitely not bad, but it just feels like rule after rule after rule.

Day 14: Evidence I (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 11
• Actual: June 19
• Subject: Evidence I

I'm kind of excited to get back to a lecturer I know I like.  Or at least I liked his criminal law lecture.  I wasn't a huge fan of evidence in law school, so we'll see if Simons can do anything with it in BarBri land.

Day 13: Constitutional Law II (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 10
• Actual: June 18
• Subject: Con Law II

Going over Con Law stuff reminded me of something I had forgotten.  Con Law has some coherent principles, but not many and is riddled with exceptions.  A lot of times it just seems to be who is on the court matters more than what the Constitution says.

Day 12: Constitutional Law I (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 9
• Actual: June 17
• Subject: Con Law I

I like Con Law, but this is the more boring, structural half.  This half is interesting when there is discussion and debate, but as a black letter law subject, it's not too hot.  It's fairly straightforward and I've found that I remember almost all of it already. 

Day 11: Agency & Partnership (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 6
• Actual: June 16
• Subject: Agency & Partnership

Again, this post got up late.  Apologies to all my loyal readers. 

The topic was pretty straightforward, but the lecturer drove me crazy.  It made me want to go back to Property!

Day 10: Property III (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 5
• Actual: June 14
• Subject: Property III

This post got up a bit late, but I loved the Property lecturer.  She was about as good as I can imagine a BarBri lecturer being.  I might even remember something about Property law as a result!

Day 9: Property II (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 4
• Actual: June 13
• Subject: Property II

I've gotta say, the proper lecturer is really, really good.  She's slightly crazy, but anyone who includes both Ja Rule and Nat King Cole references during a property lecture can't be all bad in my book. 

Day 8: Property I (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 3
• Actual: June 12
• Subject: Property I

Property.  If I recall from the BarBri intro lecture, this is the subject with the worst scores on the MBE.  It's pretty easy to understand why as well.  Property uses arcane terminology, unintuitive rules, and silly language like "to A and his heirs."

Unless you like learning foreign languages, it's hard to imagine liking property that much.

Day 7: Corporations II (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: June 2
• Actual: June 11
• Subject: Corporations II

The corporations material isn't bad so far.  I covered most of it in my class in law school and the professor doing the lecture is really good.  He kinda reminds me of my corporations professor, actually.

I really need Euro 2008 to disappear.  That tournament is no good for my productivity.  It is good for my enjoyment of soccer, but that's not what this blog is about.

The Dutch fans are pretty cool though:

(someone should let them know orange isn't it their flag though)

Day 6: Corporations I (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: May 30
• Actual: June 9
• Subject: Corporations I

Alright, so I'm actually completely guessing on the days behind.  But, I'm catching up.  I swear. 

I took corporations in law school and the NY version doesn't seem to be terribly different.  The lecturer ain't bad and is pretty enthusiastic without being annoying. 

Did I mention how glad I am to be done with the NY Practice lectures yet? 

Day 5: NY Practice and Procedure Part III (6 days behind)

• Scheduled: May 29
• Actual: June 7
• Subject: NY P&P III

So I'm gonna finally make it through P&P this morning.  I can't stand this lecture.  I think I'd rather listen to any other subject after 3 days of this.

Thanks for the comments, but...

If you know my actual name, please do not use it.  I can't edit comments, so I have deleted any that used my name.  I'm trying to keep this blog fairly anonymous.

Thanks. :)

Finally done moving

Unfortunately, I am now approximately 6 days behind.  Time to turn the studying up a notch. 

Day 4: NY Practice and Procedure Part II (3 days behind)

• Scheduled: May 28
• Actual: May 30
• Subject: NY P&P II

So I'm still behind and now I have a wedding to go to this weekend.  This P&P is dreadful.  I remembered how much I dislike civil procedure. 

Ranking of Lecturers

This list is my subjective ranking of the lecturers for the NY BarBri course.  You can feel free to agree or disagree and I'll try to update the ranking periodically.

1. Michael A. Simons (SJU) -- Criminal Law
   Simons is engaging, clear, and, dare I say, almost entertaining.
2. J. Kip Cornwell (SHU) -- Criminal Procedure
   Cornwell is somewhat boring, but explains the material fairly clearly.  He is about what I expected out of these lectures.
3. Vincent C. Alexander (SJU) -- NY Practice and Procedure
   Alexander uses ridiculous voice inflections and repeats himself much too often.  Many times it feels like he is lecturing to 4th graders rather than law school graduates.  He gets a few points for trying I guess.

Quick thought on NY P&P

Vincent Alexander, the professor doing the lecture, is a bit over the top with his voice inflections. Not sure what I think about that, but it has been noticeable enough to post about it....

Day 3: NY Practice and Procedure Part I (3 days behind)

• Scheduled: May 22
• Actual: May 26
• Subject: NY P&P I

Well, today is Memorial Day and is supposed to be a day off on the BarBri calendar.  After visiting with the parents for the weekend, I had to study today.  I'm a bit worried about the pace, but I think I'm finally starting to get into the groove of this thing.

Only one big question: BarBri provides lecture handouts with blanks that are supposed to be filled in as you listen to the lecture.  After you fill these in, you review your lecture notes and create a study outline.  Well, I already have some BarBri outlines from 2005, so I'm debating whether it is more efficient to:

1. Just edit those as I go along listening to the lecture and then review those notes later.
   or
2. Fill in the blanks and then compare the lecture notes with the outlines I already have after the lecture is over.

If I have any readers (unlikely), feel free to share your opinion(s) in the comments section!

Day 2: Criminal Procedure (1.5 days behind)

• Scheduled: May 21
• Actual: May 22
• Subject: Criminal Procedure
  

BarBri should really include moving out and selling stuff on Craigslist in their paced program.

As it is, much of today was spent dealing with that an not as much as I had hoped with bar studying.

Anyway, crim pro was one of my favorite subjects in law school, so I'm not too bummed about studying it for a while today and finishing up later tonight. I remember a lot of it as well, so not complaints on that end.

I am actually nervous about the bar, though, which is kind of crazy considering the exam isn't even two months away yet. It is a ridiculous amount of material to learn and there are only so many memory tricks you can use before your brain overflows. It's kind of daunting.

Day 1: Criminal Law (1 day behind)

So this is the first of my schedule type posts. I'm already a day behind, but I'm not terribly concerned because the schedule gives much more time than I need for the weekends and next Monday is already scheduled to be off.

The general format will look like this:
Day 1

• Scheduled: May 20
• Actual: May 21
• Subject: Criminal Law
  

I have to admit that it's not too bad and it's kind of fun to think again about topics that I learned almost 3 years ago. We'll see how long this attitude lasts.

I'm almost done with the Day 1 work (should have been done already except I watched the Champions League final earlier).

This is a spam blog

At least according to blogger, this blog looks like this:
Shortly after my first post, I received an email stating:

Dear Blogger user,

This is a message from the Blogger team.

Your blog, at http://nybaripod.blogspot.com/, has been identified as a potential spam blog. For an explanation of what spam blogs are, please see Blogger Help.

It then went on to say how I could get the decision reviewed, etc. So, apparently they've now decided the blog is legit again.

So that explains the lack of posts.

Why is this blog here?

Thank you for asking.

This blog is here to serve as a public motivation for my self-study (via iPod) for the NY bar this summer. I will post progress updates relative to the BarBri schedule to track my progress in studying for the NY bar. I might also include comments about the bar studying process, self-study vs. classroom study, or BarBri thoughts in general.

This will not be a personal blog, so those of you wondering what I had for dinner, sorry to disappoint you.