BARWRITE TIP NUMBER ONE. When you learn a rule of law, learn it thoroughly, one element at a time. Work out a hypo to show how each element applies to facts. Remember that you will be using that rule to solve a client's problem in the bar exam essays. To outline each bar exam essay, you will list the major principles of law needed to answer each part of the question and write the answer by applying those rules to the facts. As you learn each rule, you are putting it into your inventory, so that you can use it when you write the essays.
As you learn each major rule, associate with it the higher-level rules and subordinate rules you will be using at the same time. Remember that what you get credit for is the amount of law that you put into each paragraph. Never stop with one rule per paragraph. Always give a rule to define a major legal
term. Always give a rule to explain the main rule. Your task is to amass the greatest possible number of points. You get points for writing down the law. You must never leave a rule by itself. Always get those extra points by defining and explaining, setting in legal context, and distinguishing.
BARWRITE TIP NUMBER TWO. Do not aim to learn the difficult rules at the expense of the basic rules. Build a solid foundation first. The bar examiners want to know whether the bar candidate can use basic principles of law to solve typical practitioner's problems. It follows that for each part of the interrogatory on the bar exam essay there are one or more rules of law that competent practitioners will apply. Is the
client concerned because a carpenter has failed to perform? Competent practitioners first find out whether the client and the carpenter have an enforceable contract. They apply the basic rule for contract formation: Under the common law, a contract requires offer, acceptance and consideration.
Has the client been injured in an accident? The first question is whether there is a prima facie case in negligence. Competent practitioners state the rule for negligence, and then ask about each of the elements in turn: Did the likely defendant owe his client a duty of care? Was there a breach? Causation? Harm?
BARWRITE TIP NUMBER THREE. Order a copy of the classic book Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays and the CD Companion right away, and get started. The St. John's Law School Forum called it "possibly the best money you can spend on bar exam preparation." The just-issued Third Edition contains the classic text plus a new 2006 Appendix on "How to Do Legal Analysis." For more information on Scoring High, click here. To order the book click here .
If you are preparing for the New York bar exam, remind yourself to sign up for the must-take BarWrite Seven-Day Essay-Intensive Group Coaching School that begins on Sunday, December 18, in New York City. The Seven-Day School includes two days of MBE study techniques, plus four days of essays and one day of Multistate Performance Test. Gemma Waananen says, "Dr. Gallagher's MBE Method was phenomenal. I did exactly what she told me to do, and my score went from a 127 in February to a 149 in July 2000." For detailed information, and to enroll, visit the BarWrite web site, at Seven-Day School.
By the way, you will receive
Mary Campbell Gallagher, J.D., Ph.D., is president of BarWrite™ and BarWrite Press. Dr. Gallagher holds the J.D. from Harvard Law School and the Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Illinois. BarWrite's mission is applying linguistic systems to teaching writing, including legal writing and the bar exam.
Dr. Gallagher is the author of Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays: In-depth Strategies and Essay-Writing Practice That Bar Review Courses Don’t Offer. The Third Edition contains the classic text plus a new 2006 Appendix on "How to Do Legal Analysis." Students should check their law school bookstores or order from BarWrite Press, at BarWrite.com. Bookstores can order on the usual retail terms from Legal Books Distributing, at Legal Books Distributing.
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