Delving In

After dusting off my bar study book - a BIG 3-ring binder with each of the MBE and California subjects tested - I decided to begin with criminal law.

It seemed like familiar territory and I am now beginning to remember reciting the black letter rules. "Tresspassory taking and carrying away of another person's property with intent to permanently deprive them of such property." Larceny.

I remember how I had stumbled over the difference of assault and battery in tort versus criminal law and how homicide, that multi-dimensional aspect of murder or killing of another, escaped me. My patient bar study partner had to help me understand what had alluded me about the hierarchy of homicide. I had the chart that he made in my BAR BIBLE.

While criminal law is easy for most, it seems to be more elusive for me to understand. My mind is better spent with contracts than torts, with civil procedure rather than criminal procedure. Thus, I decided if I was going to delve right in, I should tackle those subjects that are more difficult for me.

I began with retyping the rules in a more succinct format and in the hierarchy that my bar tutor had formulated. Handwritten notes are now crisply encapsulated on the page. Now that I have my neat section on criminal law, I will apply my "refreshed recollection" to testing my knowledge on the MBE's. Ten MBE's per day is my goal - or 2,000 MBE's before the bar (or more). Flash cards for the one's that I missed.

I know that it is quality before quantity but then, on Monday I begin to work for an attorney whose mind is like a steel trap. He passed the bar on the first try. How? He did not review the law from Bar Bri books. He did 4,000 MBE's before the exam so that he knew every pattern "in the book." He had 15 minutes to spare after taking 200 MBE's during exam day. He also printed out every bar exam essay for 10 years, and every model answer, and studied the patterns in the essays. He typed every rule from each essay until he had analyzed the patterns in these essays. When he walked out of the exam, he knew that he had passed and he didn't look back. He looked forward to starting his own practice.