Monday, November 29, 2010

Viewpoint: State Bar Falls Short in Protecting the Public

Interesting opinion published in The Recorder - See Link Below.

Nice review for the PR essay which you can count on being tested on the California Bar exam.  An excerpt, which is instructive, follows:

"The end result is a disaster for ordinary members of the public who use legal services. The current proposal, among many other things:


• Allows lawyers one "free" act of incompetence before a lawyer may be disciplined, even if the mistake is egregious.

Doesn't prohibit "unreasonable" fees, but only fees that are "unconscionable," a much narrower standard, unlike the ABA and our own legislative State Bar Act.

Limits the definition of incompetence by focusing on a lawyer's skill and knowledge, while ignoring lawyers' duties to diligently pay attention to their cases.

Allows lawyers to modify fee agreements with their clients, even at the last second, removing protections that are part of the current California rules.

• Refuses to adopt several ABA rules that say lawyers may not: purposely delay litigation or embarrass others (Rules 3.2 and 4.4(a)); keep it secret from the other side if they receive documents that they know were not intended for them (Rule 4.4(b)); and — believe it or not — lie and misrepresent to others (Rule 4.1). "

http://www.law.com/jsp/ca/PubArticleCA.jsp?id=1202475341666&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=The%20Recorder&pt=The%20Recorder%20News%20Alert&cn=20101129&kw=Viewpoint%3A%20State%20Bar%20Falls%20Short%20in%20Protecting%20the%20Public&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1#

Sunday, November 28, 2010

July 2010 Essay Answers Posted by Cal Bar

on December 17, 2010.

For those studying for the Feb. 2011 bar exam, be sure to add reviewing these essays and model answers to your review material.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

4th Amend. Searches - Constitutional Viability

Great hypo for the bar exam - 4th amendment search constitutionally viable within 100 miles of a border or an international "port."  New airline regulations...body scanners and pat downs.

http://rockrivertimes.com/2010/11/17/national-opt-out-day-set-for-nov-24/

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Gnashing of Teeth

It's taken a gnashing of teeth, a few tears, and a numbing disbelief to learn that I have now joined the ranks of a two-time repeater.

So, to my fellow repeaters, now that I've had a glass of brandy and picked myself up off the floor, I'm committed to retrying next July 2011, after I've recouped my considerable financial losses.

And, to those friends, fellow bloggers, and readers of my blog, if you've passed this **** exam, Congratulations!  And, if you did not pass, try, try again.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Good Luck on November 19, 2010!

To my friends, to my study partner, to my fellow bloggers, may you receive news on November 19th that you passed the July 2010 California bar exam...

That all your hard work to understand the law...

To memorize the black letter rules...

To write and/or outline bar exam essays...

That your sleepless nights...

And, you vast expenditures...

See your dreams come to fruition.

I hope that we all will be able to join the ranks of licensed California attorneys and, if not, that we have the fortitude, family support, and money to do it all over again for what good is life if we cannot achieve our hard-won goals?  (I like to live life with purpose.)

Here's to achievement of our purpose, one that we set out long ago when we embarked on the long journey that was law school. . .

To be advocates for our clients...

To be defenders of justice for all.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

8th Amendment and California Bar Exam

Rather than learning about the nuances of the California bar exam, I am learning about the nuances of Medicare and the infamous "donut hole."  Having headed east, young woman, to dabble in Illinois law, I have also been attending to family matters which include assisting my mother with an analysis of various medicare plans.  Holy Moley!  One needs an Excel spreadsheet and a risk management program to manage these decisions.  This attendance to family matters has been squeezed in between looking for new employment and doing pro bono work for a civil court judge.  Today, while sipping strong coffee, I was perusing blogs, and encountered this blog entry concerning the 8th amendment and a template to deal with it in terms of an essay on the California bar exam.  I like to find these "wild cards" for, in addition to the standard subjects tested on essay exams, one never knows what pitch the examiners will throw the next time.  Last time, the examiners threw out kidnapping in their criminal law/pro exam; I stumbled and then made up a rule.  I don't like to stumble. . .

http://barexamguru.wordpress.com/2009/02/17/california-bar-exam-tip-the-8th-amendment-exam-writing-template/

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Morally Fit for the Bar

The first time that I completed the moral character application for the bar exam, it took a conservative 60 hours.  I missed the fact that I needed to update the State Bar about each new position, address change, etc.  I suppose that I expected to study hard and to pass the exam on my first try.  Thus, I was surprised to receive a rather strident letter from the California bar examiners in September 2010, asking for an update.  It had been two years.  So, I dutifully updated my moral character information and sent it to the bar within the stated deadline.

I'm pleased to inform you that I'm deemed morally fit for the bar, again!  Yeah!

I'm also more physically fit; that is, since taking the bar exam, I've become a bit more svelte.  Yeah!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Mixed Feelings - Reflections from a 3x Repeater on Passing the California Bar Exam the Third Time

Having butterflies in my stomach, I am reading other blogs and realizing that I, like many others, have felt or am feeling the same anxiety.  Waiting for results is like waiting for a painter to paint one's portrait.  One never knows how the portrait will turn out. . .a lengthy process. . .

http://calbarred.blogspot.com/2008/11/mixed-feelings.html

Market for Law Graduates Changes with Recession: Class of 2009 Faced New Challenges

NALP Press Release Sheds Light on Current Job Market for J.D.s

Monday, November 1, 2010

Top Ten Ways to Wait Out the Waiting Game

I thought that it was high time for me to address what I and everyone else is thinking, “Did I pass the California July 2010 Bar Exam?” given that I and every exam taker is on pins and needles. . .

A personal event, while our family and friends are supportive, we don’t need to hear platitudes (“Don’t worry, you’ll pass!) or (“Well, if you don’t pass, you can always take the exam again.”) It is better to avoid addressing this issue with us and to leave silent dogs where they lay.

Of course, we worry. One never knows if one passed or not when one walks out of the exam. The MBE’s in the afternoon of the July 2010 exam were particularly rough and where did the questions on civil procedure and wills come from? These questions were not supposed to be on the exam!

And, our friends and family don’t know what they are saying when they state, “Well, you can always take the exam again!” True. But, after five-months of study, and after balancing a paralegal job with enumerating for the U.S. Census Bureau, and barely able to pay the rent. . .after living  in a room with mold in the closet and ants in my cat’s food. . .and another nearly 4-months of waiting. . .how many times does one expect that I, or anyone, can do this over again?

Someone wrote that they pitied poor Paula Bandy who took the California Bar exam 14-times before she passed, moving from a house to a garage converted into an apartment, penniless, and still intent on passing. Ms. Bandy is now tutoring bar exam takers; for all that, she is not now a practicing attorney.

And, yet, I am lining up 2010 version of Strategies and Tactics and taking out my sharpened pencils. For, after 10-weeks in the final coursework of a paralegal program, providing good grounding in criminal law and procedure, constitutional and family law, I’m on my game. And, my study buddy is waiting for me in California. For yes, I’ve decided to go back home. I’m a California gal through and through. . .I’ve moved on from the prairie state. I’m turning my little car in a westerly direction and, after clerking for a judge in Illinois (pro bono), after Christmas, cat and I will take the southern route on the long trip home to the Golden State.

So . . . now to the Top Ten. . .

1. Study for another bar exam and don’t look back.

2. One of my friends avoided the results. Her husband awakened her on Sunday morning, and exclaimed, “Honey, you passed the bar exam!” She rolled over and went to sleep.

3. Bake bread, cookies, cakes, croissants . . . and feed them to your friends.

4. Work out with a vengeance. Develop the body that you had before the bar exam!

5. Begin drinking and don’t stop. (But, don’t drive!)

6. Look for gainful employment . . . anything that pays the rent . . . (and, good luck finding a job!)

7. Clerk for a judge.

8. Fill your life with endless details . . . only think about the exam in your dreams.

9. Concentrate on finding a new man (or woman) . . . being in love is a great escape. . .or, keep the one you have if you are both in love.

10. Pour your heart out into a blog. Although comments may be rare, you periodically receive one or two notations that let you know that you are in good company.