Thank you Letter; Taking the Oath of Attorney

     After finally passing this last exam, I had it in my heart to write a thank you letter.  I wrote one letter and sent it to my professors, faculty I knew but had not necessarily taken, administrators, and staff members at my law school to thank them.  The idea is not original.  I got it from a friend of mine who passed before me.  However, I thinks she only wrote to professors and those she liked at that.

     I didn't necessarily like all my professors, but I do appreciate all of their efforts.  My "To" list ended up being about 30-40 names long.  I don't necessarily like putting my business out there, but my desire for privacy was outweighed by my sense of obligation to thank those whom i felt helped me in some way.

    Many people on my list were some with whom I only had brief conversations.  But, many times the fact they let me pick their brains, and sacrificed free time made a strong impression on me.  I take notice of things like that.  Some of you probably assume there is no need to thank professors because if they teach, they are only doing their jobs.  That may be so, but they should still be thanked because: A.) they are not obligated to care, yet most of the time they still do; and B.) they like us are humans, and a little affirmation can go a long way.

    I took the oath of attorney today. 

I didn't feel like waiting until May 2nd to get sworn in with a ton of other faceless bar passers in my county.  I decided to schedule a private ceremony with a local judge.  Your probably thinking "[a]fter waiting 1 1/2 years, you could wait another 3 weeks?" The answer is No. Flip that, and I mean that in the most expletive type way possible.

    Doing private ceremonies for passers with family present was something the judge I clerked for used to do.  What makes this option great is it is more personal while simultaneously maintaining officiousness.  The familes have a chance to come in and feel like a part of the ceremony.  I am certainly not ceremonious, but I knew my family would appreciate this, as this ordeal has been a group effort.  It is all the better if you know the judge.  I didn't know this one, but he was obliging and very amicable.

     This whole thing is surreal.  I am still in a sense of disbelief.  I have become so much more humble then I used to be.  I used to be so proud to be in Law School.  I was so psyched to be taking the bar.  Now, while I appreciate the challenges these endeavors have provided, I just reflect on how these trials have changed me, I think(and pray) for the better. 

     "Nothing is a given."  My failures have cemented this lesson in me.  My failures have made this chance to be a lawyer extremely meaningful.  I will do my best to honor and uphold the profession.  I cannot take it for granted.  How appropriate is it in this lenten season I have figuratively resurrected on the third exam, while dying for the last two?  How is that for symbolism?

Bar Exam Study Recap: What worked + What did not, part 2

      Here is a bullet list to summarize my strategy for this past exam:

• I found motivation/hope
• I outlined (not really because I already had them done)
• I read my outlines once (but reread particular sections or subsections which required clarification)
• I did MBE problems; reviewed the answers after each question; and wrote out the rules
• towards the end, I started to do larger quantities in a row to prepare for the exam
• I timed myself in the last month.
• Remember, you have 108 seconds per question.
• the same applied for State specific Multiple choice
• I did 1-3 essays a day
• I read the questions, read the answers, then re-wrote the essays
• In the last 3 weeks I memorized Essay rules and MBE rules.
• I typed my essays during actual exam administration (as opposed to handwriting as I previously did)

• GET YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT!!!

"He who says he can and he who says he cannot are both usually right." ~Confucius~ I Got motivated and dug deep. I believed in myself. This is vital. I didn't want to fail before I started. Try positive affirmations; read stories of people who did what you want to do; focus; find your "raison d'etre."

• Outline

(I had them done from the previous bar exam attempts).  For those who don't learn from outlining, read your substantive books or make flash cards.

• I read the outlines only once.

I re-read specific sections and/or subsections which I found difficult 1-2 additional times at best.  I referred to them sporadically if I came across an answer explanation, which I did not think was clear.

• MBE Questions(and state questions for that matter)

     At first, I did tons of questions at a time, then reviewed the answers; DO NOT DO THIS!!! Towards the end, I started doing questions one at a time.  Then, I reviewed the answers.  This allowed me to gain faster recognition of problems and to understand why certain problems were tripping me up.  Also, it got me in the habit of answering questions correclty. 

     Don't kid yourself.  There is no honor code here.  Don't try to start cold and test your fictional testtaking "savoir faire" by doing blocks of questions then subsequently reviewing blocks of rules.  Doing questions coupled with immediate review is more efficient. It builds confidence, recognition, and good habits.  You have to know the rules to play the game.

     I have to be truthful here, I didn't really do that many multiple choice question for the state specific questions.  I maybe did about 200-400.  Florida Bar exam multiple choice, are extremely specific.  They require cold, down pat memorization.  Memorize any timing requirements for Civ Pro and Crim Pro.  These subjects are on the exam every time.  Memorize MBE Evidence as well as all State distinctions.  This is on the exam every time as well.  Your materials should tell you whatelse to focus on.

• Essay Prep

    At first, I attempted to do essays cold.  I did this particularly during my the two times I failed to pass the exam.  I have been doing this my entire life.  Can you blame me?  The Florida bar sure did.

    By listening to friends and reading, I came across a far better method.  I read the essay and outlined the essay in 15 minutes;  I then read the rules and copied it at least 3 times.  In the beginning, I was writing the entire essay with the intro, rules, and analysis.  Towards the end, I was only writing rules.  If you don't know how to analyze by now, then you are not reading this blog because you did not graduate lawschool.  Thus, you are not taking the bar exam.  Trust yourself.  You didn't make it this far without knowing how to analyze.  If you don't, copy the analysis until you do.  Alternatively, just copy the rule and make your own analysis.

• Memorize

I have never been one to memorize.  I was always one of those peope who tried to conceptualize and understand.  Well, this is exactly what I did the first two times as I FAILED the bar exam.  I certainly conceptualized and understood the Florida bar exam's FAILURE notice, twice received, after taking the exam the first two times.

That being said, this is one of the factors that helped me to finally pass.  For me, it was a matter of repeatedly writing things out 15-20 times.  Note, I did this by putting lare amounts of information (e.g. jurisdiction of Florida courts) into outline format.  For shorter information, I wrote it out in sentences.  It was a crude form of wrote memorization indeed.  But, it worked well enough nonetheless.

• Exercise regularly. Eat right.

I did this all the way up to the final 3 weeks.  Some people keep going and workout upto and on the days of the exams.

• Miscellaneous

That's about it.  Here are some final thoughts about the exam: Bring a sweater because it is freezing in the convention center.  On day two, I developed a wicked runny nose.  Honestly, I refused to sacrifice time so i wiped my nose on my sleeve.  It was soaked.  I will never do that again, but under the circumstances I don't regret it.  Get a hotel 10-20 miles away from the convention center and split costs with friends.  You'll live like a king or queen and still have extra "greenbacks" in your pocket.  Considering the costs involved, I don't believe there is a substantial advantage to staying in walking distance to the convention center.  It's not a bad idea to pack your cooler and bring your food to cut costs.  Oh, and don't give up.

Bar Exam Study Recap: What worked + What did not, part 1: Materials

     It is evening in these parts.  I feel sort of relaxed. I never really pictured the day I would get to write this particular post.  I've seen this type of post on similarly themed blogs and websites.  I think it is a good idea.  I'll try to be specific.  But remember, you have to have the testicular fortitude and common sense to find and apply what is useful for you while disregarding what won't work for you.

What worked for me?

• A quick summation:

     First, I read the Bar/bri Conviser outline one subject at a time (two on occasion if they were short enough), and I reread any particularly troublesome section.  Secondly, (and I think most importantly) i did numerous MBE questions (only about 1100 though) and essays, therafter, immediately reviewing the answers; after doing each question, I looked up the answer. If I missed the essay or multiple choice question, I wrote out the explanation (but, were I to do it over I would save time and just write out the rule). 

     Finally, I took about 3 weeks to memorize long, hard complicated, rule statements for the MBE and essays.  I was fortunate enough to recieve outlines from friends specifically structued for memorizing essay rules (but if you don't have this, read and write out the rules in the model answers and do what you must to memorize them verbatim).  Also, I found, what I assume to be the best MBE outlines I've ever read at this link.

• Materials

•      Bar/Bri MBE Outlines & Questions, State Outlines & Questions.

     As far as materials go, I used Bar/bri outlines books for State and MBE portions as well as the questions as my main substantive sources.  The main reason I used them was because I signed up for Bar/bri blindly as an incoming 1L.  Had I known what I know now, I would have bought the books and skipped the classes.  I will explain why later.

    Basically, the Bar/bri materials include 2 primer books for the MBE (which are optional); two, long detailed outlines, one for state subjects and the other for MBE subjects; a condensed outline book called, the conviser outline, for State and MBE subjects; two books with Essay questions/answers, state multiple choice questions/answers; 2 books with Multiple Choice MBE questions/answers; Finally, Bar/bri lectures usually come with a lecture packet (though not always).  Keep in mind, Bar/bri materials differ in format from state to state depending on the exam format.  Also, I didn't use all of these materials.

   Specifically, I was used the conviser outline, all of the State Essay questions and answers books, state subject multiple choice questions and answers, I used the lecture packets (specifically for State specific distinctions), as well as MBE questions and answers.  I did away with the primer books and the long outlines.  The primer books were not necessary and the long outlines are a prime example of information overload.

     However, here is the Caveat:  Bar/bri lectures, in my experience, were a fantastically inefficient use of my time; but the materials are fantastic for pointing out frequently tested State-M.B.E. distinctions.  These are super important.  If you choose to buy the outlines on the internet, see if you can purchase the lecture packets as well.  Alternatively, seek a friend who has taken the course and see if they can e-mail or share the distinctions with you. 

     In the past, I would read the materials and pay particular attention.  I focused hard and read for many hours.  DON'T DO THIS unless, you are Rain man or Kim Peek. In the case you are either one of these people or similarly situated, you should be in Vegas or Atlantic City.

     This time, I read the sections to see if I understood the gist. If I didn't, I reread sections that were difficult once more.  Immediately after, I did problems.  This was the extend of my use of the Conviser.  I would refer to it very briefly only on occasions where I read an answer explanation which did not seem clear.

    In my experience, solely reading outlines was passive learning.  PASSIVE IS A DIRTY WORD!!! It has a minimal value. I learned the rules much better by doing the problems with immediate review.  This helped me to put the rules in context.  This method of doing the problems and writing the rules was more active forcing my mind to wrestle with the rule, its applications, exceptions, nuances, etc. . .

    This was not the first time I did this many problems. I did way more the first time I took this exam.  But, I never absorbed the reasoning behind the answer.  You cannot forget something you never learned.  Although, in my previous attempt I did look at the explanations, it was all too brief.  Thus, I did not have the connaisance necessary to apply what I read.

• PMBR: Red book and Green book of MBE Questions and explanations

     I used these the same way I used the Bar/Bri questions.  In fact, since PMBR has a reputation for making better questions, I made sure to do most of the questions from there materials.  I'd say about 900-100 of my 1100 + questions came from PMBR sources.

• MBE Outlines: (Please refer to the link I pasted above)

    These outlines might just be the Bar exam student's equivalent to Manna from the Heavens.  I owe the author a drink if he ever comes to Florida.  Anyhow, I would use these outlines to review after doing questions especially where I was weak in a subject.  Also, towards the end, I used these to memrize for the MBE.  They are fairly short, clearly worded, and make for a great supplement or even an MBE foundation.  In my opinion, this guy had exactly what was necessary, discarded what was not, and tailored the outlines for MBE topics in order of importance.

• Miscellaneous

     Here is some other stuff I used though sparingly: "Black's Law dictionary"; PMBR Lectures; hand made flash cards (but the value for me in these was in writing them); and flashcardexchange.com.

     I discovered it later (way too late in fact).  But, I found pre-made state specific flashcards, MBE flashcards, Bar Exam Mnemonic flashcards; if you have an account you can save others' flashcards, you can edit flashcards, or you can make your own.  You can access these flashcards at any time if you have internet access.  I also created a Google document (on Google documents) to write my rule statements.  I waivered back and forth between it and writing pads ultimately typing when I was running out of time.

     That is it.  I'll break this up and comment about what worked and what didn't work in my next post.

I PASSED!!! WOO HOO!!!

     Okay.  The Florida bar released results via computer today.  The Florida Board of bar examiners releases results by  listing applicant file numbers, from lowest to highest, followed by a pass or fail indication.

     So, my friend texted me today and asked "[w]hat is the word[?]"  It was past 11:00 a.m.  I knew he was referring to the bar exam results, but I thought results were coming in at 1:00 p.m.  I had just stepped out the door hoping to run some erands.  I had to renew my driver's license and registration.  I was hoping to make my day a productive one to keep my mind off what I knew to be the inevitable.

    Anyways, my friend told me he passed.  I was stoked.  He is doing an L.L.M. and he worked really hard while studying hard at the same time. I was happy to hear that.  But, by the same token my heart began to pulsate more rapidly.  I became a bit more anxious although I did my best to subdue it.  I responded, "Congrats. I didn't check yet. I'll let you know."

     I informed my aunt results were released.  She insisted on going back to the house because she could not stand the anticipation.  I logged on to my laptop, went straight to Google, searched for the Florida board of bar examiners, and voi la.  I checked my applicant number, actually I quadruple checked it (even though it is the same one I've had for the past 2 years) and by the grace of G-d it said: PASS, PASS, PASS.
 
     I dropped to my knees, and prayed a thank you prayer.  I texted my friends and family in three sets of a repeated message.  I had to thank them all for their support, encouragement, and counsel.  But, before I got to the second set I was bombarded with phonecalls from well wishers and congratulators.  I recieved a ton of return text messages as well.

     How do I feel?  Happy? Not so much, although surely I am happy in some small sense. But, honestly I am feeling an overwhelming sense of RELIEF to the Umpth degree.

Some of my family and friend are in tears.  I'm not, but I understand.  They have supported me aimlessly and without reserve.  They have been there for all of the ups and the downs as well.  This was a group effort.  I cannot and will not take the credit all on my own.  It wouldn't be honest, nor would it be right to do so.

     Now, I am waiting on my "oath of attorney" to arrive.  Then, I will get sworn in.  I am not into ceremonies, but I think I will bring my grandparents and take photos.  They will enjoy it.  Wow!!!