Conservative Donnybrook

I just completed the NY bar on Wednesday and have been noodling around the net trying to gauge how I might have fared vis a vis people who went to law schools that weren’t in the fourth tier and in the Midwest.  Here are some thoughts…

BarBri intentionally scares the shit out of you to make you push harder.  I almost had a nervous breakdown this weekend when I took BarBri’s practice MBE and rolled out a 119.  I was ready to throw in the towel.  However, when Wednesday came and I was presented with the MBE itself, it contained a lot of “gimmes” that BarBri didn’t include.  Also, a lot of the answer choices were a little less ambiguous.  Obviously, it’s not an easy exam, but I found BarBri’s mock exam more difficult.  In hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t bother too much with the PMBR questions because I understand it is even more dfficult, and some people tend to die by those questions rather than live by them.

The essays were fair, but nothing BarBri “predicted” in either the Essay Advantage or NY Mini Review classes came to fruition come test time (with the exceptions of implied and necessary easements and one partnership question as predicted by Professor Marino).  Where were the covenants not-to-compete and the depraved heart murders?  The attachment question and forum non conveniens? 

Kudos to the bar examiners for sneaking in a secured transactions question into the beginning of a wills question.  Oh yeah, and thanks to Professor Simons for banging out that Confrontation Clause nonsense at the end of his Evidence lecture and golfclaps to me for actually paying attention.  I’m also glad I made sure I knew the difference between a motion for summary judgment and a motion to dismiss on the way into the city on Tuesday.

The MPT is bullshit.  What a waste of 10%.  I really wrote that one in (pun definitely intended).  I hope they grade leniently on that section and it’s heavily scaled, as it has absolutely nothing to do with the substantive law that I poured over for 2 1/2 months.  I’d like to think that junior associates care more about whether or not I know what a cause of action looks like  moreso than the bar examiners.

Anyhow, good luck to everyone who took it.  Just bear in mind that roughly 80-85% of us pass.  It’s the foreign- and non-ABA-trained laywers that really bring down the passage rate.

Pelosi’s new book is a real stinker.  Even the lefties are panning it.  I’d like to offer some more insight, but I’d rather take the bar again than thumb this obvious fundraiser.

Well the Olympic hype machine is picking up steam. Nevermind that the Olympics are being held in China and sans human rights. Who cares about the games anymore? Amateur athletes do not compete anymore. Either they are professional (see NBA players) or are being paid by their country to compete (all other athletes). The games are over commercialized and over liberalized. Each Olympics the games are being used more and more as a platform for those who would seek the globalization of the world.

And seriously, who cares about synchronized swimming?