Book Report and Misc. Notes

I have finished reading John Talamo's "Mastering the MBE". I had heard mixed reviews prior to reading it. I thought it was a great book for a very limited purpose. It gave me a good general overview of the MBE and some strategies for studying for it. It is a good book to read before doing any serious MBE study- which having done a grand total of like 3 MBE questions, is where I currently fall.

The following are what I see were the highlights of the book:

• There is a very important distinction between PRACTICING and STUDYING. In your few weeks of bar study, you should just be studying- Start of with 10 questions at a time, do one question and then read the complete explanation of correct and incorrect answers- regardless of whether or not you got it right. When you start getting 50% right, then move on to sets of 20 questions. Eventually, you also start to practice for the MBE. This means doing 20 questions timed- 1.8 minutes for each. But even when you are practicing, you should study the answers afterwards, first re-reading the question. I think this is the general approach I will use to MBE prep.


• If you notice that you're first few questions are always rough, consider doing a warm-up for the MBE- do 10 questions or so in your hotel room before you head down to the testing center. I like this idea, but wonder if it will stress me out more on test day.


• Don't expect to learn a subject in a day if you've never seen it before- there has to be a memory to refresh. This convinces me that in the two weeks I will have off before PMBR starts, I need to devote some serious time to Community Property and Wills/Trusts (which I never took) and probably to Evidence (which I took, but never paid attention to).


• The Teaching Method- My good friend, Dargahi, has already agreed to be my student this summer. This really is an effective way of learning- If you don't understand some concept, explain it to another person and then let them ask you questions on stuff they understand. Darg and I used this technique a lot in college, and it definitely works. Lucky for her she gets to study for the bar exam this summer too- vicariously of course, and with no law license at the end of the rainbow.


• Good reminders for the Performance Exam- don't distance yourself too much from a client you don't like- he's still your client. On the flip side, don't become so zealous that you become unethical for your client.

I didn't find much value in the substantive stuff in Talamo's book, except for a few general hints, like always looking for the required mental state in crim questions. Some of his multiple choice techniques were also a bit remedial for anyone with test-taking experience (I worked as a Kaplan instructor for 4 years on 5 different tests). But all in all, I good buy if you can get it used. Amazon says a new edition is coming out in May- I'm not sure how similar or different that one will be. I do like that he ended the book by saying "Finally, let me wish you the luck that always seems to follow careful planning and hard work." I like that and I think all of my friends and family members should memorize that and use it as a mantra when they talk to me this summer.

In other news, I finished the con law PMBR CDs today on my way to a lunch meeting. It kind of took me by surprise how short the last CD was. I was not prepared for this- my property and torts sets are at home and not yet ripped to my mp3 player. On the way back to work, I was sort of at a loss... I listened to music.. on the radio. It was weird. I'd sort of forgotten how it felt to be in the car and not listening to a law lecture.

Two notes on Con Law itself. Texas and Illinois bar-takers- I hate you. You don't even have an essay component to your bar exam? I guess writing abilities aren't required to be a lawyer in those states. Grr... Also, I thought it was odd that when I saw the news about the recent Supreme Court decision on partial birth abortion, my first thoughts weren't really on the implications of the holding, or my personal beliefs it, but rather outrage that the Supreme Court would throw a wrench in a tested area of constitutional law less than a month before our bar review starts.

That's about all that's new here. I'm starting to draft a handout to give to my family and friends and my graduation that says "Leave me the f*@! alone until July 27th" in a nicer and less combative way. I'm thinking of a fact vs. myth type set up- i.e. MYTH: If you did well on your SATs and LSATs you will do fine on the bar. FACT: The Bar Exam is a different monster entirely and cannot be conquered with Kaplan techniques such as 'backsolving' from the answer choices. Or maybe a list of things not to say to me, i.e. "Well, it's nice you'll have the whole summer off before you start your job." Any other suggestions?