Essays...

So, I am working on my contracts issue outline. In the meantime, I am over being angry about my essays.

I thought about them for a couple of days, and went on to the cal bar website yesterday and looked at the sample answers. I saw that I lumped the strict liability elements in under duty, without parsing them out and making it abundantly clear that there were the separate elements and that I was discussing each in turn. Duh, that's where I lost probably 5 points.

On corporations, I knew that I had lumped the two parties together and smushed the discussion of their respective actions on making the company liable. Duh, there's five points.

On the Community Property question, I was kicking myself as soon as I walked out of the test, because I used the doctrine of quasi-marital property, explained what it is, but NEVER ACTUALLY USED THE WORDS. Duh, bet that was 3-5 points.

At first I was mad that I did just fine on the wills and trusts essay. After I looked at the sample answers, I realized that I do better when I actually know a little less about the subject area. Happened in law school, too. If all I know are the basic rules, then I'm forced to mechanically apply them to facts and hence, better grade. It's when I start thinking about all the eventualities that I run into problems. I start yammering too much and make it all too complicated. This isn't a problem at work, because I do a draft, do something else, then read it and pare down the language and focus the argument. Comes out great. But, alas, I do not have the luxury of any proofreading on the bar...

The other ones I did fine on, as I thought upon completing the test, so I'm not too worried about those.

So I have had some kind of mental epiphany (which I probably should have had, oh, maybe last June) where I *get* that I have to parse everything out in a very mechanical and super boring and tedious manner, and cover at the same time. Now, this is really nothing new. I mean, we've all heard that before, but I *saw* it, whereas before I thought that I was doing that, when I really wasn't. Now I'm mostly doing that, and so it's easier to see where I falter in that method.

So, essays are really, really fine. Just need to apply that same method to the PT. Don't make choices. Don't leave out any case, no matter how it seems to be the wrong thing to use if I were in the real world. Don't do any more than the directions, and don't do any less than the directions. Make the headers super detailed and super clear.

Oh, and do lots of MBEs. (By a lot, I actually mean not that many, but make and study flashcards for recall during the test.)

This is really getting to be quite a lot of work.