UCC Sales: Free 8 Pages of Visual Aids

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is one of those subjects that most law students take early in law school.  The subject matter tends to appeal to very few – unlike other classes like, say, Criminal Law, Con law, or Torts.  

UCC Sales

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Why does the UCC exist when we have regular old “contract law?”  Since 1952, the UCC has allowed the states to harmonize the law of sales and commercial transactions.   Very rarely can a business exist by only conducting business within the confines of its’ own state.  To put an end to the mass confusion created by the differences among varying state laws, the UCC (and all uniform legislation for that matter) exists to allow businesses to operate with more certainty and security.   

Most of the rules are straightforward – some even the same or similar to principles learned in contracts.  However, there a few big differences and several concepts not routinely taught in 1L contracts class.

Since UCC “Sales” is probably the most straightforward UCC subject (as opposed to Secured Transactions and Commercial Paper/Negotiable Instruments), it makes sense to learn it first.  That’s why this is the first UCC special report available from Leap the Bar.  

Here are a few of the visual aids and diagrams included in the UCC Sales Speed Review:

 

And a sneak peak at the main review chart:

Top 3 secrets to break into the legal market

Develop Local Ties and Emphasize Community Involvement

When a firm must pick one of two equally qualified applicants, local ties and community involvement may tip the scale in favor of one.  It makes sense.  Two obvious benefits to the firm are: a smaller risk of a wasted investment, and a potentially profitable referral source.

Know the Firm’s Personality

Every law firm has a different working environment.  Put yourself in the shoes of the employer.  If you have an excellent candidate in front of you, but foresee personality conflicts with other, more established employees…chances are you will continue looking.

Go Pro Bono While You Wait

If you have passed the Bar and haven’t found a job, don’t sit around.  Get a part-time job (or two) if you have to.  There are TONS of pro bono opportunities out there. Here are just a few. 

For more leads and job tips, subscribe to the Job Hunter Newsletter by clicking this link.    

San Francisco, CA:

Equal Rights Advocates - Equalrights.org

Immigrant Legal Resource Center – ilrc.org

Washington, DC:

Farm Workers Justice Fund, Inc. - Fwjustice.org

Defenders of Wildlife – defenders.org

Legal Counsel for the Elderly – aarp.org/Ice/

Atlanta, GA:

Georgia Legal Services Program – glsp.org/

Tallahassee, FL:

Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation – leaflaw.org

New York, NY:

Legal Aid Society – legal-aid.org

For more job tips and resources on a semi-weekly basis, subscribe for free here.

Quickly determining money damages for Contracts on Bar Exam

If you have the ability to extract the two most relevant facts from each fact pattern, you can determine (1) the correct formula to use, and (2) the right dollar amount.  This is an area where a little memorization is key.  You need to know what you are looking for, what formula applies, and what each part of the formula should be calculated as.  Just like algebra.

Subscribe to receive the completed (not this generalized skeleton) Visual Aid

3 Bar Exam Tips: "Don't Let Your Bladder Distract You"

1. Skip the property questions and do them last. 

All MBE questions are worth the same, so it makes no sense to waste time on the extremely long questions if time is an issue for you.  Many people do not finish the MBE, and a good number of them could have prevented this from happening by using this technique.  At the very least, they would have probably gotten one wrong answer as opposed to two wrong answers.  Some evidence questions may be no more than 50 words, but a Property fact pattern might go on for hundreds and hundreds. 

Caution: Figure out a place to write the question numbers you skip, and make sure you do not fill in the wrong answer bubbles when proceeding to the next question.

2. Don’t let your bladder distract you.

If you have to pee, get up and go pee!  Don’t sit there in agony afraid you might lose precious time.  A good time to go is at the halfway point during each session.  Even if you do not have to go, it is a good idea to get up and stretch your legs, clear your head momentarily, and then get back to work.

3. Do 10 practice problems before the MBE

The way your brain works to solve MBE questions should be peaking when you take the exam.  Just like you should warm-up before working out, do a few questions before the test to get your brain ready for the upcoming barrage.  When you sit down and look at question #1, you will not feel the panic or shock some Bar-takers experience. Instead, you’ll be calm and collected.