2 free multistate charts: Venue in Civil Action and "International Shoe"

You probably know by now how important it is to have a firm grasp on Federal Civil Procedure. 

Here are a couple of the most tested rules.  Yes, they're basic...but forgetting them can be fatal.  Subscribers will have these waiting in their inbox in PDF format, along with some other goodies within 24 hours.  (note: these are image files and will not print as clear or legible as the PDF files).  Subscribe to the free newsletter here.

6 reasons why Real Property is so difficult and what to do to prepare

Reasons why Real Property is considered one of the most difficult MBE topics:

• Long fact patterns;
• "Race/Race-Notice" statutes to read and (possibly) apply;
• Multiple conveyances;
• "Dry" subject matter;
• Passage of time since Property course(s) taken in law school;
• Lack of familiarity with mortgages

Long fact patterns.  The effect can be mitigated by skipping questions and coming back to them when done with the rest of the test. 

The more difficult questions contain multiple conveyances, often resulting in the bar taker resorting to sketching out a barely legible chart in the margin.  This may be an effective strategy for these difficult questions, but it wastes time.  Better to know the rule, get your facts straight, pick the answer, and move on.

Most law students take Property 1L year.  It's been a while.

Many younger law students don't have life experience with real estate, mortgages, banks, etc.

The way I think Property is best approached is by breaking it down into a few MAIN categories (the subject of an upcoming post...stay tuned). 

Landlord - Tenant Law, also known as "Leaseholds" or "Leasehold Estates," is straightforward for the most part.  Here is a "skeleton" outline to help you identify the major issues of Landlord/Tenant Law

Subscribe to receive PDF (printable) versions of the free Leap the Bar Visual Aids.  You will also find more out about how to get the full version of this Landlord/Tenant Visual Aid, plus the rest of Real Property and other multistate subjects (text and Visual).

Landlord / Tenant Law "Skeleton" Outline

"Using common sense can sometimes cover lost ground"

When it comes to Evidence, I’ve found that using common sense can sometimes cover the ground lost due to a forgotten rule.  My guess is that this is due to the fact that most of the Federal Rules of Evidence are based on rules that are in place for a reason.  It makes sense.  This is America – there aren’t any “extreme” rules or lack thereof.  If you forget a hearsay exception or other rule, just apply your common sense and a bit of logic.  Try not to think like a lawyer just yet.  Unless, of course, you do remember the rule.

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

Master Future Interests

Preview of my free future interests report (just sign-up on the right-hand column):

This short document will provide you with a text outline teaching you to assess future interests, tough rules from the Common Law and the Modern Law treatments, such as: The Doctrine of Worthier Title, The Rule in Shelly's Case, and more!

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.