Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam

by Mary Basick

Based on the authors' proven-effective methodology, Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam contains everything you need to pass the essay portion of the California bar exam. Your roadmap to success, it combines instruction and practice in essay writing, fact analysis, and issue spotting, with a remarkably efficient review of substantive law. Along the way, you'll learn how to manage your time, develop a strategy for improving your testing performance, and ensure the consistent quality of your answers. Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam From beginning to end, it's all here! The elements of a passing Format, Issues, Rules, Analysis, Conclusion How to spot the issues and cite the rule correctly How to use the facts to craft effective analysis Making it easy for the exam grader to locate your analysis of the issues Practice Essays and Answer Grids based on analysis of previous California bar exams Sample essay answers that provide a model of a passing answer Self-assessment and strategy how much time to spend on each issue in light of time constraints Troubleshooting tips to improve exam performance An efficiently condensed, user-friendly review of substantive law Focusing on the relationships among the rules Prioritizing most-frequently-tested topics Issues Tested Matrix --a detailed graph that analyzes the questions asked in each subject over the past 25 years, broken down by sub-topic frequency Issues Checklist --a one-page list of the issues tested in each subject, organized to aid issue spotting Memorization Attack Sheet --a bulleted list of the rules that apply to the Issues Checklist--a tool for memorization that also reinforces issue-spotting skills Annotated Rule Outline --a more complete version of the rules, in grammatically correct language--annotated with fact triggers , where helpful, to assist with issue spotting

Genres: Nonfiction

926 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the bomb. Its vital features are: (1) six real essay questions per topic; (2) point-by-point issue breakdowns of each essay, including fact analysis; (3) two model essays per topic. I found all this helpful during my prep, but I didn't fully appreciate it until right before and during the exam. Four of the six essay questions on my exam (July 2015) were familiar to me because of this book.

I also studied with model essays from the CA state bar website and One-Timers.com. But this book was the core of my essay prep, and it gave me the clearest understanding of what the most frequently tested issues and fact triggers are.

At first I was wary since some selected essays date back to the 80s/90s. But I found that every essay in this book was included for good reason. Taken together, the practice questions in each subject reflect a solid cross-section of the topics, tricks, and formats likely to be tested in any given year.

This book is super fat because it also includes rule outlines, issues checklists, and mnemonics. I found these materials adequate, though not organized intuitively enough for me to rely on as a primary source. But the essay content alone makes this book worth buying.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect if you’ve been out of law school for a while before taking the California bar. I graduated almost 10 years ago and it helped me re-learn the subjects in a concise way. I would recommend it to anyone taking the bar, especially if you have a limited time to study.