Emanuel MBE Bar in Box and Refresher course

I was lucky that my friend who is now Esq.and scored a whopping 165 on his MBE's gave me his secret weapon. We all remember Emanuel from law school days he had the great study guides and outlines for our law school subjects. Well he also happens to specialize in MBE bar prep. Now I know so does Barbri or PMBR but Emanuel actually has a whole program totally geared toward MBE unlike these other programs which are a little bit of everything. I was a little hesitant Bar in a Box ...come on that sounds like a set of vodkas, mixtures with shot glasses and a shaker in a fancy box to me. Martini in a box. But I am highly impressed with not only the DVDs for each one of the 6 MBE topics which are clear and concise. Then you have outline books very similar to the conviser from Barbri but again only MBE topics and each one is about 100 pages with 33 questions from their self assessment test in the back. The study technique is to see DVDs (or attend live lectures) read the outlines 3 times thoroughly and do the 33 questions (each time). I am of course making flashcards too. They also provide you with 2 huge books of questions kind of like PMBR. I did like PMBR do not get me wrong, but keep in mind I am a retaker and also I scored low on my MBE so I need to bring up my score 22 points for July, so I think Emanuel is very helpful (a little clearer than some of the other outlines). I signed up for Adapitbar which was recommended by a few sites www.seperac.com and also www.barwrite.com. Thus is a pretty amazing website which has all real MBE questions from NCBEX and they come with explanations and answers and it keeps track of your scores and percentages. Worth the money and they have a discount available right now. It also does reporting and an analysis of how fast you should be answering to get the question right compared to past results. I can go on and on, but to be honest they let you try it out for free so you can see the different things the site has to offer.(www.adaptbar.com) I would highly recommend this to anyone who is sudying for the MBE. I am also going to recommend the book by Emmanuel Strategies and Tactics. I have not read it yet because I was advised to wait until I review the 6 MBE topics and take a simulated which I will soon. So Barbri yesy because we all know you need barbi to learn it all and well everyone else is in Barbri so you need to run with the curve but for retakers who do not want to do the Barbri retaker course these are excellent supplements for increasing your MBE score. Okay well I am done promoting (Disclaimer, I am not getting paid or kick backs for any of this but if anyone would like to give me a discount on one of their products I am always grateful). Back to studying!

Mary Campbell Gallagher Barwrite

I just wanted to notify anyone who may be interested in the following:
BarWrite® teleseminar on
How to Plan a Bar Exam Study Schedule on Friday evening, May 29, 2009, at 7pm Eastern Time.

For information and to enroll, visit http://www.BarWrite.com.

She also has great bar prep boot camp classes for MPT, Essays and MBE.

Advice from Mary Gallagher for the Working Bar Candidate

Monday to Friday
6:30 am-7:45am Review 10 MBE questions
7:45am - 8:20am Get Ready for work. Memorize one MBE rule
8:20am - 9am Quick review of outlines or flashcards, or listen to MBE CD (Pick one and stick to it) on the subway.
9am - 1pm Work. Memorize one or two rules during bathroom breaks
1pm-1:45 Lunch - Study outlines, memorize one MBE rule.
1:45 pm - 5:30 Work
5:30 - 5:45 Walk to Subway listen to MBE CD
5:45-6:00 study on the subway (Flashcards)
6:00 - 6:10 Walk home listen to MBE CD
6:10 - 6:30 Walk dog
6:30 -7:30 Dinner
7:30 -9pm Review MBE Topics (Answer ten questions, analyze answers)
9pm-10pm Outline two essays and analyze answers
10pm-11:30pm Review law outlines and create flashcards for substantive law and/or World Cup Rules
11:30pm-Midnight New York Multiple Choice (at least five questions) BED

I did my own version of the weekend schedule:

SATURDAY
8-9am Do 10 MBE questions
9-9:30am Breakfast. While eating, learn two MBE rules.
9:30-11-30am Review MBE topics. Do five MBE questions. Memorize three new rules of law. Recite previous days' rules of law. [Write the rule to all the questions you get wrong]Substantive law review, quiz and recite.
11:45-12:45 Yoga
1:00-1:45pm Lunch. While eating, learn two rules.
1:45-2:30pm Outline an essay. Do analysis of answer.
2:30-3:15pm Outline an essay. Do analysis of answer.
3:15-5:30pm Substantive law review, quiz and recite.
5:30-6:30pm Dinner. While eating, learn two rules.
6:30-7:15pm Practice New York Multiple Choice Questions. (At least 5) Memorize rules.
7:15-9:00pm More memorization.
9:00-9:30pm Recite World Cup Rules [feature of the BarWrite® Schools] and other rules from memory.
9:30pm - Midnight Quick review of one subject outline, ten or more MBE problems (Review, make flashcards for unfamiliar rules, do analysis); outline one essay; do several New York Multiple Choice questions.
Sleep!

SUNDAY
8:00 - 9:00 Do 10 MBE questions and review answers
9:00 - 9:45 Breakfast - Memorize 2 rules
9:00 - 12:30 Substantive review MBE topics, do five MBE questions. Memorize three new rules of law. Recite previous days' rules of law. [Write the rule to all the questions you get wrong]
12:30-1:15 Lunch & memorize three World Cup rules [Barwrite]
1:15 - 3:30 Outline and review two past bar essays
3:30 - 5:00 Do MBE questions: con law, property, criminal law
5:00 - 6:00 NY Multiple Choice
5:00 - 6:00 Dinner
6:00 - 6:45 Memorize 3-5 rules
7:00 - 8:00 Yoga
8:15 - 9:00 Quick reviews of minor bar topics for the New York bar, including secured transactions, no-fault, commercial paper, conflicts of law, partnership
9:00 - 11:00 -Additional review of one or two subject outlines, ten or more MBE Problems (Make flashcards for unfamiliar rules, do analysis); outline one essay; do several New York Multiple Choice questions.
BED!
Thank you!
Scoring High on Bar Exam - Mary Campbell Gallagher

Best Bars for Bathroom Sex

http://www.sheckys.com/newyorkcity/nightlife/articles/best_bars_for_bathroom_sex_7148.asp


Ladies this might come in handy to:
1) spice up your marriage
2) make your boyfriend fall in love instantly (or the stranger at the bar)
3) Get 25% off your next tune up (bitsandgiggles)
4) Any chance we can fit the BOE grading committe into the stall at the Waldorf?

Advice to those who Failed the Bar Exam

What do you do when you trip and fall? Do you lie on the ground, give up, and say, "I will never walk again." Do you lose confidence in your ability to ever walk again because of a fall? NO. Usually, you get up, brush yourself off, and are on your way. Even after a bad fall, even should you be hurt seriously and need medical care, what follows is healing.

Absent unusual circumstance, so long as the will to succeed is there, anyone who tripped up on the last bar is a person who can walk forward, someone who can PASS the next exam.

You don't get to take the bar exam without a huge investment, and many steps of proving yourself worthy. Even if the statistical chances of passing are lower because of your GPA in law school or other factors, you can still do it.
With the proper guidance and preparation, you can.

If you were a person who at the first stumbles simply left the path and looked for a smoother trail, you would not have finished law school, let alone applied for and sat for an entire bar examination. No way.

The fact that you got far enough to TAKE the test is proof of your potential.

Now, to get up, brush yourself off, and realize that potential.


(Excerpt from www.passlaw.com)

Stolen Lines #4

Feeling both empowered and terrified as I drove into work, I looked up at the sky and started talking.

"Dear God, I know I should not be asking for anything right now but I am asking you to make everything okay. I know I should be thankful that I have a job, and good family and friends and an awesome dog, but it still feels like it all has come crashing down. Why me? I worked so hard, I knew the law? I could spit out the execution of a will in sing song form to the beat of thriller! Well I guess none of that really matters. I guess it all comes down to those damn multiple choice questions. God, can you please inflict slight pain to the people who developed those questions? I mean don't kill them or anything just sort of scare them a little. Perhaps maybe when one of the MBE people is eating breakfast one morning, they look down at their cereal bowl and a snake jumps out. I mean something really cool like that. Okay, I know I am supposed to forgive. But it is really hard, I mean how can my entire legal career be on hold because I can not tell the difference between:

a) D is not liable because his act was not the proximate cause of V's injuries
b) D is not liable because his reckless act was not the direct but for cause of V's injuries
c) D is liable because his really crappy act of bashing V's head with a baseball bat during a softball game was the cause of V's head exploding
d) All of the above
God, I am going to try this again, and I ask for your strength and support to get me through another grueling 12 weeks. But most importantly, I ask that you please show the MBE people how to be merciful...and if that doesn't work then can you just send me a copy of the answers. Thanks"
AMEN

*I Stole the first line of this post from Stay Tuned, by Jenniffer Weigel

Join the Club

Jerry Brown: Attorney General of California (and former California governor). Failed the California bar once before passing.

Hillary Clinton: Brilliant, delicious, and everyone should vote for her. Future president of the United States. Failed the D.C. bar exam in the 1970s, but passed the Arkansas bar -- where she went on to have a successful legal career, as a partner in the Rose Law Firm.

John F. Kennedy, Jr. (deceased): Highly attractive son of President John F. Kennedy. Failed the New York bar twice, before passing on the third try. Served as an assistant district attorney in New York from 1989 to 1993

Emily Pataki: Highly attractive daughter of former New York Governor George Pataki. Failed the New York bar the first time, but passed the second time.

(We thought she was an associate at the prestigious New York law firm of White & Case, but she's not on the firm website.)

Kathleen Sullivan: Former dean of Stanford law school, leading constitutional law scholar, and possible Supreme Court nominee (or Solicitor General pick) in a Democratic administration. Failed the California bar exam when she took it in July 2005. As explained by the Wall Street Journal:

EJ: Highly attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. EJ, who is a leading evidence scholar, and everyone should vote for her. Failed the first time but is going to whoop ass the second.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good: My job is giving me a second go at it, and I still have a job when its over.

The Bad: The books are out, the outlines were retrieved, and the pencils are sharpened. I have already invested $350 to do this again not to mention the other $575 still remaining to pay if I do the 2nd state again. Oh and did I mention the $759 to just travel to the damn test. Whose bright idea was to forgo the Javits Center? Did I mention my dignity is still bruised?

The Ugly: Let the Games Begin!

The End of the World

The last day or two have been very hard and I have shed many tears and kicked and screamed. I have put on a poker face and tried to keep a smile [which if you know me I am an expert at doing]. But I decided last night there is no reason to act like this didn't happen nor to act as if it didn't hurt. I am allowed to feel this way and to mourn. It feels as if my whole world has come crashing down and everything I worked for was for nothing. I told myself last night nothing has come easy and I know "that's life"...but it seems as if it has always been an uphill battle and I am TIRED. But I am slowly picking myself up and dusting myself off and trying to get myself together so that I can do this again. I know I am capable of passing this. I definitely understand that this is no indication of my intelligence nor of my ability. I love what I do, and I want to be a lawyer and I want it more than anything. So if I look at the big picture in a span of a 25 year career as a lawyer what is an extra 6 months to wait ? I really appreciate all the support because honestly that is what keeps me going to know that people believe in me so much. Thank you it means a lot. I know that we are never given more than we can handle so I plan on taking no prisoners in July. The exam is July 28-30th. I already signed up again, and I plan to start preparing this week. 12 more weeks I know I can do this, I just have to put all my emotions and fear aside. I don't know when I will be able to wake up and declare "WAR!" I am not quite there yet, but hopefully in the next few days. Because once I do, then I can start getting ready for the fight. Then the NY BOE won't have a chnace...MOVE B*TCH GET OUT THE WAY!

The heat is on

So I had a panic attack on Friday. How do I know it was a real panic attack? I started sobbing uncontrollably and could not breathe...hence panic attack. I found out that the NY Bar results will be emailed on Tuesday May 5th. Yes, Cinco de Mayo. Not only will they be emailed but no US Postal announcement will be sent out. So if your email account decides to spam your NY bar results you will have to wait until the public announcements - sucks to be you in other words. I do not know why all these emotions that I thought disappeared came back with such a vengeance but they did. Thoughts of what if?? What would I tell my parents, my friends, work? How would I prepare again? I can't take any more time off, nor can I afford more classes. All these thoughts of how failing = living in a cardboard box. Don't ask, but I somehow found a non direct correlation between the two. So here I am less than 24 hours from the announcement, and I have had nightmares and yet I am also trying to fill my head with positive thoughts because I believe they breed positive results. I drank an excessive amount of wine alone this weekend and watched excessive amount of mindless TV alone. Why? Because I wanted to enjoy doing nothing just in case. But I know that I will get through this and no matter what I have to keep telling myself I worked my ass off and I did the best I could and that is all that matters. So not sure what will happen tomorrow but either way I am going to become a raging alcoholic.