11. Failure To Use the Time Allotted To Adequately & Properly Outline The Substantive Law.

The Fear Factors: Fifteen Reasons Why Applicants Fail The bar Exam.

This post is one I usually prepare at the very beginning of the bar exam study period. I write it then, at that time, because so many of us decide, at the beginning of bar study, to waste more time than necessary congregating and catching up with friends. Instead, we could have used the first two weeks of bar preparation to outline three or four subjects, and have four less subjects under our belts and ready for review/memorization 14 days before the exam. It is no one's fault that we decide to stand outside of the commercial bar prep course to converse with one another. It is the human condition to want to interact with one another, especially after we split up after law school, and begin to hang out with our respective families for a few weeks after graduation. The next time we see one another is a few weeks later at the beginning of bar prep. It is natural that we want to catch up with each other and discuss our experiences.

Okay, now that we have caught up, don't let failure to outline catch up with you.

Outline in the evenings, please. That is the end of the day. You do not have to think. It is the task of reading, interpreting, writing in a manner that you will respond to, and also yawning a little more than you want. Since it is kind'a, sort'a boring, it will be a slow process. However, it will pay off at the end of your commercial bar course.

At the end of the commercial bar course, you want to have completed all of your outlines for the exam.

Yet, nine times out of ten that will not happen. It takes an inordinate amount of time to outline properly. And since it is so boring, we have a tendency to slow down, and then slow up.

Then we pack up.

You cannot do that.

Why?

1. The subjects you fail to outline will appear in the first three questions on the essay exam.

2. The subjects you fail to outline will force you to hurrily look inside of the commercial outline book for guidance. You will realize two things: (a) there is no guidance, and (b) there are no short-cuts.

3. No one else cares that you failed to outline, which means that no one will share their work with you. It is not like law school where you can show your belly-button, speak in that quiet, soft voice, and bat your eyes and get what you want. Or, flex your biceps, speak in your Don Juan voice, and flash your teeth.

The bar exam is another animal, and it is the great equalizer. And, if you are asking someone from law school that "knew how you were," during that time (whatever that means), you can hang it up. You are not going to gain anything from that person, and perhaps that person's cohorts. I'm sorry, but if you did some folk wrong when in law school, and you are in need of information during the bar exam period? - - Well, then you are going to be short.


People will "get you back" at this time. Yes, the time when you are hoping that no one wants to play games. Unfortunately, when caught between a rock and a hard spot, you are just going to be the spot. These are the rules of the game.

So, make sure you take care of yourself, alleviate that possibility, push yourself through the work, and get those outlines done.

I like Friday evenings (6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m.), or Sunday afternoon (3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.) as great outlining sessions. Notice that each session is only five (5) hours. I wrote that timetable for you.

If I am taking the exam, I am closing with the library, and I know the guards so well at that point, that they will actually give me an additional 20 minutes. I know; it doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. You get to pack up at the exact second the library closes. Then you have an additional 20 minutes to leave. Everyone else left 20 to 30 minutes earlier, because when the person came by to announce that the library is closing, most folk just packed it on in at that very second.

Set goals for yourself. How many pages will you outline in an hour? What is your goal for the day? Thirty pages?

You will have to push yourself. Hard. The reward is finishing the outline and having it ready, in your hands 10 to 14 days before the exam.

Here is a little bad news. You may not finish your outlines within the 14 day period before the bar exam.

You know what you do then? You continue your journey through outline world. You do not stop. You do not look back. You do not wonder if you will be able to make it.

You will make it. You can make it. You must make it.

There is no other alternative, okay?

I want you to promise me that you will have an official push day on Friday, or Sunday. That is the day you push very hard for as long as necessary to complete some substantive portion of your outline.

Promise me that and I promise you that studying from the outlines will make you feel more than ready to tackle the exam.

Remember, it may be tight, but you can break through this. You need those outlines.

Promise.