Archive-name: ucdavis/king-hall-faq/part8
Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Jun. 22, 1996 Version: 21Jun96 [ASCII/Multipart] URL: <http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ucdavis/ king-hall-faq/part8/faq.html > Ebb: <http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~netesq/USENET-FAQs/king-hall/part7.html > See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 8 of 9 Frequently Asked Questions at and about King Hall (c) Copyright 1995 & 1996 by David F. Prenatt, Jr. King Hall, 1995 Alumnus U.C. Davis School of Law University of California Davis, CA 95616-5210 <mailto:NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us > The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ (King Hall USENET FAQ) may be comprised of more than one part. If it is, please see the TABLE OF CONTENTS in Part One for a complete list of the questions that I have attempted to answer and for other important legal information. Caveat emptor: I assume no obligation to anyone through the publication of the King Hall USENET FAQ. Furthermore, all versions of the King Hall USENET FAQ are my personal property and are protected by applicable copyright laws. All rights are reserved except as follows: I hereby give my permission to anyone who has access to this version of the King Hall USENET FAQ to reproduce the information contained herein for non-profit purposes, provided that proper credit is given to me as the author of this FAQ and that I am promptly notified of any use other than personal use. I may revoke permission to reproduce any version of this FAQ at any time. - - - - - The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 8 of 9 Frequently Asked Questions at and about King Hall (c) Copyright 1995 & 1996 by David F. Prenatt, Jr. 10) LIFE AFTER KING HALL. Hard on the heels of the King Hall graduation ceremony is the beginning of the various bar review courses. But before that time, students usually make preparations for admission to the California State Bar or other post-graduation plans. 10.1) ADMISSION TO THE CALIFORNIA STATE BAR. Admission to the California State Bar for King Hall graduates requires a positive moral character evaluation from the California Committee of Bar Examiners, a passing grade on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), and a passing grade on the California Bar Exam. 10.1.1) THE CALIFORNIA BAR EXAM. The California Bar Exam (Bar Exam) is a three day exam that takes place every year during July on the last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that month; similarly the February exam takes place on the last Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that month. The first and third days of the Bar Exam are comprised of three essay exams each morning, and a "performance test" each afternoon; the second day of the Bar Exam is comprised entirely of the multiple choice Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). The MBE is the key to passing the Bar Exam. The scores on essays and performance tests change in the multi-phase grading process, and are only predictable in that they gravitate towards the mean, regardless of the quality of the individual essays and performance tests. In striking contrast, the answers to each MBE question are either right or wrong, and you will receive full credit for a correct answer or no credit at all for an incorrect answer (notwithstanding "scaling"). More often than not, a good MBE score will make up for mediocre performances on Bar Exam essay questions and performance tests, and a mediocre MBE score will prevent otherwise qualified students from passing the Bar Exam; many bar applicants do not even complete the MBE. MBE questions tend to focus on obscure rules of law that mislead even the best and brightest law students. There are 200 of these multiple choice questions on the first and third days of the exam that must be answered in six hours (100 questions in each of the three hour morning sessions and 100 questions in each of the three hour afternoon sessions for a total of 400 questions). These questions are drawn from six subjects: Contracts, Torts, Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Constitutional Law. At the present time, the number of questions drawn from each subject varies. However, the number of questions from each subject will be equalized by 1997. 10.1.1.1) Qualifying for the Bar Exam. Graduates of King Hall are qualified to take the Bar Exam based on their graduation from King Hall, an ABA approved law school. 10.1.1.2) Submitting an Application to Take the Bar Exam. You must submit an application towards the end of your last semester of law school to take the Bar Exam. The application is very easy to complete, but there is a very small window for when you can apply. Obtain a passport photo well in advance and keep it on hand. 10.1.1.3) Preparing for the Bar Exam. Preparing for the Bar Exam is much like taking another semester of law school, only you have tests every single day. While you should attend your substantive lectures, the best way to prepare for taking a test is to take practice tests. Thus, you should review essay questions from previous Bar Exams and practice MBE questions until they are coming out of your ears. The following characteristic similarities and differences occur in the six MBE subjects: * Evidence and Torts required a holistic approach to the law (i.e., these subjects test your comprehensive knowledge of the underlying legal principles and policies addressed by the subject matter); * Contracts, Criminal Law & Procedure, and Real Property required a fact specific approach to the law (i.e., these subjects test your in-depth knowledge of case law as opposed to your general knowledge of the legal principles and policies addressed by the subject matter); * Constitutional Law required a context-based approach to the law (i.e., this subject tests your knowledge of legal principles and policies as well as your in-depth knowledge of case law, but more than anything this subject calls upon your ability to make hard judgement calls by empathizing with the people who wrote the MBE questions and second- guessing their highly subjective interpretation of the law). Your strengths and weaknesses in each MBE subject will become apparent as you practice MBE questions. Plan your studies accordingly. Contrary to popular belief, your law school alma mater and class standing have no statistical significance as to whether you will pass the Bar Exam. Because of the importance given to the MBE, your ability to pass the Bar Exam was determined by the time you applied to law school (i.e., it depends primarily upon your ability to perform well on standardized tests such as the LSAT). The good news is that you can acquire this ability through rigorous study if you do not come by it naturally, provided that you are properly motivated; a number of students supplement their commercial bar preparation courses with the Professional Multistate Bar Review (PMBR). Even if you do come by testing skills naturally, the substance and format of various MBE subjects and questions are sui generis, so even the best test takers should practice thousands of MBE questions. It's best to think of the MBE as six separate exams merged into one. Questions for each of the six subjects tested are developed by separate committees within the National Conference of Bar Examiners in association with the American College Testing Service (i.e., there are no "crossover questions"). Most of the winning test taking strategies are not portable from subject to subject, so focus on those subjects that give you the most trouble. You will probably find that you are simply trying to force a square peg into a round hole. 10.1.1.4) Taking the Bar Exam. Taking the Bar Exam is nowhere near as bad as most people expect it to be. As one of my colleagues put it, "the Bar Exam tests for minimal competency." Even so, some of the brightest people whom I know have had to take the Bar Exam more than once because of overconfidence and a lack of proper motivation. Contrary to popular belief, your chances of passing the Bar Exam actually go up on your second attempt. If you fail the Bar Exam twice, however, you are quite likely to keep failing it over and over again (hence, the abysmal passage rate for repeat takers). Many people do not know what to expect from the Bar Exam until they actually take it, so they don't know how to prepare for it, mentally or emotionally. The Bar Exam is very passable, however, and there are a lot of things that people know to do differently when preparing to take it a second time. Many capable people do everything that they should do to pass the Bar Exam and still fail. As hard as they may study, some unforeseen circumstance occurs. For example, for those who type or word process the Bar Exam, mechanical failure is a very real possibility (one person was gone by lunch the first day), and the Committee of Bar Examiners does not take responsibility for power outages. So if you type the Bar Exam, bring a second typewriter--a manual typewriter. 10.1.1.5) Waiting for Your Results from the California Bar Exam. The worst part about taking the California Bar Exam is waiting for your results. Even if you could be sure that you had passed, your career is on hold for several months. If you already have a job lined up, this is not as much of a problem, but at least one person whom I know has lost his or her job as an attorney when he or she failed the Bar Exam [Hearsay alert: This may not have been the proximate cause]. Prepare yourself for a long wait after you take the Bar Exam and make plans for what you will do if you do not pass the first time. If you fail the California Bar Exam, your colleagues at King Hall will most certainly find out about it. A small group of unemployed individuals who have nothing better to do will cross reference the published list of those people who passed the Bar Exam with those people who were known to have taken it. These busybodies will also use this information to determine your class ranking and make banal resolutions about your scholastic abilities. If you pass the Bar Exam immediately after you graduate or don't even take it, you will simply become a face in the crowd. 10.1.1.6) Post Mortem on the Results of the California Bar Exam. For 94.7% of the 1994 King Hall graduates who took the California Bar Exam in July of 1994, the waiting and worrying about whether they had passed was over in mid-November of that year (an all time record, even for King Hall). For many of my classmates from the subsequent Class of 1995, this knowledge gave them an overwhelming sense of confidence going into the July 1995 Bar Exam. Indeed, almost everyone I met in the legal community of the greater Sacramento Area assumed that everyone from King Hall would automatically pass the Bar Exam. I address these comments to those people who are part of the slim percentage at King Hall who do not pass the Bar Exam the first time that they take it and to all those other Bar Examinees who try their best and fail. No doubt everyone will assure you that if you did well in law school and/or attended King Hall that you will pass the Bar Exam the first time that you take it. Such is not the case. The truth is that if you prepare properly for the Bar Exam, you will probably pass no matter where you studied the law or how well you did in law school; if not the first time you take the exam, then the second. And the most important thing to focus on when you are putting forth your best effort is a thought that a kindred soul shared with me regarding his attempt at the July 1995 Exam: "This is my Bar Exam, no one else's." Failing at something as significant as the Bar Exam truly sucks, all the more so because it very seldom happens to someone who has prepared for it properly. It also comes as quite a surprise to those people who have every reason to be confident in themselves and in their abilities, erroneously believing that they have done what they needed to do to prepare. It comes as an even bigger surprise to their friends and family. There are many good explanations that are offered for why capable people fail the Bar Exam, but there really is no such thing as a good excuse. At the same time, you don't need an explanation or an excuse. You simply need to take the Bar Exam until you pass. 10.1.1.7) Information for Unsuccessful Applicants. For those Bar Examinees who do not appear on the published pass list, the Commmittee of Bar Examiners sends out a notice and encloses a brochure entitled, "Information for Unsuccessful Applicants." This notice includes information that should help you figure out why you did not pass the Bar Exam. If you passed the Bar Exam, of course, this information is somewhat unimportant. But for "Unsuccessful Applicants," this information takes on great significance. To add insult to injury, the Committee of Bar Examiners made an error in the formula that it disclosed for the computation of written exam scores on the July 1995 Bar Examination. Using the formula that was published in the "Information for Unsuccessful Applicants," many people who might have obtained an automatic reappraisal of their exam results after the "Phase II" reread and/or passed the exam did not pass. The Committee became aware of the problem immediately, which turned out to be a simple typographical error in the published formula for computing Bar Exam results. The Committee of Bar Examiners specifically will *NOT* entertain petitions for reconsideration based on its grading system or the judgment of its professional graders. However, it *WILL* entertain requests for reconsideration based on clerical errors that resulted in failure or prevented the automatic reappraisal of a Bar Exam. Of course, this is no guarantee of a favorable turn of events, but it does give examinees who should have passed the Bar Exam an opportunity for a reread. Accordingly, if you receive a notice that you failed the Bar Exam, you should obtain copies (as opposed to the originals) of your written tests and look for arithmetic and/or clerical errors. 10.1.2) THE MULTISTATE PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY EXAM (MPRE). The MPRE is a multiple choice exam, and the course offered at King Hall in Professional Responsibility (PR) should cover the substance of the MPRE. The King Hall PR course (as opposed to the MPRE) is a requirement for graduation. It is usually a good idea to take both the King Hall PR course and the MPRE at about the same time so that you can use the PR course to help you prepare for the MPRE. 10.1.2.1) Submitting an Application for the MPRE. Submit your application on time. There are very stiff fees for late applications. 10.1.2.2) Preparing for the MPRE. If you spend more than 40 hours preparing for the MPRE, you will be overprepared. Review your materials for the King Hall PR course, watch a taped lecture offered by one of the many commercial bar review courses, and practice multiple choice questions for the MPRE. 10.1.2.3) Taking the MPRE. The MPRE is just like any other standardized multiple choice exam, and a mediocre performance is still a passing grade. If you don't pass the MPRE the first time, you can take it over again as many times as you like and no one will ever be the wiser. 10.1.3) THE MORAL CHARACTER EVALUATION. The Moral Character Evaluation is probably the most invasive experience you will probably ever have (barring an application for a top secret security clearance), but very little will prevent you from becoming a member of the California Bar, certainly nothing of which you are unaware. If you are behind in child support or alimony, you cannot qualify, but most other people without felony criminal records do qualify. Just make sure that you fully disclose all of the blemishes and warts that may appear on your record. Completing the Moral Character Evaluation Application is quite a chore. You must obtain accurate information about things for which you probably don't maintain any records. Moreover, you must get your fingerprints taken by a law enforcement official. Contact Community Service Officer Christian Sandvig (<mailto:dpd@dcn.davis.ca.us >) of the Davis Police Department at (916)756-3740 for information on how and when to have your fingerprints taken. 10.2) EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AFTER LAW SCHOOL. The nice thing about being an attorney is that you can always find work. However, you can't always find a job with a law firm, or a job that you want, or a job that pays you what you are worth. In many instances, an attorney must work for him or herself. Don't be afraid to do contract work, contact your local bar association for referral business, or seek employment outside of the legal profession. 10.3) LIFE AS AN ATTORNEY. Lawyers are hated and feared by most people because lawyers are most commonly associated with legal problems like divorce, personal injury, and criminal prosecution. Indeed, this is how most people first encounter lawyers. But most lawyers have nothing to do with divorce, personal injury, or the administration of criminal justice. They work for very rich people who pay very well for legal advice on wills, contracts, and other legal instruments that prevent people from ever having to appear in court. When a good lawyer does his or her job well and gets paid for it, it's simply not newsworthy. Many lawyers are thus quietly transformed from being starving students to being upper middle class professionals. Many people make more money after they graduate from law school than they or anyone else in their families have ever made in their entire lives. I often hear stories about the disappearing middle class (i.e., the rich get richer and the poor get poorer). Higher education explains this statistical anomaly because of its resulting "leapfrog effect" on personal income, particularly with professional programs like law school. Along with the money, law school graduates obtain tremendously enhanced personal prestige because they command respect in their business and personal dealings with people who are unfamiliar with the law. Having a law degree, however, does not necessarily make you a better person. In some instances, it does exactly the opposite. But that's a topic that is well beyond the scope of this FAQ. 11) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT COMPUTERS AND LIFE ON THE INTERNET FROM MEMBERS OF THE KING HALL COMMUNITY. The best places to obtain information about computers and life on the Internet at King Hall are from Computer Specialist Steve Langford (<mailto:sdlangford@ucdavis.edu >) at (916)752-SLOW, Information Technology--Campus Access Point (IT-CAP <mailto:ithelp@ucdavis.edu >) at (916)752-2548, or from the USENET newsgroup ucd.comp.questions (<news:ucd.comp.questions >); readers with a web browser may visit the Network Administrator Resources FAQ Page on the World Wide Web (<http://tsp.ucdavis.edu/nar/NAR-FAQS.html >). If you want to speak to an IT-CAP consultant, you should be prepared to furnish him or her with your login id and identification number. 11.1) BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT COMPUTERS. 11.1.1) Why should I use a computer? It is easier and faster to accomplish many tasks by using a computer. 11.1.1.1) Do I really need to use a computer? No. You don't need to use a computer, but many tasks are very difficult or even impossible to accomplish without a computer. You will also find that a modicum of computer literacy is required of all members of the King Hall community. 11.1.1.2) Isn't it difficult to learn how to use a computer? No. Learning to use a computer is very easy, but this is a very well kept secret. People who are familiar with computers are very intimidating to people who do not know how to use computers. 11.1.1.3) How can I get the computer training that I need? Admit your ignorance, both to yourself and to the people who offer you help. Teaching people how to use computers is extremely difficult, but it doesn't have to be that way. Many people erroneously assume that they understand how computers work, and this makes teaching these people extremely difficult. Of course, people who know what they are doing may not be able to communicate with you or they may not be interested in helping you. Avoid these people. 11.1.1.4) What practical uses would I have for a computer as a law student? Most law students find that using a computer for word processing is much easier than typing a paper. Moreover, most law firms use WordPerfect and demand that their associates be familiar with WordPerfect. While word processing is not the only application for computers, it is easily the most common and most popular (second only to computer games). Once you become familiar with word processing, however, you may want to stop by a store that sells software and do some window shopping. 11.1.2) Do I need my own computer? No. Computers are as ubiquitous as telephones. The only reason you would want to have your own computer is for convenience, much like owning a cellular phone. 11.1.2.1) What kind of computer should I buy? You should buy a computer with the features that you want at a price you can afford. If you are reading this FAQ for a recommendation, then you probably want either a Macintosh(r) or an IBM/IBM Clone (PC). 11.1.2.1.1) What is the difference between a Macintosh(r) and an IBM/IBM Clone (PC)? Macintosh(r) computers are much higher quality technology than PCs. However, PCs are the standard for computer technology and they are much more affordable than Macintoshes(r). Thus, if you are on a limited budget, you probably want a PC, especially because whatever you do buy will be obsolete before you buy it. 11.1.2.1.2) What is an IBM/IBM Clone (PC)? IBM assembles its computers from technology that is available on the open market and sets the standard for other computer companies (at least it once did). Many companies build IBM clones (properly referred to as PCs) with technology that meets or exceeds the standards that IBM sets. 11.1.2.2) What kind of features should I have on a computer? There is no easy answer to this question, but as a general rule avoid all the bells and whistles and buy only proven technology. New technology is inherently unreliable because many bugs are found only after a product has been released. Members of the King Hall community have access to a variety of computers through facilities supported by IT-CAP (<mailto:ithelp@ucdavis.edu >), so find out for yourself what features are the most useful and reliable. 11.1.2.3) What kind of accessories should I get on my computer? It depends upon what type of applications you are using. If you are reading this FAQ for a recommendation, then you probably only need a printer and/or modem (if that); you can probably get by without either one. - - - - - End of document: The King Hall Law School USENET FAQ Part 8 of 9 Frequently Asked Questions at and about King Hall (c) Copyright 1995 & 1996 by David F. Prenatt, Jr. King Hall, 1995 Alumnus U.C. Davis School of Law University of California Davis, CA 95616-5210 <mailto:NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us > Link to next document: <http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~netesq/USENET-FAQs/king-hall/part9.html > - - - - - User Contributions: 1 hydroxychloriqine ⚠ what does hydroxychloroquine treat https://plaquenilx.com/# plaquenil sulfate Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: |