More Mnenomics; Last Night At Home Before the Exam

At the request of my hockey teammate Amy, here are the other hockey mnenomics that I came up with to remember the bar stuff.

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First Amendment (Speech) Rules: There are three separate ways to analyze a statute to determine whether it unconstitutionally inhibits free speech (I promise if you have studied for the bar exam these make sense):

Method #1 -- Facial Attack
Federov's Overt Velocity Proves Unsettling
Facial Attack
Overbreadth
Vagueness
Prior Restraint
Unfettered Discretion

Method #2 -- Restraint on Specific Content of Speech
Sadness Pervades Selanne's Upcoming Retirement
Specific (content)
Protected Speech
Strict Scrutiny
Unprotected Speech
Regulation (by government) Lawful

Method #3 -- Content-Neutral Regulation of Speech
Nabokov Tries Pushing Mountains, Mostly Fails
Neutral (content)
Time
Place
Manner
Middle-Tier
Forum Types

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Mnenomics for Trusts

Tucker Probably Can't Produce Hat Tricks
Types
Private Express
Charitable
Pour Over Wills
Honorary
Totten

(PS -- I am obviously a fan of neither Tucker nor the Leafs)

Raising Stanley, Selanne's Ducks Enjoyed Raucous Celebrations
Restrictions
Spendthrift
Support
Discretionary
Equity
Resulting
Constructive

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General Evidence Issues (as opposed to hearsay exceptions, which I listed in an earlier post):

Roy Left, Logically Fuming -- Nobody Cared About Bad Defense
Relevance
Legal
Logical
Foundation
Notice
Competency
Authentication
Burden
Determination

For Mean, Reckless Play, Every Player Hates Pronger
Form
Method
Response
Purpose
Exclusions
Privilege
Hearsay
Parol Evidence

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That's all I've got. I probably should have done more, but oh well.

I am feeling pretty much "oh well" at this point. I am tired, worn out, and calm after this day of napping, shopping at the mall, and going to to dinner and drinking wine.

I am ready to go and "get 'er done" as they say. My gosh, I'm sick of talking about it, thinking about it, and worrying about it. I need to just rest and be calm, because I'm pretty well-prepared. I won't get the top score, but I should do okay.

Tommorrow, we're off to the hotel. Let the adventure begin!

Apparently, I rock!!

My friend Sue named me a Rockin' Girl Blogger. Sue and I go way back to my San Diego days when we worked together. What an honor that she chose me as a Rockin' Girl!

This was just the boost I needed with two days left to go before the exam. 7:30am and I've been at it for an hour already -- I have a lot of nervous energy and am a bit panicked because there is still so much I don't know. But it's getting too late to concern myself with all by now.

I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in ages and ran for 40 minutes. I barely thought about the test at all while I was doing that, and by the end I felt a billion times better. I'm going back today for more. My brain is pretty full at this point and I think I just need some time to absorb what I've learned and to let the rest go as much as possible.

Ready for it to be here and be over so I can get my life back.

6 days away

So this time next week I will be 2/3 done. Small comfort, considering there is still so much I don't know. I keep thinking about the PMBR guy on the Property CD who kept saying "You can't know everything!" Indeed. But I just feel like there is so much I still don't know, and I effectively only have a few days of studying left.

I am taking people's general advice and quitting studying on Sunday afternoon. I have to go to the mall and get a new watch. I will also need to go to decompress at that point because I will pretty much be a wreck by then. I keep reminding myself how much luckier I am than a lot of people, and I don't have to pass the bar to keep my job. But I have spent every day for the last two months studying for this thing, and it would be a major bummer to fail it.

I have had a pretty good studying day today though. I really did a lot with wills and trusts and finally feel like I can handle an essay. Of course that means I probably sacrificed a bunch of other things. But the time left is so limited that I can only do and learn so much more at this point.

I have barely done anything with the California distinctions in evidence and civ pro, and I think I will be reviewing them briefly this weekend in hopes that will suffice. I do have short outlines with each subject that have the distinctions in those comment bubbles, but I've barely looked at those outlines since I made them a few weeks ago because there was so much else to get done.

I'm in a constant battle to assure myself that I've done enough. I did not really put in 12-15 hours days every day on studying for this thing, like I have heard some people say that they do. It's just too boring. I studied on my own between 4 and 8 hours a day, and I heard every BarBri lecture except one. I have done over 1600 MC questions at this point, and will probably do less than 2000 by the time the studying is over (I've seen websites that suggest doing 3000 -- that's not going to happen here). I have written a bunch of essays, and will have done 5 performance tests by the end of this week. I never run out of time, and by now I am writing concise essays that address all the issues in most subjects in 45 minutes.

That is going to have to do. I think preparation is important, and I have devoted two months to preparing. But I have also spent two months trying to convince myself that I'm smart enough to handle whatever comes my way with a reasonable amount of grace and coherence, and with as little panic as possible.

You can't know everything. Let's just hope that by Tuesday I'll know enough.

Barristers Bid Farewell to Wigs

Interesting article in the UK Times online about doing away with wigs for English barristers.

I kind of like the idea of trial lawyers have a uniform, like a wig and a gown, to lend solemnity to the whole occasion. So I am sad about this change. But I'm sure the government is happy to be going away with the wig allowance. I knew they were expensive but I didn't realize they were $5K expensive!

I have been thinking a lot about my Comparative Law class from last semester. Not only did we talk a lot about the English legal system, including barrister wigs, but we also briefly covered Chinese law, and one of the assigned readings was the Chinese constitution, which I think is one of the biggest pieces of propoganda fluff ever committed to paper. I was thinking about that yesterday, when I saw in the NY Times the confession of the Chinese equivalent of the USDA, who was executed recently for taking bribes. It's a fascinating piece of writing by this condemned man who, probably, based on a few other articles I've read about it, really had the country's best interests at heart and just got greedy. In China they don't mess around with that kind of stuff -- you do something like this, you pay the ultimate price.

I bet Duke Cunningham, the former Congressman from San Diego (only in San Diego could a guy like that get elected to so many terms) sure is glad that he lives in America and not China.

Bar studying, of course, continues. I feel at this point like I need to learn the law, make up more mnenomics, and keep pushing forward. But I also kind of feel like reviewing the law is a colossal waste of time at this point because I need to do a million more essays so that I have seen as much as possible and don't panic. They kept telling us in Barbri that the graders really don't care if you know the law or not, but I'm sure they want you to at least know the elements so you can spot issues. If you don't know the minimum contacts test elements for personal jurisdiction, how can you expect to get any points for a PJ answer? So I am pressing on with trying to stuff my brain with as many elements as I can, and then trying to remember them when I do practice essays.

I am also really looking forward to playing hockey this week. I have not really exercised at all and feel fat and lazy. An hour on the ice should cure some of that, at least.

Making up hockey mnenomics makes bar studying (kind of) fun

Okay, only kind of fun. But I came up with some cool ones to remember all the hearsay exceptions. These are rules in evidence that allow hearsay (out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted) to be admissible anyway. Hearsay is generally inadmissible if it is being offered for truth because it is not reliable (no chance to cross-examine the declarant or otherwise confirm if the declarant was making up the statement).

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Non-Hearsay Under the Federal Rules:
Niedermeyer Notices Incoming Crosby, Inhibits Attack
N = Non-admission
N = Not offered for truth
I = Inconsistent statement (prior) under oath
C = Consistent statement prior to rebut charge that witness is lying
I = ID (prior)
A = Admission by Party Opponent

Hearsay Exception -- Declarant is Unavailable to Testify
Unusual Flopping Dominator Stops Pucks Specially
(U stands for unavailable)
F = Former Testimony
D = Dying Declaration
S = Statement Against Interest
P = Personal/Family History
S = Statement offered against party procuring witness unavailability

Hearsay Exception -- Declarant Availability Immaterial
There are a lot of these, so 2 separate phrases needed:

#1 -- Senator Emery Prefers Punching Rival Backstops
S = State of Mind
E = Excited Utterance
P = Present Sense Impression
P = Physical condition (medical diagnosis/treatment)
R = Recorded Recollection
B = Business Records

#2 -- Palffy Always Left Rearguards Flailing
P = Public Records
A = Ancient Documents
L = Learned Treatises
R = Reputation
F = Family Records

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At this point, it's about whatever makes the boredom a little less, whatever makes the rules a little easier to remember, and whatever it takes to survive with the bar exam a mere 13 days away.