Taking A Law-School Examination: You Must Monitor Your Time
Taking A Law-School Examination: You Must Monitor Your Time
The general thoughts are not mine, but rather are collected from various sources. They are sound
and accord with my views. I’ve added “Personal Notes” after my review of some of the practice exams.
Personal Notes: Some did not answer Part (B) at all or with more than a few brief sentences.
Based on the indicated time allocation, this part was worth 25% of the total exam. Earning few points
on this section means that you would have to perform nearly perfectly on Part (A) just to do adequately.
Obviously, this is not an effective exam-taking strategy. The extra few minutes spent finely polishing
your answer to the first question will never yield as many points as spending that time beginning and/or
completing the next question. Every essay exam question requires more time than you are given. Do
the best in the time you have, and move on.
Personal Notes: There were some answers that made many excellent substantive points, but
presented the material in a disorganized and/or unstructured way. The forcefulness and effectiveness of
these answers were negatively impacted by the absence of an organization strategy. They also tended to
miss key points. The extra few minutes spent organizing your thoughts (and perhaps quickly outlining
your answer) before you start writing will usually pay dividends in your final product.
Personal Notes: Some spent significant time and energy making arguments about whether
Bosco had acted recklessly on negligently. Though a very brief reference to the recklessness standard
might be appropriate to support arguments that Bosco did not act “knowingly,” an extended discussion
of the range of mens rea standards was unnecessary. Further, some exams invented facts to support an
argument, especially in Part (B). Though such creativity is encouraged in class and can suit you well as
an attorney, it is not appropriate or productive on an exam. Each question should provide more than
enough facts to support your points; concentrate your time and energies on the facts that are provided.
Personal Notes: Skip lines, write on only one side of the page, do whatever else it takes to
ensure that none of your insights get lost in the translation. Most written exams were legible, but many
did not take advantage of all the space that the bluebooks provide; most typed answers were had dense,
lengthy paragraphs. For those hand-writing, leaving white space not only makes your writing easier to
read, it also gives you room for additions if you later think of new issues or arguments.