Law School & the Bar ExamLaw School & the Bar Exam

Multistate Essay Exam

Content & Format

� 6 content area essays

� 6 essays (plus ethics) in four hours

� Day One of the Hawaii bar (AM)Day One of the Hawaii bar (AM)� Agency and Partnership, Corporations and Limited Liability

Companies, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Federal Civil Procedure, Real Property, Torts, Trusts and Estates, Secured Transactions, and Wills

� Tests broad concepts and details

Multistate Essay Exam

Content & Format

� The areas of law tested on the MEE include all those tested on the MBE.

� Some MEE subjects encompass a broader range of possible issues than others.

� Some questions draw from more than one area of law.

Reading & Issue Spotting� What do the Qs reveal about issues and structure?

� Find trigger facts in the fact pattern:

� Quotes

Dates� Dates

� Read exactingly

� Careful

� Suspicious

� Mark up and outline

Call of the Questions

Analyze whether each of these items of evidence

is relevant and admissible at trial:

1. The authenticated copy of the mechanic’s text 1. The authenticated copy of the mechanic’s text message;

2. The woman’s testimony that she asked the mechanic, “Is my scooter safe to ride for a while?; and

3. The woman’s testimony describing the mechanic’s thumbs-up.

Issue Statements� Effective issue statements should:

� Situate the reviewer in the discussion

� Indicate the applicable legal rule and relevant facts

� Issue statements can be in the form of a conclusion or a question

� Issue statements can be a structured as a heading or a topic sentence

Issue Statements� Is a thumbs-up in response to a question a non-verbal

assertion subject to hearsay rules.

-or--or-

� Mechanic’s text message is a written assertion; hearsay if offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. If text messages are regularly sent and kept, it may fit the business record exception.

Rule Statements� Make your rule statements clear and concise; they

should roll off your tongue (or fingers, when writing)

� Memorize rules statements that are expandable and � Memorize rules statements that are expandable and interconnected

� Memorize rules in conjunction with key trigger facts

Rule StatementsRelevance

� Evidence is relevant if it tends to make a fact at issue more or less likely to be true. Relevant evidence is admissible unless otherwise barred by statute, rule, or admissible unless otherwise barred by statute, rule, or the Constitution. Relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice, etc.

Rule Statements� How would you precisely and concisely state the rule

for hearsay?

Rule StatementsHearsay

� An out of court statement is hearsay and is not admissible to prove the truth of the matter asserted. A written or non-verbal assertion can be hearsay. A written or non-verbal assertion can be hearsay. A question that makes no assertion of fact is not hearsay.

� An out of court statement introduced for a purpose other than to prove the truth of the matter asserted is not hearsay.

Rule StatementsPresent Sense Impression

� A statement made about an event or condition while or immediately after perceiving it.

Business Record

� Record kept in the course of a regularly conducted business, made at or near the time of an event by a person with knowledge.

Analysis� Read and mark up passage to identify all relevant facts

� Analysis should structurally mirror the structure of the rule being analyzed, i.e. a three-part rule should rule being analyzed, i.e. a three-part rule should

� Explicitly connect facts to the legal rules to which they apply

Analysis� The Mechanic’s text message is admissible to show

that the Woman was negligent because she knew the brakes needed repair. Introduced for this purpose, the text message is not hearsay because it is not text message is not hearsay because it is not introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted (the brakes were defective), only what the Woman believed.

Analysis� The Mechanic’s text message is admissible to show

that the Woman was negligent because she knew the brakes needed repair. Introduced for this purpose, the text message is not hearsay because it is not text message is not hearsay because it is not introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted(the brakes were defective), only what the Woman believed.

Analysis� The text message may also be admissible to prove the

brakes were defective. Introduced for this purpose the text message is hearsay because it is introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted. However, the prove the truth of the matter asserted. However, the text may fall under the hearsay exception for present sense impression. The Mechanic inspected the brakes and sent the text as soon as he finished. A hearsay statement is admissible as a present sense impression when made about an event or condition while or immediately after perceiving it

Analysis� The text message may also be admissible to prove the

brakes were defective. Introduced for this purpose the text message is hearsay because it is introduced to prove the truth of the matter asserted. However, the text may fall under the hearsay exception for present text may fall under the hearsay exception for present sense impression. The Mechanic inspected the brakes and sent the text as soon as he finished. A hearsay statement is admissible as a present sense impression when made about an event or condition while or immediately after perceiving it, so the text may fit this exception.

Studying & Preparing for the

Multistate Essay Exam

� You are probably not familiar with every area of law on the MEE.

� Determine your mastery goals and boundaries.

� Broad concepts as well as specific details are tested.

� Issue spotting matters; specific facts trigger certain issues.

Multistate Essay Exam

Test-Taking Strategies

� Do the multiple choice ethics questions first.

� Read the call of the questions and identify the area of � Read the call of the questions and identify the area of law being tested.

� Practice doing the essays in the order of your choosing.

Multistate Essay Exam

Test-Taking Strategies

� Develop an organizational template and do not deviate.

� Say more about what you know best, say less about the rest.

� When time or knowledge run out, outline.

� Write confidently; admit nothing.

Multistate Essay Exam

Test-Taking Strategies

� Identify the call of the question before reading the fact pattern.

Mark up the fact pattern while reading.� Mark up the fact pattern while reading.

� Outline while issue spotting.

� Grading essays is subjective: structure, clarity and organization impact the way the reader perceives the content of your essay

Pleasing Your Reviewer� Avoid overlong sentences and use many, short

paragraphs

� Divide rule statement and analysis into separate paragraphsparagraphs

� Use signifier words to highlight the structure of your discussion:

� “Here”, “In the present case”, “On the given fact”, “thus”, “therefore”

� Make your analytical connections and conclusion painfully explicit

Studying & Preparing for the

Multistate Essay Exam

� Start practicing by actually writing and assessing essays EARLY!!!

This approach will help you:

• Identify commonly tested concepts;

• Practice your structure and clarity;

• Hone trunk paragraphs;

• Increase you speed.

lskillin@hawaii.edu

956-3000

Thank You.