Bar Exam

Register Early
Registering for the bar exam is a very long process and those taking the exam should register as early as possible.  Make sure that you fill out all the correct paperwork and locate all the historical records as early as possible.

Serenity Now
You may have been able to deal with your anxiety throughout law school yet the bar exam presents the type of challenge that can cause all of your anxiety to reappear.  Do not ignore your condition, instead find ways to deal with it.  Do not shut yourself down to the world.  This will not help.  Keep the lines of communication open between your friends and your family members.

The Art of the Counterargument
With a majority of issues on the bar exam, there will be at least one element that requires a counterargument.  Remember to place your counterargument directly before your conclusion.  Remember the following 5 tips regarding counterarguments:

ONE
Back to the basics.  Remember what a counterargument is: When you counter-argue, you present a possible argument against your argument or some aspect of your reasoning.

TWO
You do not need to make one up, instead use the facts.  If the facts are not there, do not force it.  Be reasonable: Would everyone in the courtroom laugh if I made this argument?

THREE
Make it real.  Confront the difficulty, do not sweep it under the rug!  You will be a lawyer soon, if you have a client that has a claim, you would certainly inform him/her of any potential counterarguments the opposing party could make.

FOUR
Bring it back.  You have to finish strong, with your argument, not the counter.  Return to your argument by announcing: However, but, yet, nevertheless, or still, etc.

FIVE
There are numerous ways to consider the proposed counterargument:

• Acknowledge that it is valid but then argue that it is less important than your argument

• Refute it by showing that it is not valid under the given circumstances

Model Answers
If you do not use them by now, start! There is nothing worst than studying the wrong way to do things.  When you find model answers ensure that they are tailored to your state's bar exam.  Compare multiple model answers, on the same issue, to ensure that you have a complete understanding of how to approach certain bar exam questions.

Here are some model answers, find your state:
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=bar%20exam%20model%20answers

More Tips

• Do not just restate facts, use them

• Do not make the person grading the bar have to figure anything out

• Be clear

• Do not use parenthesis

• The person grading your bar exam should not have to read your answer twice

• You are not writing a law review article

• Be simple

• Be repetitive 

• Short sentences

• Think...Where do I get the most points?

• The bar exam wants to test issue spotting/application of the law

• The bar exam does not care if you are right or wrong; the bar exam does care about how you get there

• State a conclusion on the bar.  Do not answer an essay question on the bar the way that you would answer an essay question on a law school exam.  In law school, you learn to answer questions by including multiple potential outcomes: "On this hand..." Instead, take a strong stance as though you were writing for a Judge or law firm. 

• Scrutinize every sentence for information that must be used in your answer.  This does not mean outline dump.  Do not write down rules that do not apply. 

• Give every issue its own heading.  Do not use vague headings. 

• Include factual and/or legal counterarguments but do not forget to explain why your argument is still correct despite the counterargument. 

• Use as many 'terms of art' as possible related to the subject. 

• At the end of your IRAC, mention any weird rules, jurisdictional issues and damages. If you are unsure of an answer, do not panic.  Make up the most reasonable law that you can come up with pertaining to the facts and apply it appropriately.  For help with this, ask yourself: How would I like this to end?  

• Use your common sense. Use as many paragraphs as possible.  A large amount of simple paragraphs is the most effective writing style.   

• Get it on the page.  Do not try to word your answer perfectly.  The people that grade the bar just want to ensure that you know the law, not that you are able to articulate the law precisely.   

• Handle issues in the same order as the fact pattern or by their legal priority