THEMIS JULY 2018 - DISCUSSION Forum

[Lawworld19]

Anybody over 75% completion and out of fucks to give about studying? I've lost all motivation.

What are you hitting on the mixed sets?

I'm hitting 65%-70% and still pretty uncomfortable. Studying an obnoxious amount.

Same here, hit 62%-70% on mixed. Usually right at 65%. Very worried. I really want a 140+ so I have a little room on essays. Yes I am lucky my state has no MBE score to pass.

I'm at 80% completion and hitting about 65% on the question sets and have lost all motivation. By like 1 each day I am just spent. I feel like at this point I'm not learning anything new, and I'm afraid if I push too hard I'll start to lose stuff I've already memorized. Taking tomorrow off and hoping it gives me some rejuvenation for the final stretch. Also in a no minimum MBE to pass jurisdiction but hoping for a 140+ so I can get away with mediocre essay scoring.

Ohio?

[Lawworld19]

My friend just passed July in Ohio with a 130 scaled MBE, but smoked the essays. She is a federal clerk so her writing skills are way above mine. She went in and scored a 130 scaled cold. No prep for MBE cause our state only counts MBE as 33%. Pretty risky but it worked. Wish I could do that.

[titusandromedus]

Anybody over 75% completion and out of fucks to give about studying? I've lost all motivation.

What are you hitting on the mixed sets?

I'm hitting 65%-70% and still pretty uncomfortable. Studying an obnoxious amount.

Same here, hit 62%-70% on mixed. Usually right at 65%. Very worried. I really want a 140+ so I have a little room on essays. Yes I am lucky my state has no MBE score to pass.

I'm at 80% completion and hitting about 65% on the question sets and have lost all motivation. By like 1 each day I am just spent. I feel like at this point I'm not learning anything new, and I'm afraid if I push too hard I'll start to lose stuff I've already memorized. Taking tomorrow off and hoping it gives me some rejuvenation for the final stretch. Also in a no minimum MBE to pass jurisdiction but hoping for a 140+ so I can get away with mediocre essay scoring.

Ohio?

PA

[jcwest]

Anybody over 75% completion and out of fucks to give about studying? I've lost all motivation.

What are you hitting on the mixed sets?

I'm hitting 65%-70% and still pretty uncomfortable. Studying an obnoxious amount.

70-80%. I randomly dipped down to 68 on a couple of sets that were really hard.

I'd probably stop studying around 4 if I was doing that well. Real curious how you're hitting those scores to be honest. I've been siking myself out and over gaming my answers lately.

[dabigchina]

Anybody over 75% completion and out of fucks to give about studying? I've lost all motivation.

What are you hitting on the mixed sets?

I'm hitting 65%-70% and still pretty uncomfortable. Studying an obnoxious amount.

70-80%. I randomly dipped down to 68 on a couple of sets that were really hard.

I'd probably stop studying around 4 if I was doing that well. Real curious how you're hitting those scores to be honest. I've been siking myself out and over gaming my answers lately.

Honestly, i've been psyching myself out too in the last couple of sets too. There was one question in particular about hearsay where I got screwed because I thought too deeply about whether evidence was being admitted for hearsay when they were just asking about the exception for recorded prior recollection.

[Tala29]

Anyone else still feel like they are having trouble memorizing? I'm not talking like obscure things, but not necessarily something simple. For instance, the elements of an injunction, or the elements for a class action. Its like I intuitively know these type of things (at least enough to answer a question about them on the MBE), but when I'm under the pressure of an essay I can't for the life of my recite shit to have a decent rule statement. I feel like come exam day I'm gonna be wording things incorrectly and just making up rules.

If you go through CP flashcards you will realize there is no way to memorize ever element. If some people can they deserve to pass and I deserve to fail. I am getting 60-70% correct on MBE mixed sets, graduated from a normal state law school, I should pass. If I don't, so be it. Better luck next time. I will work as hard as possible up until test day, but I really doubt we have to know every element cold to pass. I mean what do they expect us to do. live in a North Korean prison camp for three months?

Lol exactly.

And this, folks, is why it's about minimum competency and just getting that magical ~66%. You don't need to remember all the elements. That's the beauty of it. You just need to be in the ballpark, and know a little more than half. let's say you get only 3 of 5 elements? That's still a pass. Don't worry about the details and just do your best to get the general gist of it. Of course you can never remember all of it. That's the point. But most people still pass.

And as for essays, never underestimate the power of IRAC and decent bullshit. I nailed the MEE while basically inventing two of the essays cause I had no clue what they were asking. Doesn't matter.

Happy studying...

I am so HOPELESS at bullshitting So what if we don't know the answer at all? You just make it up completely?!

If you're in that position, you got no choice. On Feb 2018 we had a civ pro question about sanctions against a firm, its partner and the associate for failure to do something. Made up my answer completely. Also had a crim question about an offender's mental capacity to plead guilty. Also made that up.

The thing with bullshitting is this: it's not like you're just making up an answer in a vacuum. Rather, each fact in the question will point to something, so let the facts guide you. For instance, with respect to the offender's mental capacity to plead guilty, the question told us he didn't understand what a "trial" was. He couldn't remember various things. Etc. So you just use those facts and make up the rules. From these facts, tou can easily make up a rule like "An offender has to understand the nature of the charges against him, and must understand the meaning of guilt, etc". And then apply the facts. IRAC. Make it sound plausible. You'll pass.

Haha, all of my friends who took the February bar said the same thing about the Rule 11 Q. Thanks so much for the answer!!!

[unsweetened]

Scored 50% on mixed set 7 yesterday. Scored 78% on mixed set 8 today. The only thing consistent is my inconsistency. I am very worried about the MBE. I don't mind the MEE stuff because I can feel my way through it, but the MBE stuff is very frustrating. Just when I feel like I am getting it, I crash and burn hard.

[Lawworld19]

Scored 50% on mixed set 7 yesterday. Scored 78% on mixed set 8 today. The only thing consistent is my inconsistency. I am very worried about the MBE. I don't mind the MEE stuff because I can feel my way through it, but the MBE stuff is very frustrating. Just when I feel like I am getting it, I crash and burn hard.

What state are you taking??

[Great45]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

[RareExports]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

I don't have mine back yet, but I expect to receive a score below that average. I found it pretty difficult, though I haven't studied Wills much.

[fuuuuuuuuuu]

Created an account because I'm about to kill everything in frustration. Was hitting 75%-80% in the mixed sets 1-6 (including the 100 question one). Just took the MBE AM/PM and got crushed (60%/61% which is below average for both). Not sure what just happened...

The only thing keeping me going is that I passed the bar once before, except right now, I'm not really that reassured...

[RareExports]

Can anyone explain this question to me? It is from mixed set 15, so don't open the spoiler if you're not there yet.

[+] Spoiler

A defendant is charged as a principal with the rape of a 10-year-old child and with murder, under a felony murder statute, for her unintended death, which occurred during the commission of the rape. Pursuant to state law, the prosecutor timely notifies the defendant of the state's intent to seek the death penalty. The defendant challenges the prosecutor's decision on the grounds that the imposition of the death penalty for these crimes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Should the court permit the prosecutor to seek the death penalty for these crimes?
a) Yes, as to both rape and felony murder.
b) No, as to rape, but yes as to felony murder.
c) No, as to felony murder, but yes as to rape.
d) No, as to both rape and felony murder.

The correct answer is B. I selected D. The death penalty is only permissible for an unintended felony murder when the principal acted with reckless indifference to human life. I don't see any facts indicating that here. Further, if the offense of rape alone, even of a minor, was considered sufficient to constitute reckless indifference to human life, then there would be no discretion for the sentencer to determine when to impose vs. when not to impose the death penalty, since all felony murder rape convictions would lead to the death penalty, which would itself be constitutionally impermissible. Am I missing something?

[jcwest]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

Says its 72% for me.

[Great45]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

Says its 72% for me.

There must have been a glitch, or a string of very low scoring essays because it had said 39% when I wrote my post earlier. Says 62% now.

[Lili8]

Well, let the shit losing commence. The more I study Civ Pro, the worse I seem to get. Just took the last practice exam. After plugging away for 3 hrs, I got a score range of 42% (on my former strong suit Crim Pro) to 93% on perennial favorite, Torts. 69% overall.
What's scaring me is that I seem to be getting worse at critical things, i.e, Civ Pro. The exam is not all Real Property and Torts.

[masterherm]

Do the MBE problem sets get harder as you go along? I've only done the first 4-5 but I'm doing way better on them than I did on the practice tests. Not sure if it's because I'm improving or because they start off really easy...

[jcwest]

Well, let the shit losing commence. The more I study Civ Pro, the worse I seem to get. Just took the last practice exam. After plugging away for 3 hrs, I got a score range of 42% (on my former strong suit Crim Pro) to 93% on perennial favorite, Torts. 69% overall.
What's scaring me is that I seem to be getting worse at critical things, i.e, Civ Pro. The exam is not all Real Property and Torts.

I completely agree. I am getting worse at things for no apparent reason. I have decided to focus on MEE subjects the next couple days with minimal MBE questions. No clue if its a good idea but what is at this point.

[jetsetter2000]

Starting to get very worried. Just did practice exam 4 and got 60%. Granted I only did 2 mixed sets prior to this but this grade was far worse than those or practice test 3.

[Lili8]

Well, let the shit losing commence. The more I study Civ Pro, the worse I seem to get. Just took the last practice exam. After plugging away for 3 hrs, I got a score range of 42% (on my former strong suit Crim Pro) to 93% on perennial favorite, Torts. 69% overall.
What's scaring me is that I seem to be getting worse at critical things, i.e, Civ Pro. The exam is not all Real Property and Torts.

I completely agree. I am getting worse at things for no apparent reason. I have decided to focus on MEE subjects the next couple days with minimal MBE questions. No clue if its a good idea but what is at this point.

Yeah, I need to turn to essays now, especially since they will be a whopping 60% of the bar score and there are more than two dozen subjects (Seriously, WTF Virginia?). MBE has to be backburnered at this point.

[smile0751]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

Says its 72% for me.

It now says 83% average student score for Graded Essay #8. Seems weirdly high to me.

[arose928]

Anyone else notice the abysmal average score for the final graded essay??? WTF!?

Says its 72% for me.

It now says 83% average student score for Graded Essay #8. Seems weirdly high to me.

It says 64% for me so I wouldn't put too much stock into it at this point... although mine was for a state-specific (CA) subject and opened/was due today so I don't know how there's any average score at all already. Just submitted mine.

[markham1321]

Can anyone explain this question to me? It is from mixed set 15, so don't open the spoiler if you're not there yet.

[+] Spoiler

A defendant is charged as a principal with the rape of a 10-year-old child and with murder, under a felony murder statute, for her unintended death, which occurred during the commission of the rape. Pursuant to state law, the prosecutor timely notifies the defendant of the state's intent to seek the death penalty. The defendant challenges the prosecutor's decision on the grounds that the imposition of the death penalty for these crimes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Should the court permit the prosecutor to seek the death penalty for these crimes?
a) Yes, as to both rape and felony murder.
b) No, as to rape, but yes as to felony murder.
c) No, as to felony murder, but yes as to rape.
d) No, as to both rape and felony murder.

The correct answer is B. I selected D. The death penalty is only permissible for an unintended felony murder when the principal acted with reckless indifference to human life. I don't see any facts indicating that here. Further, if the offense of rape alone, even of a minor, was considered sufficient to constitute reckless indifference to human life, then there would be no discretion for the sentencer to determine when to impose vs. when not to impose the death penalty, since all felony murder rape convictions would lead to the death penalty, which would itself be constitutionally impermissible. Am I missing something?

I think what you're describing only applies to accomplices, not principals. Pretty sure principals can get death penalty for unintended felony murder

[barprep2018]

This book is specific for Essays in TX.
"Tackling the Texas Essays" by Catherine Martin Christopher (Texas Tech's "bar prep" assistant dean) (https://www.amazon.com/Tackling-Texas-E ... 611638542/)

Any of you have Reviews about it?

[midtrains]

Can anyone explain this question to me? It is from mixed set 15, so don't open the spoiler if you're not there yet.

[+] Spoiler

A defendant is charged as a principal with the rape of a 10-year-old child and with murder, under a felony murder statute, for her unintended death, which occurred during the commission of the rape. Pursuant to state law, the prosecutor timely notifies the defendant of the state's intent to seek the death penalty. The defendant challenges the prosecutor's decision on the grounds that the imposition of the death penalty for these crimes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Should the court permit the prosecutor to seek the death penalty for these crimes?
a) Yes, as to both rape and felony murder.
b) No, as to rape, but yes as to felony murder.
c) No, as to felony murder, but yes as to rape.
d) No, as to both rape and felony murder.

The correct answer is B. I selected D. The death penalty is only permissible for an unintended felony murder when the principal acted with reckless indifference to human life. I don't see any facts indicating that here. Further, if the offense of rape alone, even of a minor, was considered sufficient to constitute reckless indifference to human life, then there would be no discretion for the sentencer to determine when to impose vs. when not to impose the death penalty, since all felony murder rape convictions would lead to the death penalty, which would itself be constitutionally impermissible. Am I missing something?

I think what you're describing only applies to accomplices, not principals. Pretty sure principals can get death penalty for unintended felony murder

Seconding this. Felony murder is when someone is killed during the commission of a BARRK felony (burglary, arson, robbery, rape, kidnapping). Most states don't do the death penalty for felony murder anymore, but it's still out there in the common law realm.

[fuuuuuuuuuu]

Also think you cant get death penalty for rape; otherwise it's cruel and unusual punishment (page 53 of crim pro outline).

Can anyone explain this question to me? It is from mixed set 15, so don't open the spoiler if you're not there yet.

[+] Spoiler

A defendant is charged as a principal with the rape of a 10-year-old child and with murder, under a felony murder statute, for her unintended death, which occurred during the commission of the rape. Pursuant to state law, the prosecutor timely notifies the defendant of the state's intent to seek the death penalty. The defendant challenges the prosecutor's decision on the grounds that the imposition of the death penalty for these crimes constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment.

Should the court permit the prosecutor to seek the death penalty for these crimes?
a) Yes, as to both rape and felony murder.
b) No, as to rape, but yes as to felony murder.
c) No, as to felony murder, but yes as to rape.
d) No, as to both rape and felony murder.

The correct answer is B. I selected D. The death penalty is only permissible for an unintended felony murder when the principal acted with reckless indifference to human life. I don't see any facts indicating that here. Further, if the offense of rape alone, even of a minor, was considered sufficient to constitute reckless indifference to human life, then there would be no discretion for the sentencer to determine when to impose vs. when not to impose the death penalty, since all felony murder rape convictions would lead to the death penalty, which would itself be constitutionally impermissible. Am I missing something?

I think what you're describing only applies to accomplices, not principals. Pretty sure principals can get death penalty for unintended felony murder

Seconding this. Felony murder is when someone is killed during the commission of a BARRK felony (burglary, arson, robbery, rape, kidnapping). Most states don't do the death penalty for felony murder anymore, but it's still out there in the common law realm.