essay exam writing for the california bar

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California Bar Exam: Essays

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CA Bar Exam Essay Test Instructions:

"Your answer should demonstrate your ability to analyze the facts in the question, to tell the difference between material facts and immaterial facts, and to discern the points of law and facts upon which the case turns. Your answer should show that you know and understand the pertinent principles and theories of law, their qualifications and limitations, and their relationships to each other. Your answer should evidence your ability to apply the law to the given facts and to reason in a logical, lawyer-like manner from the premises you adopt to a sound conclusion. Do not merely show that you remember legal principles; instead try to demonstrate your proficiency in using and applying them. If your answer contains only a statement of your conclusions, you will receive little credit. State fully the reasons that support your conclusions, and discuss all points thoroughly. Your answer should be complete, but you should not volunteer information or discuss legal doctrines that are not pertinent to the solution of the problem. Unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application."

Essay Test Prep Materials

CA Bar Exam Questions and Selected Answers by Subject   (Please bear in mind that these are not model answers, but actual answers to past exams that may include some errors. Available to UC Law SF students only)

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• Last Updated: Aug 28, 2024 11:36 AM
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• Bundle: Essay Exam Writing...

Bundle: Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam, Second Edition Update and California Performance Test Workbook: Preparation for the Bar Exam, Second Edition and The MBE Decoded

• Mary Basick
• Tina Schindler

Print Bundle - This bundle includes print versions of ISBN 9781543813500, ISBN 9781543813517, and ISBN 9781543830903. 

The  Second Edition  of  Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam  contains everything needed to pass the essay portion of the California bar exam. The book combines a comprehensive, yet efficiently concise review of volumes of substantive law with the authors’ proven-effective strategic plan for writing passing bar essays. Rule outlines are supplemented with issues checklists to aid issue spotting and memorization attack sheets, to make memorization manageable, while practice questions productively cover favorite testing areas so bar study is targeted and effective. The  Second Edition  of  California Performance Test Workbook  contains everything needed to pass the performance test portion of the California Bar Exam, which is essential since the performance test score counts double. The book provides an innovative step-by-step strategic general approach for organizing and writing passing performance test answers within 90 minute timed conditions. The authors also provide specific page-by-page deconstructions with guidance and commentary on real released California Performance Test practice questions, along with corresponding answer grids, annotated sample passing answers, and released passing answers. MBE Decoded  is a fresh approach to MBE study which makes the vast amount of MBE tested rules manageable and understandable. The authors fully analyzed all NCBE released MBE questions to determine rule coverage and identify common testing patterns so you don’t have to. This book can be used during law school for early bar preparation or during intensive bar preparation by first-time takers and repeat bar takers who struggled on the MBE the first time. This book is a great resource for students to get essential MBE practice before they fully “know” the law, allowing students to get additional essential practice recognizing the fact patterns and testing styles that are key to passing. Pedagogically, this book encourages students to engage with the material, develop deep rule understanding, gain MBE pattern recognition, and aids in critical memorization efforts.

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Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam 2nd Edition

• Author(s) Mary Basick; Tina Schindler
• Publisher Aspen Publishing

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Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam

From beginning to end, it's all here!

The elements of a passing essay: Format, Issues, Rules, Analysis, Conclusion

How to spot the issues and cite the rule correctly

How to use the facts to craft effective analysis

Making it easy for the exam grader to locate your analysis of the issues

Practice Essays and Answer Grids based on analysis of previous California bar exams

Sample essay answers that provide a model of a passing answer

Self-assessment and strategy how much time to spend on each issue in light of time constraints

Troubleshooting tips to improve exam performance

An efficiently condensed, user-friendly review of substantive law

Focusing on the relationships among the rules

Prioritizing most-frequently-tested topics

Issues Tested Matrix --a detailed graph that analyzes the questions asked in each subject over the past 25 years, broken down by sub-topic frequency

Issues Checklist --a one-page list of the issues tested in each subject, organized to aid issue spotting

Memorization Attack Sheet --a bulleted list of the rules that apply to the Issues Checklist--a tool for memorization that also reinforces issue-spotting skills

Annotated Rule Outline --a more complete version of the rules, in grammatically correct language--annotated with fact triggers , where helpful, to assist with issue spotting

• ISBN-10 073550993X
• ISBN-13 978-0735509931
• Publisher Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
• Publication date November 1, 2012
• Language English
• Dimensions 7 x 1.5 x 10 inches
• Print length 926 pages
• See all details

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (November 1, 2012)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 926 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 073550993X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0735509931
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.85 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1.5 x 10 inches
• #194 in Bar Examination Test Preparation
• #2,387 in Administrative Law (Books)
• #4,807 in Test Prep & Study Guides

About the authors

Mary basick.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Tina Schindler

For over a decade, Professor Tina Schindler has designed academic and bar exam support programs, created innovative curricula, directed bar preparation programs and pre-admission law school programs, taught courses and workshops in bar tested subjects, and published books that enable students to pass the bar exam. Professor Schindler has also graded and lectured for several bar preparation companies and served on national committees related to bar passage. She has also presented on bar exam topics at national conferences.

Prior to her academic career, Professor Schindler drafted patent applications and worked with clients to earn patents for their innovative inventions. She has taken the patent bar exam through the USPTO and is a licensed patent agent in addition to being licensed to practice law in California.

Professor Schindler has a passion for teaching and helping students achieve success on the bar exam. She has worked with several schools to create curriculum that has enabled at risk students to succeed in law school. Her innovative curriculum has resulted in increased bar passage rates for several law schools. Through her publications she hopes to provide the tools necessary to succeed on the bar exam to bar takers nationwide.

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Passing the Essay Portion of the California Bar Exam: Insider Tips and Strategies

Understand the format of the exam: The essay portion of the California bar exam consists of five essay questions that are based on the subjects tested on the exam. These questions are designed to test your ability to analyze legal issues, apply the law to given facts, and communicate your analysis effectively .

Study the relevant law : The essay portion of the California bar exam is based on the law that is tested on the exam. Therefore, it is essential that you have a thorough understanding of the relevant law before you take the exam. Unfortunately, memorization alone will not suffice in passing the essay portion of the California bar exam. It's important that you understand how the rule applies. This includes studying past essay exams to see how a certain legal rule was used with a unique set of facts. You have to understand how one legal rule can be used in multiple ways.

Practice writing essays: One of the best ways to prepare for the essay portion of the California bar exam is to practice writing essays. This will help you develop your writing skills and become more comfortable with the format of the exam. You can find sample essay questions and model answers on the California State Bar website. Pro tip: there is a 99% chance that PR is going to be tested so it's wise to study and take a look at most, if not all, past PR exams that were administered. Scoring high enough on PR will offset other lower scoring essays.

Use IRAC/CREAC method: IRAC is an acronym for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion. CREAC is an acronym for Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Application, Conclusion. Using this method can help you organize your thoughts and present a clear and logical analysis of the legal issues in the essay question.

Time management: The essay portion of the California bar exam is timed, so it is essential that you manage your time effectively. Make sure to read through all of the essay questions before you begin writing, and plan out how much time you will spend on each portion of the essay. We recommend not spending more than one allotted hour per essay subject. You should have a pre-planned approach for each essay. Here is what you should be thinking about: how much time do I spend outlining? How much time should I spend writing? How many times should I read the fact pattern? The more practice essay exams you do, the better prepared you will be on exam day!

Proofreading : Always proofreading your essay before submitting, it could be a game changer in terms of points. Make sure to take the time to proofread your essays and correct any errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling (if you have the time)!

Get feedback : If possible, have a mentor, attorney, professor or someone who has taken the bar exam before to review your essays. Getting feedback on your writing can help you improve your skills and identify areas where you need to focus your study efforts.

These tips should help you to prepare effectively for the essay portion of the California bar exam. Remember to study the relevant law, practice writing essays, use the IRAC/CREAC method, manage your time well, proofread your work and get feedback from an expert.

Understanding the Internal Scoring System: A breakdown of how essays are graded on the California Bar Exam:

See below for a guide to the components and percentage weight assigned for each component on the California Bar Exam. You will be graded on the following components: Organization/format; issue spotting; rule statements; analysis; and conclusion.

Analysis: 40%

Issue Spotting: 25%

Rule Statements: 20%

Organization/format: 10%

Conclusion: 5%

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February 2024 California Bar Exam Essay Predictions

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Conquering the California Bar Exam: A 3-Month Study Plan for Success

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California Bar Exam Essay Guide

In this guide, we show you how to conquer the essay portion of the California Bar Exam.

We start by giving you a general overview of what is tested on the California Bar Exam, some California Bar Exam essay tips, and a frequency chart so you can see when particular subjects were tested.

Then, we dive into each of the 14 subjects that are fair game on the California Bar Exam and give you tips and tricks for each one.

Lastly, we give you the option to download a PDF of this guide if you would like to view all of the chapters at the same time or to save to consult later.

Send Me a PDF of the Guide:

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California Bar Exam Essay Guide Chapters

• Introduction to the Guide
• Chapter 1: What is Tested on California Bar Exam Essays : Here, we give you a brief overview of how the essay portion of the California Bar Exam is structured, what is tested on California Bar Exam essays, and when California distinctions are tested.
• Chapter 2: California Bar Exam Essay Tips : We reveal important essay tips to make sure you are writing essay answers that get the most points.
• Chapter 3: California Bar Exam Essay Frequency Chart : We show you exactly when each California Bar Exam subject has been tested so you can get a visual idea of the highly tested areas of law, plus the less tested areas of law.
• Chapter 4: Agency and Partnership
• Chapter 5: Civil Procedure
• Chapter 6: Community Property
• Chapter 7: Constitutional Law
• Chapter 8: Contracts
• Chapter 9: Corporations
• Chapter 10: Criminal Law
• Chapter 11: Evidence
• Chapter 12: Professional Responsibility
• Chapter 13: Real Property
• Chapter 14: Remedies
• Chapter 15: Torts
• Chapter 16: Trusts
• Chapter 17: Wills
• Chapter 18: Download PDF : We provide you with the option to download this guide in PDF form if you would like to view all of the chapters at the same time or to save to consult later.

The Goal of Our California Bar Exam Essay Guide

Students are often unsure how to approach the essay portion of the California Bar Exam. As a result, many students study ineffectively or inefficiently. The goal of our California Bar Exam Essay Guide is to help you find an effective and efficient approach to the California Bar Exam right from the beginning. This guide will help you feel confident on test day so you can conquer the essay portion of the California Bar Exam!

If you have any questions, we are happy to answer them. You can  contact us here  at your convenience. We love to hear from our readers!

Additional California Bar Exam Resources

Below are some additional California Bar Exam resources that we recommend: Please check out all our  California Bar Exam services here !

• California Bar Exam On Demand Course : Our On Demand California Bar Exam Course is tailored to work with your schedule so you can walk into the bar exam with confidence. It includes tailored outlines, access to prerecorded lectures that you can start and stop at your convenience, self-administered quizzes, 10 essays graded by a personal attorney essay grader, and released multiple-choice and essay questions. We give you everything you need to pass the California Bar Exam, on your time! Check out a preview of our course here.
• California Bar Exam private tutoring : We tutor for all aspects of the California Bar Exam! You get an outline relevant to the topic you are discussing with your purchase!
• MBE services : we have a variety of MBE services to help you pass the multiple-choice portion of the California Bar Exam.
• Essay feedback : we offer one-time or weekly essay feedback for the California Bar Exam.
• California Bar Exam One-Sheets : We summarize the highly tested topics on the California Bar Exam in one sheet, front and back, for each subject! Check out a sample here .

Go to the next topic, Chapter 1: What is Tested on California Bar Exam Essays .

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Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam Paperback – Dec 2 2019

Purchase options and add-ons.

The Second Edition of Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar Exam contains everything needed to pass the essay portion of the California bar exam. The book combines a comprehensive, yet efficiently concise review of volumes of substantive law with the authors' proven-effective strategic plan for writing passing bar essays. Rule outlines are supplemented with issues checklists to aid issue spotting and memorization attack sheets, to make memorization manageable, while practice questions productively cover favorite testing areas so bar study is targeted and effective.

New to the Second Edition Update:

• Recent and updated rule developments in all subjects
• Expanded coverage of topics emphasized on recent bar exams
• Updated issues tested matrices, rule memorization attack sheets, and topic specific approaches to reflect current testing trends
• Updated practice essay questions and answer grids in all subjects including crossover questions

Professors and students will benefit from:

• Concise easy to memorize rule statements
• Fact triggers and exam tips that aid the transition to bar exam writing style
• Easy to follow essay approaches for key topics
• Practice essay questions with corresponding answer grids identifying issues and analysis required for a passing score
• Realistic sample answers that could be written under timed conditions
• Coverage of all heavily tested topics in each subject and crossover questions
• Issues tested matrices identifying the subtopics tested in every essay given in 30+ years
• ISBN-10 154381350X
• ISBN-13 978-1543813500
• Edition 2nd ed.
• Publisher Aspen Publishing
• Publication date Dec 2 2019
• Part of series Bar Review
• Language English
• Dimensions 18.42 x 3.81 x 26.04 cm
• Print length 1024 pages
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Aspen Publishing; 2nd ed. edition (Dec 2 2019)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 1024 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 154381350X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1543813500
• Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 kg
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 18.42 x 3.81 x 26.04 cm
• #186 in Administrative Law (Books)
• #420 in Legal Education & Reference
• #2,318 in Test Prep & Study Guides

About the authors

Tina schindler.

For over a decade, Professor Tina Schindler has designed academic and bar exam support programs, created innovative curricula, directed bar preparation programs and pre-admission law school programs, taught courses and workshops in bar tested subjects, and published books that enable students to pass the bar exam. Professor Schindler has also graded and lectured for several bar preparation companies and served on national committees related to bar passage. She has also presented on bar exam topics at national conferences.

Prior to her academic career, Professor Schindler drafted patent applications and worked with clients to earn patents for their innovative inventions. She has taken the patent bar exam through the USPTO and is a licensed patent agent in addition to being licensed to practice law in California.

Professor Schindler has a passion for teaching and helping students achieve success on the bar exam. She has worked with several schools to create curriculum that has enabled at risk students to succeed in law school. Her innovative curriculum has resulted in increased bar passage rates for several law schools. Through her publications she hopes to provide the tools necessary to succeed on the bar exam to bar takers nationwide.

Mary Basick

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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NCBE Announces National Mean for July 2024 MBE

MADISON, WISCONSIN, August 29, 2024—The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) announced today that the national mean scaled score for the July 2024 Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) was 141.8, an increase of about 1.3 points compared to the July 2023 mean of 140.5 and the highest July MBE mean since 2013, excluding the summer and fall 2020 administrations. [1] The MBE, one of three sections that make up the bar exam in most US jurisdictions, consists of 200 multiple-choice questions answered over six hours. 

49,844 examinees took the July 2024 MBE, an increase of more than 8% compared to the 45,968 examinees who sat for the exam in July 2023.

Approximately 76% of July 2024 examinees were likely taking the exam for the first time, and approximately 24% were likely repeat test takers. [2] This reflects an increase in the proportion of likely first-time takers and a decrease in the proportion of likely repeaters compared to July 2023, when approximately 75% of examinees were likely taking the exam for the first time and approximately 25% were likely repeat test takers.

* Graphs note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the July 2020 MBE was administered on three separate dates: July 29, September 10, and October 1. The results shown are for in-person examinees only; approximately 29,000 additional examinees sat for a remotely administered exam using NCBE materials in October 2020. Comparability to other years’ results may be limited due to the lower examinee count.

NCBE Director of Psychometrics and Operations Rosemary Reshetar, EdD, commented:  “ Scores were up this July across most jurisdictions, and as a result we expect pass rates to go up in many jurisdictions compared to last year. The increase in both the number of July 2024 examinees and the national mean MBE score is likely explained in part by the enrollment trends that characterized the class of 2024.  Law school applications  in 2021, the year this class entered law school, increased by 13% compared to the previous year, and enrollment that fall shot up by 12%. Typically, when the number of applicants increases, law schools are able to be more selective, and this is also reflected in the 2021 admissions data— according to LSAC , the average LSAT score for this cohort was 1.27 points higher than in the prior year. LSAT scores are generally considered good predictors of bar exam scores. It is worth noting that 2021 represented a high point in the past decade, with application, enrollment, and LSAT numbers  returning to their pre-2021  averages in the following years. ”

The MBE is equated as part of the scoring process to control for any possible differences in exam difficulty compared to previous administrations. 

Reliability for the July 2024 exam was 0.95, slightly higher than the reliability for the July 2023 exam  and consistent with the reliability for recent July administrations. (Reliability is an indicator of the consistency of a set of examination scores, with a maximum value of 1.0.)

Jurisdictions will soon begin reporting their July 2024 results;  bar examination pass rates as reported by jurisdictions are available on the NCBE website. Many jurisdictions are still in the process of grading the written components of the bar exam; once this process is completed, bar exam scores will be calculated and passing decisions reported by those jurisdictions.

[1] Due to low examinee counts for the July, September, and October 2020 in-person MBE administrations, comparability of results from those administrations to other years’ results may be limited.

[2] The first-time and repeat MBE-based test taker information calculated by NCBE is an approximation based on the NCBE Number and biographic data, which has not been used consistently in all jurisdictions across time. Prior to 2022, approximately 10% of examinees could not be tracked with certainty by NCBE as either first-time or repeat takers due to a lack of sufficient biographic information.

About the National Conference of Bar Examiners

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1931. NCBE promotes fairness, integrity, and best practices in bar admissions for the benefit and protection of the public, in pursuit of its vision of a competent, ethical, and diverse legal profession. Best known for developing bar exam content used by 54 US jurisdictions, NCBE serves admission authorities, courts, the legal education community, and candidates by providing high-quality assessment products, services, and research; character investigations; and informational and educational resources and programs.  In 2026, NCBE will launch the next generation of the bar examination, ensuring that the exam continues to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for competent entry-level legal practice in a changing profession.  For more information, visit the NCBE website at  https://www.ncbex.org .

About the Multistate Bar Examination

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a six-hour, 200-question multiple-choice examination developed by NCBE and administered by user jurisdictions as part of the bar examination, typically given twice each year. The purpose of the MBE is to assess the extent to which an examinee can apply fundamental legal principles and legal reasoning to analyze given fact patterns. The subjects tested on the MBE are Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. In addition to assessing examinee knowledge and skills, the MBE is used to equate the bar exam.  Equating is a statistical procedure used for most large-scale standardized tests to ensure that exam scores retain the same meaning across administrations and over time.  More information about the MBE is available on the NCBE website at  https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mbe/.

About the Uniform Bar Examination

The UBE is a two-day bar examination composed of the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), two Multistate Performance Test (MPT) tasks, and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE). It is uniformly administered, graded, and scored and results in a portable score that can be transferred to other UBE jurisdictions. More information about the UBE is available on the NCBE website at  https://www.ncbex.org/exams/ube/ . 41 US jurisdictions currently participate in the UBE, and more than 45,000 examinees took the UBE in 2023.  

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