The advice my professor gave me for the bar (particularly with respect to the subject of criminal procedure) was to know the cases. Really know them. The bar doesn't allow you to bring in outlines and notes, so it's entirely a memorization game.
Law school mostly isn't. But then again, in large part the law itself isn't either. You'd be tempting a malpractice verdict if you ever acted without double-checking the language of a statute or case you were relying on. On the other hand, it's good to have statutes and cases queued up in your head so that you can know what might be applicable without having to research an issue from scratch. But that large knowledge base is something built by experience - something law students just don't have very much of.
For law students, law school is a way to get a lay of the land. To understand generally how the law works, and to get some insight into how specific areas operate. But the sheer volume of material we are exposed to, and the wide variety of topics that are covered, prevent us from building up large mental libraries of law. Plus the binge-purge method of progressing through semester after semester also doesn't encourage a lot of long-term recollection.
Still, things do stick to some degree. I'm continually amazed how much actually has. Now that I have some idea of how the pieces all work together, things I'd learned earlier are constantly being recalled and reinforced as I see new ways to apply them.
But looking back on my education, I wish I'd made more of a point to memorize more. I feel like I generally put more emphasis in thinking about how the law worked than remembering the specific mechanics. Now, given a choice, I think it's better to err that way. There's no point in memorizing a lot of specific rules if you don't really understand the principles of how and why they work behind them - at least not in the American legal system (in civil law systems the opposite may be true, and students are often expected to remember chapter and verse of piles of statutes). But sometimes I still wonder if I would have found my legal studies easier if I'd made memorization more of a priority.
Edited 3/17.
Comments (3)
I wouldn't worry about what you did or didn't memorize in class. Memorization in class might have been useful for finals, but won't be useful for teh bar. For the bar, case names arn't important. In fact, cases arn't important. All that is important is that you memorize the rules of law (and the names of these rules) as given in the short barbri book. Memorizing stuff out of your law school case books might have helped you on finals, but won't be preparation for the bar.
If you know all of the law in the short barbri book, you know enough law for the bar. Ignore the long barbri book; it takes you from knowing 95% of the things that might be on the test to knowing 100% of the things. But the long book is too long and hard to memorize, and there is no reason to put effort into knowing that last 5%. Frankly, you get most of the law you need just by listening to the lectures, without reading anything at all. The trick to the bar is understanding how to write an essay that looks like they want, and feeling comfortable that you don't freak out and run out of time on a question before addressing each issue you see. You can miss A LOT of details and still pass the bar.
And, by the way, you will never be better prepared for the bar than you are now (or will be in July)... Lawyers in practice never develop additional knowledge outside of their practice area, so you will know more about things outside your practice area now than you ever will in the future. Plus, most of what lawyers pick up are judgement and practical practice tips. And those are actually deficits for taking the bar. The bar doesn't want detail, and it doesn't want to know what will actually work in practice. Instead, what it wants is the spotting of issues, the presentation of basic rules, and the application of those basic rules. If you can do that, you'll be fine.
Mark
Posted by Mark | March 17, 2006 1:29 PM
Posted on March 17, 2006 13:29
I don't know about this. I memorized a lot -- at the end of every semester, come exam time. A week later, I'd forgotten everything. I highly doubt that anything will come back to me a year from now when I start studying for the bar, but who knows?
Posted by some guy | March 20, 2006 12:00 PM
Posted on March 20, 2006 12:00
Having taken two bars now, that's not very good advice. I don't think I cited one case on any bar essays and they didn't help much with the multistate either. The best way to study for the bar is take a course. It sucks, but it's a necessary evil.
Posted by Jessica | March 24, 2006 4:32 PM
Posted on March 24, 2006 16:32