9 JURISTS BAR EXAMINEES LAND IN TOP 20 OF 2017 BAR
Congratulations to the 9 Jurists Bar Examinees who landed in the Top 20 of the 2017 Bar Examination:
5th Monica Anne T. Yap 89.45% (SBC-Mla)
6th Lorenzo Luigi T. Gayya 89.10% (UST)
10th Emma Ruby J. Aguilar 88.40% (UST)
11th Lyan David M. Juanico 88.35% (SBC-Mla)
12th Lougenia P. Cariño 87.85% (SBC-Mla)
13th Arman Joseph M. Guzman 87.75% (UST)
14th Jewelle Ann Lou P. Santos 87.65% (AdMU)
15th Nadia Christine L. Mendiguarin 87.55% (Saint Louis University)
16th Eileen Carla Y. Carpio 87.40% (SBC-Mla)
Your Jurists Family is so proud of you! Kudos to you panyeros and panyeras!
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Read MoreIMPORTANT NOTICE
For Jurists Classic and Jurists Combo enrollees who would be unable to attend the lectures of 19 May 2018 (Bar Review Strategy & English for Bar Examinees) and of 20 May 2018 (Bar Exam Strategies & Tactics) because of ongoing law school classes/exams or graduation ceremonies, we have made available for viewing the videos of these lectures on the following dates and time at our review venue on Madison 101 Tower & Hotel:
| LECTURE | DATE | TIME |
| Bar Review Strategy &English for Bar Examinees | 12 June 2018 | 9 am – 12 noon; 1 pm – 5 pm |
| Bar Exam Strategies & Tactics | 13 June 2018 | 8 am – 12 noon; 1 pm – 5 pm |
Please note that these videos will not be streamed on or uploaded to the Jurists website and may be viewed only at the time and place indicated above.
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Read MoreStudent’s Freedom to Enroll in Review Center of Choice Protected by Law, Violation Thereof a Crime
Lex Adonis (not his real name), a law school graduate preparing to review for the tough bar examination, was in a quandary. His graduation credentials, necessary for his bar exam application, were being held hostage by his law school unless he came up with the ransom: the enrollment fee for the school-affiliated bar review center. Lex had another bar review center in mind but he felt as though he had no choice but to kowtow to his law school.
Thanks to a fairly recent law, R.A. No. 10609, law graduates like Lex need not be bamboozled into enrolling in a bar review center not of their choosing. R.A. No. 10609 or the “Protection of Students’ Right to Enroll in Review Centers Act of 2013,” was approved on 23 August 2013. This is a salutary law which recognizes and protects the right of students enrolled in courses requiring professional licensing examinations to freely choose their review center.
It cannot be gainsaid that R.A. 10609 applies to law students as well. The bar examination is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The Legal Education Board had previously directed a law school to desist from the practice of requiring its law graduates to enroll in its in-house bar review center and had strongly censured the erring law school. It is certain that future transgressions of the law will be more strongly dealt with by the LEB.
“This law traces its roots from the manifold complaints we received from various graduating students who were forced by their schools to enroll in review classes as prerequisite for graduation,” said former Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino, one of the law’s principal authors.
The former youth legislator recalled that during congressional hearings for the said law, it was revealed that many schools in Metro Manila engage in such practice to earn commissions from review centers. “It’s actually a long-standing profiteering scheme enforced by certain school officials and owners of review centers to guarantee profits,” Palatino said.
The law declares the following acts as unlawful and criminal: 1. Compelling students enrolled in courses requiring professional examinations to take review classes, which are not part of the curriculum, in a review center of the HEI’s (Higher Educational Institution’s) choice; 2. Making such review classes a prerequisite for graduation or completion of the course; 3. Forcing students to enroll in a review center of the school’s choice, and to pay the corresponding fees that include transportation and board and lodging; and
4. Withholding the transcript of scholastic records, diploma, certification or any essential document of the student to be used in support of the application for the professional licensure examinations so as to compel the students to attend in a review center of the HEI’s choice.
Any HEI official or employee, including deans, coordinators, advisers, professors and other concerned individuals found guilty of committing any of these unlawful acts shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of up to 6 years and a fine of ₱750,000.
Lex’s story had a happy ending. After he had advised the erring law school of R.A. 10609 and his intention to report the matter to the proper authorities, his graduation credentials were forthwith delivered to him. He reviewed in the bar review center of his choice and went on to successfully hurdle the bar exam. “Taking the bar is one of the most important challenges one will ever face,” Lex said. “It demands the best preparation a law graduate can have and it requires that his confidence should be at the highest level. You won’t get either one if you were dragooned into signing up with a bar review center you’re not comfortable with.”
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Read MoreJurists Bar Review launches “Jurists Bar Ops”
Jurists Bar Review Center™ has come up with another first for the 2018 Bar Review Season: Jurists™ Bar Ops.
Jurists Bar Review has put together for Jurists Bar Ops a dedicated and elite team picked from the roster of Jurists bar review lecturers and Jurists coaches, as well as consultants in the field of bar exam research and forecasting. The team will provide invaluable academic support services to the bar examinees during the bar exam week by furnishing them with critical bar exam intelligence in the form of last-minute tips. The team will employ data analytics, intelligence-gathering, case surveys, and pattern and trend analysis to come up with the last-minute tips.
Jurists Bar Ops will take predictive analysis to the next level. Bar exam forecasting usually consists of informing the bar reviewees of topics or areas that are likely to be asked in the bar exams. A topic or area-focused prediction has its limitations however since bar exam questions are primarily put in problem-type questions or fact-based hypotheticals. A bar reviewee may have been “tipped” as to the topic or subject of a bar exam question, yet he may still fail to give the correct and logical answer, either because he failed to spot the topic embedded in the problem-type question or he was not apprised of how to properly answer the question with the result that his answer is just a simple conclusion unsupported by proper logic and reasoning. Otherwise put, the sweeping or horoscope-like tenor of topic or area-focused tips may have limited value to an examinee working under grinding time pressure in the heat of the actual bar examination.
Jurists Bar Ops addresses this shortcoming by phrasing its last minute tips in Q&A rather than in topical or subject format. The answers will be formatted in the renowned Jurists™ template. The last-minute tips will furnish the bar examinees with actionable information in the form of precision-targeted Q&As which they can forthwith deploy while sitting for the bar exam and which will empower them to immediately spot or pinpoint a predicted bar exam question and give the answer thereto.
Jurists Bar Ops will serve, at no additional cost, all Jurists Prebar and Preweek Reviewees (Classic, Online, and Combo). In conjunction with Jurists’ mock-bars and one-on-one coaching program, Jurists Bar Ops will give the Jurists bar reviewees a significant and unique competitive advantage for succeeding in the toughest professional licensure exam in the country.
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Read MoreAdvice for the Bar Examinee (2017 ed.)
by: PROF. MANUEL R. RIGUERA
“The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” — Bobby Knight, Hall of Fame Basketball Coach.
I have put together some advice and tips for those about to sit for the bar examination. These are based on my two decades’ experience as a law professor, bar review lecturer, and bar exam coach. I hope that they will prove of some help to the examinee who aspires to hurdle one of the toughest bar examinations in the planet.
BEFORE THE BAR EXAM
READ MATERIALS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR AND PASS THE BAR EXAM. The bar exam is not a matter to take lightly. Hence reading materials on how to prepare for and to pass the bar will greatly increase your chances of seeing your name inscribed in the bar exam hall of fame. You can bring these materials as light reading to your three-day vacation after law school graduation. When I prepared for the 1991 bar, I read a well-worn pamphlet by Prof. Jose Nolledo, Pointers for a Bar Candidate (1960). I also read a booklet by Commissioner Regalado Maambong on the bar examination. The two booklets served me well by giving practical advice on how to prepare for the bar and how to avoid costly mistakes during the preparation and the actual taking of the bar.
From the current crop of bar prep books, I strongly recommend Bar Blues (Central Books)written by Tanya Karina Lat, Maria Gracia Gamez, and Marilyn Manait. Bar Blues is comprehensive yet very readable. Slaying the Bar Exam Dragon by Dean Rufus Rodriguez is another book which I would advise you to read.
Other useful books in this genre are Performance Boosters to Conquer Any Law Exam (Not Just the Bar Exam) by Siegfred Mison; Effective Bar Review Methods by Abelardo Domondon; and the inspiring The Law School Boot Camp (Create Yourself, Achieve Your Dreams) by Ma. Christina G. Castillo (Central Books, 2015).
PREPARE AND ORGANIZE YOUR REVIEW MATERIALS. Prepare your list of reviewers after your graduation and buy those that you do not have. Get the opinion of professors and last year’s bar examinees as they are the best judges of law reviewers and can give you the pros and cons of a particular reviewer.
As for the copious annotations or commentaries that you used as textbooks during your first three years in law school, consult them only if you need examples or illustrations of particular legal provisions. This is an area where annotations or commentaries have an advantage over most reviewers which tend to put too much emphasis on rules without giving the underlying fact pattern for such rule.
In this regard, I strongly advise the use of reviewers which are in Q&A form or which give examples or illustrations of the rules. This reviewers will serve the dual purpose of being a review material as well as a training material for answering the bar which is substantially made up of problem-type or fact-based questions.
I also recommend that you study the Q&As of the preceding ten bar examinations. This will give you a feel of the trend or style of the previous bar exams and of recurring fact-patterns and themes. Who knows some of the concepts examined in these exams may be asked again? In fact Abelarto T. Domondon claims that 5% to 20% of the concepts examined in the immediately preceding bar are repeated the next year. (EFFECTIVE BAR REVIEW METHODS 49). The percentage will certainly increase if you study the preceding 10 bar exams. Aside from its predictive value, this study will sharpen your fact-pattern recognition and analytical skills and increase your confidence.
PREPARE A BAR REVIEW SCHEDULE. A bar-review schedule is your road-map to navigating the six months of bar review. If you are enrolled in a bar review center, synchronize your schedule with that of the bar review center. Otherwise you will not be reviewing effectively. It’s not advisable to listen to the lecturer discuss negotiable instruments and then go home and read up on labor relations. In this regard, choose a bar review center wherein there is a topical unity and continuity in the schedule, that is, where one particular bar exam subject is discussed at a time before proceeding to another bar exam subject. Avoid bar review centers with a hodgepodge schedule where for example, negotiable instruments is discussed on one day, then labor relations on the next, and then civil procedure on the day after.
My advice is that you study one bar exam subject before going to another. Some advise reviewing one subject in the first half of the day (say remedial law) and then another (say commercial law) in the second half of the day. The avowed purpose is to avoid ennui. I think this sacrifices focus and effectiveness just to add variety. One must simply have the self-discipline and drive to study one bar subject at a time.
If you are not attending or viewing bar review lectures, you have to prepare your own detailed schedule. A rule of thumb in dividing your study time is to multiply the number of days available for review with the weight given to a particular bar examination subject. Let us say that you have 156 days allocated for your review (May to October, excluding Sundays). Political law has a weight of 15%. 156 days multiplied by 15% will give you 23 days. So you allocate 23 days more or less for political law.
In your review schedule, the last bar subjects that you should study should be labor law and then political law (the so-called “mirror schedule). This will enhance the effectiveness of your review since political law and labor law are the bar exam subjects you will tackle on the first Sunday.
You should also prepare a daily study schedule. The latter is a detailed daily planner of your wake-up time, meals, breaks, and your “lights out” which you should follow strictly in order to get into the groove of rigorous studying.
I recommend that your wake-up time should be at 4:30 a.m. and “lights out” should be at 9 p.m. This is to make your body clock adjust to this schedule so that by November, you would be used to sleeping and waking up early.
After you have drawn up your schedule, stick to it at all costs! If you see that you are running behind schedule, pick up your pace. This is the reason why you should select and prune your reading materials. Many reviewees make the mistake of being overly ambitious in their study load with the result that they fall behind schedule. Study smart! The point is that you are not studying to be a legal authority but to pass the bar. The bar reviewers (with rare exceptions) will not quiz you on arcane areas of the law. Leave the scholarly stuff for later after you have passed the bar and have decided to write a law journal article.
ENROLL IN A BAR REVIEW CENTER. There are advantages and disadvantages to enrolling in a bar review center. Among the perceived disadvantages are the increased costs, which include the enrollment fee, the transportation and food costs, and accommodation costs for those who reside in the provinces. Also quite some time is spent in preparing and dressing up and in going to and from the bar review center.
Despite these considerations, I strongly recommend that a bar examinee enroll in a bar review center. A law graduate does not have the degree of knowledge of the bar subject and the intuitive feel for what are the important topics and probable bar exam questions which an experienced bar review lecturer has. Also a bar review center provides case and statutory updates, which because of time limitations, is often not provided by law schools.
Take note that law and jurisprudence is in a constant state of flux and what you thought may have been good law last year or even last month may no longer be so. Recent developments affect the law as a whole and not just specific or isolated provisions. Hence these should not be taught or learned in a truncated or isolated manner but should be imparted to the reviewee in a holistic manner, that is, seamlessly woven into a bar review subject as an integral element thereof. Only a seasoned bar lecturer, with his experience and intuitive feel of the law, is capable of performing this challenging feat. A bar reviewee who relies on past review material and simply tries to incorporate “updates” into his study is playing with fire.
A recent innovation is online bar review. The bar reviewee need not go to a “brick-and-mortar” bar review center but can review in the comfort of his own home or wherever there is internet access. This has the advantages of cost and time efficiency.
In this regard, Jurists Bar Review is offering JURISTS COMBO, which combines the structured regimen and face-to-face coaching of the traditional review with the convenience and flexibility of an online review.
CHOOSE YOUR BAR REVIEW CENTER WISELY. There are three important things which you should take into account in choosing a bar review center: The line-up of lecturers, the schedule, and the existence of a coaching or mentoring program.
The line-up of lecturers is important. Get the line-up and study this carefully. In appraising the line-up, get the opinion of successful bar examinees and your law professors. Word usually gets around among the bar reviewees and the law academe about the outstanding and the mediocre or irresponsible lecturers. Pay special attention to the lecturers in the subjects in which you feel you are weak.
The schedule is also of capital importance. Some bar review centers draw up their schedule based on the availability of the lecturers rather than on topical continuity. As previously stated, avoid bar review centers with hodgepodge schedules. This will greatly undercut the effectiveness of your study.
If you have taken the bar more than three times, ensure that the bar review center is run by a recognized law school or that it has an accreditation agreement with one. The Supreme Court will not allow you to sit for the bar examination unless you get a certification from such a bar review center.
TAKE MOCK BAR EXAMS AND AVAIL OF THE SERVICES OF A BAR-EXAM COACH. Another thing to look out for is if the bar review center has a coaching program. The program should not be limited to the mere administration of mock bar exams, but should provide for one-on-one coaching wherein a coach reads and evaluates the examinee’s answers and then sits down and discusses the same with the examinee, seeking to identify the examinee’s strong and weak points, to remedy the latter, to coach the examinee on how to read and answer the bar exam questions, and in general to improve and maximize the examinee’s test-taking abilities.
See to it that the mock bars replicate the bar examination (that’s why they’re called mock bars) and that there is a series of mock bars and coaching sessions (not just one or two) so that there will be adequate feedback and performance monitoring.
Professor Mario Mainero, one of the foremost bar prep experts in the U.S., advises thus: “taking a practice exam under exam conditions is the best way to prepare for an exam. If you do not take them as actual run-throughs, your mind and body will not become used to taking law school [bar] exams, and you are more likely to freeze up or perform at a less-than-peak performance level.” (Dennis Tonsing, 1000 Days to the Bar).
Analyzing and answering bar exam questions is not a matter of gut feel or intuition. The examinee who thinks that it is enough to just read and attend lectures when preparing for the bar is taking a huge risk. A bar-exam coach or mentor would be most invaluable in helping the examinee acquire the necessary competencies for succeeding in the bar exam.
The high mortality rate in the bar examination is traceable to the sole or over-reliance on passive study and the absence or lack of training and practice on bar exam strategies and tactics. This matter has been raised as early as 1959 by Dean Wenceslao G. Laureta in the preface to his classic Secrets on How to Pass the Bar Examination (Rex Book Store, 1959 ed.)
Thus, it may be proper to remind the bar candidates some of the myths involved in the domain of bar examinations. Almost invariably the bar candidates have the mistaken belief that by – – (1) Attending the best law schools; (2) Listening to lectures of renowned bar reviewers during review classes; and (3) Memorizing the law or the rules of procedure, including doctrinal rulings will guarantee his passing the bar examinations.
Wrong.
There is no question that the above circumstances will help to enable the bar candidate pass the bar examinations. But the blooming secret in this regard is simply this: Present good answers that will make the examiner take notice. Good answers anchored upon logical reasoning, written in readable English and more importantly, justified by appropriate legal authority.
…
It would do well for the bar candidate to study carefully the manner in which answers are framed and the corresponding comments given. He will not fail to see why a given answer is poorly presented and the value of the corresponding remedy to improve it in a manner acceptable to the examiner. He must not make the tragic mistake of assuming that he knows all these things. He must supplement his reading by actual practice in answer framing. After all, one may know all the techniques on swimming which he can master from books on the subject, but until he jumps into the water, he will never learn to swim. [Emphases supplied]
Bar exam strategies and tactics is a nuanced field which cannot be acquired from merely reading books and listening to omnibus lectures. The services of a competent bar exam coach or mentor would be most helpful. A mock bar and coaching program is also in line with the recent pedagogical trend of shifting stress to “outcome-based education” from the conventional “input-based learning.”
The Supreme Court itself recognized the salient role played by mock bars and bar exam coaching. The Guidelines for the 2014 Bar recommend thus:
Practice Exams
A good practice for law schools/review classes to observe is to hold practice examination sessions with the Bar candidates, both on the Essay and the MCQ formats. In evaluating these practice exams, attention should be given to both the law and the Bar candidate’s presentation and use of English. In many instances, incorrect English is more serious as a problem than the lack of precise knowledge of law, and has been the cause of high failure rates. [Emphases supplied]
In line with the Supreme Court’s observation, Jurists has brought back the lecture “English for Bar Examinees” in order to train the bar examinees write in correct, readable, and concise English. This would be especially helpful for those who need improvement in their legal writing and English proficiency as the course would provide them with helpful tips in order to surmount their challenges.
FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS IN YOUR BAR REVIEW. The key is not really studying more but studying smart. It is simply impossible to read during the five months of review the entire code provisions of a law much less the texts or annotations thereon. Besides some code provisions and comments are unimportant for purposes of the bar and are seldom if ever asked in the bar.
During your review, you need to concentrate only on the primary review materials: a bar reviewer, the code provisions, and the bar review materials provided by the bar review center. In reading the code provisions, do not read the entire code but only those which are important. You know a code provision is important if it was discussed by your professor or bar review lecturer or mentioned in your bar reviewer.
A useful supplement to your reviewer is the Lex Pareto Notes written by Zigfred Diaz, Maria Patricia Katrina de Guia, Alrey Ouano, Louella Matsumoto, Ma. Salud Barillo, Danell Fernandez, Nolito Dayanan, and Helenytte Yu. This is a breakthrough work wherein the authors, applying the Pareto Principle to the field of bar exam review and forecasting, have found that approximately 80% of the bar exam questions are derived from 20% of the law. The authors have pinpointed this 20% of the law on which the reviewee should spend 80% of his study time thus optimizing the effectiveness of his review.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS. Remember to exercise daily or at least three times a week. Exercising improves blood circulation to the brain and makes one think more clearly. It also builds up one’s resistance to sickness and infection and improves one’s stamina. Remember that the bar exam is a grueling four-hour exam in the morning and another one in the afternoon. So I’m not greatly exaggerating when I say that it’s like training for a 20-kilometer run. I’m not saying though that you should train like a triathlete – – brisk walking or a short jog will do.
Get enough sleep. At least six, preferably seven hours of daily sleep is advised. Lack of sleep will result in drowsiness and sluggishness when studying, aside from making you susceptible to sickness or fatigue.
Proper diet is often overlooked but it is of the utmost importance. Observe a balanced and healthy diet, not forgetting fruits and vegetables. Please take it easy on fast food especially instant noodles! (Well, from time to time fast food is alright but don’t make it your staple food). A diet which would send a cardiologist into fits is not likewise appropriate for a bar reviewee. For coffee drinkers, black coffee is the best. Take it easy with the popular “3-in-1” coffee preparations which tend to contain a lot of sugar and fat. Drink plenty of water when studying.
In fine take care of your health. Good health is the foundation of an outstanding bar review.
IMPROVE YOUR HANDWRITING. Handwriting is of capital importance in the essay exams. Your answers may all be logical and correct but if your handwriting is illegible all your hard work will go down the drain. If your handwriting is difficult to read, the examiner will most probably not take the time to decipher your booklet, taking into consideration that he has about five thousand other booklets to read.
You may think that your handwriting is legible when it’s actually not. Take a mock bar examination and show your booklet to another person and have him read it. You may be surprised to find that your handwriting is actually difficult to read. If that is the case, work on improving your handwriting.
DURING NOVEMBER AND THE BAR EXAM
ATTEND OR LISTEN TO PRE-WEEK LECTURES. Pre-week lectures are important. This is where experienced pre-week lecturers condense or synthesize the law and concentrate on the topics or areas which are most likely to be asked in the bar examination. As I earlier said, a law graduate does not have the degree of knowledge of the bar subject and the intuitive feel for what are the important topics and probable bar exam questions which an experienced bar review lecturer has. A bar reviewee who forgoes entirely the pre-week lectures would be missing out on a vital area of bar exam preparation.
In line with its tradition of bar review leadership and innovation, Jurists Bar Review came up with another first in 2016: JURISTS PREWEEK ONLINE.
This is a useful option for bar reviewees during the hectic pre-week review period. Instead of travelling to and from the pre-week review venue, reviewees can save valuable time by viewing the full 2017 Jurists pre-week lectures “off-site” via on-demand videos through their desktop computer, laptop, PDA, tablet, hand phone, or any other electronic device with internet access.
This 2017, another new program, JURISTS PREWEEK COMBO, will be made available to reviewees. Jurists Preweek Combo combines the features of Jurists Preweek Classic with Jurists Preweek Online. This would be attractive for reviewees who may want to attend some pre-week lectures on-site and to view others online, or those who would want to have a back-up measure in case they would be unable to attend some pre-week lectures on-site.
AVOID UNNECESSARY STRESS AND DISTRACTIONS. Some stress and nerves is unavoidable during the review and exam week and in fact helps to drive you harder in your studies. However undue and excessive stress and nerves is an enemy of the bar examinee as it results in lack of sleep and hinders proper thinking both while studying and taking the exam itself. If you feel that you are unduly stressed or worried, learn relaxation techniques like yoga and deep breathing. Prayer and meditation are powerful relaxation techniques.
Ignore useless distractions. Usually rumors of who the examiner is become widespread during this time and examinees worry themselves silly with the type of questions the rumored examiner usually asks and with obtaining notes and materials written by or about the rumored examiner. This is just a useless exercise which would distract you from doing what should be done: studying. All examiners are in the main bound by an unwritten law that their questions should be on the basics of the law and on significant jurisprudence. So just ignore rumors or information on the examiner’s identity and stick your nose to your review materials.
The bar exam month features the annual frenetic paper chase by bar examinees. Examinees go on a quest for the Holy Grail of the bar exams: the red or blue notes from San Beda or Ateneo or the UP notes. These notes are supposed to embody the answers or even “leaks” of bar exam questions. This is balderdash. I graduated from Ateneo and worked in the bar-ops. I know that the so-called blue notes are simply compilations of probable bar questions with answers prepared by law students with a little assistance from the faculty. While they are definitely helpful, you don’t have to wail and grind your teeth if you do not get them. What is contained in the blue notes is more often than not also in your bar reviewers and review materials.
One examinee I knew spent a lot more time looking for notes, tips, and leaks and compiling dossiers on the rumored examiners rather than actually studying. He failed the bar five times and is now exploring career opportunities with the CIA.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. This advice cannot be overemphasized. Adequate sleep makes the mind sharper and allows us to recall what we have studied with facility. So do not make the mistake of studying until the witching hour. The extra hours of study is not worth it if you find yourself sleepy and thinking sluggishly during the bar exam.
You should hit the sack by 9 p.m. Do not panic if you find that you are unable to sleep. Just relax and continue lying down in bed, at least your body will be rested. But do not make the mistake of standing up and studying. In that case you will lack both sleep and rest, and the chances of a disaster are multiplied threefold. Ron de Vera slept for only an hour the night before the first Sunday exam and for only 30 minutes the night before the second Sunday exam of 2004. He placed second. (Lat et al., Bar Blues, p. 85). Of course I’m not saying that you get only an hour’s sleep if you want to place in the top ten, what I’m saying is that there is no need for you to call 911 if you find yourself unable to fall into the arms of Morpheus.
I advise against taking sleeping pills. They often have the side effect of muddling up your thinking. There was an examinee who, finding himself unable to sleep the night before the Civil Law exam, popped a sleeping pill. He was able to sleep all right, but the next day he found himself unable to distinguish between loco parentis and crazy momma.
REMEMBER TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. Before you start reading and answering the questions, take the time to first read and understand the instructions. Quite a lot of examinees in their eagerness go straight to reading and answering the questions without bothering to read the instructions. This could be disastrous.
NEVER LEAVE ANY QUESTION UNANSWERED. Even if you are clueless as to the answer to a question, give it your best try. Never leave any question unanswered. The examiner may feel slighted if you do not answer a question. He may think that you felt that the question was not properly crafted that is why did not answer it. Moreover a blank response will get you zero while giving it your best shot could net you 2 or 3 points which could spell the difference between flunking and passing.
MANAGE YOUR TIME WISELY. Many examinees spend too much time on the first part of the exam only to find themselves rushing through the second part or worse running out of time and leaving some questions unanswered. Learn to pace yourself properly. Taking mock bar exams will help you learn how to pace yourself in an 18-to-20 question examination. Aim to answer at least ½ of the total items plus 1 by the halfway mark. Thus if the exam is from 8 am to 12 noon with 20 items, aim to answer at least 11 items by 10 a.m.
DO NOT BE FLUSTERED BY “SHOCK AND AWE” QUESTIONS. Those who took the 1991 Bar Examination (like me) will never forget the infamous first question in Political Law: “What is the Writ of Amparo? Discuss its constitutional basis.” Considering that the only Amparo we knew of was Amparo Muñoz (the 1974 Miss Universe who won her title in Manila, if you’re a Millennial), the question had the effect of a sneak punch to the solar plexus. I can still picture in my mind the bar exam room at MLQU, with everyone’s jaw plunging to the floor in utter shock.
Of course, now every law student knows what a writ of amparo is, but back then in 1991 B.G. (before Google), only a law student or law professor who had travelled to Latin America could have known of this most extraordinary writ.
Other “shock and awe” questions include one which asked who the current president of the International Court of Justice was, one which asked for the meaning of the acronym ACID (from a speech of Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban), and another which asked the examinee to define the Denicola test in intellectual property law.
“Shock and awe” questions were trending in the 2015 Bar. In Political Law, bar examinees were asked to discuss the “evolution” of jus sanguinis under the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitutions. In Labor Law, the word of the day was “equity of the incumbent,” an anachronism whose term of office had long ago expired. In Civil Law, they were asked to define “depecage.” In Commercial Law, the shock-and-awe word to define was “Jason Clause.” In Remedial Law, the examinees were confronted with the common-law terms, “larceny” and “voir dire.” It did not help any that “larceny” was used in a fact-setting which did not involve any unlawful taking of property but rather violence and sexual abuse, while “voir dire” is a term that a Filipino lawyer would be unfamiliar with unless he is an aficionado of American jury trials.
The examiners’ penchant for throwing screwball questions put the bar examinees in a serious funk. Many spent quite a bit of time accumulating a glossary of legal gobbledygook in the various bar exam subjects instead of studying the fundamentals and important jurisprudence. I even heard a story (probably apocryphal) that a law school engaged a lexicographer to beef up its bar ops.
This brought back memories of the 1991 bar examination. After the examinees were torched by the Amparo question in political law, the succeeding preweek reviews were turned into a Gobbledygook chase. The fad back then was the M&A (mergers & acquisitions) craze in Wall Street (remember Michael Milkin and Ivan Boesky with his infamous “Greed is Good” mantra). In the mercantile law preweek, we parroted terms like “hostile take-over,” “leveraged buy-out,” “white knight,” “junk bonds,” and a plethora of other investment-bank junk rather, jargon. I think this was partly to blame for the dismal pass rate of 17.81%. An examinee who flunked the bar “leveraged” his experience to apply for and land a job in the M&A department of a leading investment bank.
My advice is that a bar candidate should not spend precious time burning the midnight oil with Black’s Law Dictionary. A cost-benefit analysis would lead one to conclude that time spent on looking for and even studying obscure legal nomenclature would only result in dividends that are well, de minimis. Better to just study the basic legal principles and significant jurisprudence and encounter legal terms in the course of such study.
Moreover, screwball questions are not really expected to be answered correctly by the majority of the examinees (and even law professors) but are meant more to test the resolve and fortitude of one who aspires to be a lawyer. Do not panic or lose hope if you do not know the answer to the question. Just give it your best try and proceed to the other questions.
AFTER THE EXAM
DO NOT DISCUSS THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. After you have taken a bar exam in a particular subject, forget about it and concentrate on preparing and studying for the next bar exam subject. After all you cannot undo what you have already written. Avoid discussing the probable answers and avoid people who delight in discussing them. The time spent on arguing and discussing the probable answers is better spent relaxing and preparing for the next exam.
CONCLUSION
To paraphrase Bobby Knight, the key is not the will to pass. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to pass that is important.
The bar exam is a formidable challenge but like any other hurdle it can be surmounted by assiduous planning and preparation. The following quote from Steve Nash, a player of less than imposing physical attributes but who went on to become one of the NBA all-time greats, is inspiring:
You have to rely on your preparation. You got to really be passionate and try to prepare more than anyone else, and put yourself in a position to succeed, and when the moment comes you got to enjoy, relax, breathe and rely on your preparation so that you can perform and not be anxious or filled with doubt.
When your moment comes, enjoy it!
March 2017
-oOo-
Read MoreAdvice for the Bar Examinee (2016 ed.)
by: PROF. MANUEL R. RIGUERA
“The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” — Bobby Knight, Hall of Fame Basketball Coach.
I have put together some advice and tips for those about to sit for the bar examination. These are based on my two decades’ experience as a law professor, bar review lecturer, and bar exam coach. I hope that they will prove of some help to the examinee who aspires to hurdle one of the toughest bar examinations in the planet.
BEFORE THE BAR EXAM
READ MATERIALS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR AND PASS THE BAR EXAM. The bar exam is not a matter to take lightly. Hence reading materials on how to prepare for and to pass the bar will greatly increase your chances of seeing your name inscribed in the bar exam hall of fame. You can bring these materials as light reading to your three-day vacation after law school graduation. When I prepared for the 1991 bar, I read a well-worn pamphlet by Prof. Jose Nolledo, Pointers for a Bar Candidate (1960). I also read a booklet by Commissioner Regalado Maambong on the bar examination. The two booklets served me well by giving practical advice on how to prepare for the bar and how to avoid costly mistakes during the preparation and the actual taking of the bar.
From the current crop of bar prep books, I strongly recommend Bar Blues (Central Books, 2013)written by Tanya Karina Lat, Maria Gracia Gamez, and Marilyn Manait. Bar Blues is comprehensive yet very readable. Slaying the Bar Exam Dragon by Dean Rufus Rodriguez is another book which I would advise you to read.
PREPARE AND ORGANIZE YOUR REVIEW MATERIALS. Prepare your list of reviewers after your graduation and buy those that you do not have. Get the opinion of professors and last year’s bar examinees as they are the best judges of law reviewers and can give you the pros and cons of a particular reviewer.
As for the copious annotations or commentaries that you used as textbooks during your first three years in law school, consult them only if you need examples or illustrations of particular legal provisions. This is an area where annotations or commentaries have an advantage over most reviewers which tend to put too much emphasis on rules without giving the underlying fact pattern for such rule.
In this regard, I strongly advise the use of reviewers which are in Q&A form or which give examples or illustrations of the rules. This reviewers will serve the dual purpose of being a review material as well as a training material for answering the bar which is substantially made up of problem-type or fact-based questions.
PREPARE A BAR REVIEW SCHEDULE. A bar-review schedule is your road-map to navigating the six months of bar review. If you are enrolled in a bar review center, synchronize your schedule with that of the bar review center. Otherwise you will not be reviewing effectively. It’s not advisable to listen to the lecturer discuss negotiable instruments and then go home and read up on labor relations. In this regard, choose a bar review center wherein there is a topical unity and continuity in the schedule, that is, where one particular bar exam subject is discussed at a time before proceeding to another bar exam subject. Avoid bar review centers with a hodgepodge schedule where for example, negotiable instruments is discussed on one day, then labor relations on the next, and then civil procedure on the day after.
My advice is that you study one bar exam subject before going to another. Some advise reviewing one subject in the first half of the day (say remedial law) and then another (say commercial law) in the second half of the day. The avowed purpose is to avoid ennui. I think this sacrifices focus and effectiveness just to add variety. One must simply have the self-discipline and drive to study one bar subject at a time.
If you are not attending or viewing bar review lectures, you have to prepare your own detailed schedule. A rule of thumb in dividing your study time is to multiply the number of days available for review with the weight given to a particular bar examination subject. Let us say that you have 156 days allocated for your review (May to October, excluding Sundays). Political law has a weight of 15%. 156 days multiplied by 15% will give you 23 days. So you allocate 23 days more or less for political law.
In your review schedule, the last bar subjects that you should study should be labor law and then political law (the so-called “mirror schedule). This will enhance the effectiveness of your review since political law and labor law are the bar exam subjects you will tackle on the first Sunday.
You should also prepare a daily study schedule. The latter is a detailed daily planner of your wake-up time, meals, breaks, and your “lights out” which you should follow strictly in order to get into the groove of rigorous studying.
I recommend that your wake-up time should be at 4:30 a.m. and “lights out” should be at 9 p.m. This is to make your body clock adjust to this schedule so that by November, you would be used to sleeping and waking up early.
After you have drawn up your schedule, stick to it at all costs! If you see that you are running behind schedule, pick up your pace. This is the reason why you should select and prune your reading materials. Many reviewees make the mistake of being overly ambitious in their study load with the result that they fall behind schedule. Study smart! The point is that you are not studying to be a legal authority but to pass the bar. The bar reviewers (with rare exceptions) will not quiz you on arcane areas of the law. Leave the scholarly stuff for later after you have passed the bar and have decided to write a law journal article.
ENROLL IN A BARREVIEWCENTER. There are advantages and disadvantages to enrolling in a bar review center. Among the perceived disadvantages are the increased costs, which include the enrollment fee, the transportation and food costs, and accommodation costs for those who reside in the provinces. Also quite some time is spent in preparing and dressing up and in going to and from the bar review center.
Despite these considerations, I strongly recommend that a bar examinee enroll in a bar review center. A law graduate does not have the degree of knowledge of the bar subject and the intuitive feel for what are the important topics and probable bar exam questions which an experienced bar review lecturer has. Also a bar review center provides case and statutory updates, which because of time limitations, is often not provided by law schools.
Take note that law and jurisprudence is in a constant state of flux and what you thought may have been good law last year or even last month may no longer be so. Recent developments affect the law as a whole and not just specific or isolated provisions. Hence these should not be taught or learned in a truncated or isolated manner but should be imparted to the reviewee in a holistic manner, that is, seamlessly woven into a bar review subject as an integral element thereof. Only a seasoned bar lecturer, with his experience and intuitive feel of the law, is capable of performing this challenging feat. A bar reviewee who relies on past review material and simply tries to incorporate “updates” into his study is playing with fire.
A recent innovation is online bar review. The bar reviewee need not go to a “brick-and-mortar” bar review center but can review in the comfort of his own home or wherever there is internet access. This has the advantages of cost and time efficiency.
In this regard, Jurists Bar Review is offering JURISTS COMBO, which combines the structured regimen and face-to-face coaching of the traditional review with the convenience and flexibility of an online review.
CHOOSE YOUR BAR REVIEW CENTER WISELY. There are three important things which you should take into account in choosing a bar review center: The line-up of lecturers, the schedule, and the existence of a coaching or mentoring program.
The line-up of lecturers is important. Get the line-up and study this carefully. In appraising the line-up, get the opinion of successful bar examinees and your law professors. Word usually gets around among the bar reviewees and the law academe about the outstanding and the mediocre or irresponsible lecturers. Pay special attention to the lecturers in the subjects in which you feel you are weak.
The schedule is also of capital importance. Some bar review centers draw up their schedule based on the availability of the lecturers rather than on topical continuity. As previously stated, avoid bar review centers with hodgepodge schedules. This will greatly undercut the effectiveness of your study.
If you have taken the bar more than three times, ensure that the bar review center is run by a recognized law school or that it has an accreditation agreement with one. The Supreme Court will not allow you to sit for the bar examination unless you get a certification from such a bar review center.
TAKE MOCK BAR EXAMS AND AVAIL OF THE SERVICES OF A BAR-EXAM COACH. Another thing to look out for is if the bar review center has a coaching program. The program should not be limited to the mere administration of mock bar exams, but should provide for one-on-one coaching wherein a coach reads and evaluates the examinee’s answers and then sits down and discusses the same with the examinee, seeking to identify the examinee’s strong and weak points, to remedy the latter, to coach the examinee on how to read and answer the bar exam questions, and in general to improve and maximize the examinee’s test-taking abilities.
See to it that the mock bars replicate the bar examination (that’s why they’re called mock bars) and that there is a series of mock bars and coaching sessions (not just one or two) so that there will be adequate feedback and performance monitoring.
Professor Mario Mainero, one of the foremost bar prep experts in the U.S., advises thus: “taking a practice exam under exam conditions is the best way to prepare for an exam. If you do not take them as actual run-throughs, your mind and body will not become used to taking law school [bar] exams, and you are more likely to freeze up or perform at a less-than-peak performance level.” (Dennis Tonsing, 1000 Days to the Bar).
Analyzing and answering bar exam questions is not a matter of gut feel or intuition. The examinee who thinks that it is enough to just read and attend lectures when preparing for the bar is taking a huge risk. A bar-exam coach or mentor would be most invaluable in helping the examinee acquire the necessary competencies for succeeding in the bar exam.
The high mortality rate in the bar examination is traceable to the sole or over-reliance on passive study and the absence or lack of training and practice on bar exam strategies and tactics. This matter has been raised as early as 1959 by Dean Wenceslao G. Laureta in the preface to his classic Secrets on How to Pass the Bar Examination (Rex Book Store, 1959 ed.)
Thus, it may be proper to remind the bar candidates some of the myths involved in the domain of bar examinations. Almost invariably the bar candidates have the mistaken belief that by – – (1) Attending the best law schools; (2) Listening to lectures of renowned bar reviewers during review classes; and (3) Memorizing the law or the rules of procedure, including doctrinal rulings will guarantee his passing the bar examinations.
Wrong.
There is no question that the above circumstances will help to enable the bar candidate pass the bar examinations. But the blooming secret in this regard is simply this: Present good answers that will make the examiner take notice. Good answers anchored upon logical reasoning, written in readable English and more importantly, justified by appropriate legal authority.
…
It would do well for the bar candidate to study carefully the manner in which answers are framed and the corresponding comments given. He will not fail to see why a given answer is poorly presented and the value of the corresponding remedy to improve it in a manner acceptable to the examiner. He must not make the tragic mistake of assuming that he knows all these things. He must supplement his reading by actual practice in answer framing. After all, one may know all the techniques on swimming which he can master from books on the subject, but until he jumps into the water, he will never learn to swim. [Emphases supplied]
Bar exam strategies and tactics is a nuanced field which cannot be acquired from merely reading books and listening to omnibus lectures. The services of a competent bar exam coach or mentor would be most helpful. A mock bar and coaching program is also in line with the recent pedagogical trend of shifting stress to “outcome-based education” from the conventional “input-based learning.”
The Supreme Court itself recognized the salient role played by mock bars and bar exam coaching. The Guidelines for the 2014 Bar recommend thus:
Practice Exams
A good practice for law schools/review classes to observe is to hold practice examination sessions with the Bar candidates, both on the Essay and the MCQ formats. In evaluating these practice exams, attention should be given to both the law and the Bar candidate’s presentation and use of English. In many instances, incorrect English is more serious as a problem than the lack of precise knowledge of law, and has been the cause of high failure rates. [Emphases supplied]
In line with the Supreme Court’s observation, Jurists has brought back the lecture “English for Bar Examinees” in order to train the bar examinees write in correct, readable, and concise English. This would be especially helpful for those who need improvement in their legal writing and English proficiency as the course would provide them with helpful tips in order to surmount their challenges.
FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS IN YOUR BAR REVIEW. The key is not really studying more but studying smart. It is simply impossible to read during the five months of review the entire code provisions of a law much less the texts or annotations thereon. Besides some code provisions and comments are unimportant for purposes of the bar and are seldom if ever asked in the bar.
During your review, you need to concentrate only on the primary review materials: a bar reviewer, the code provisions, and the bar review materials provided by the bar review center. In reading the code provisions, do not read the entire code but only those which are important. You know a code provision is important if it was discussed by your professor or bar review lecturer or mentioned in your bar reviewer.
A useful supplement to your reviewer is the Lex Pareto Notes written by Zigfred Diaz, Maria Patricia Katrina de Guia, Alrey Ouano, Louella Matsumoto, Ma. Salud Barillo, Danell Fernandez, Nolito Dayanan, and Helenytte Yu. This is a breakthrough work wherein the authors, applying the Pareto Principle to the field of bar exam review and forecasting, have found that approximately 80% of the bar exam questions are derived from 20% of the law. The authors have pinpointed this 20% of the law on which the reviewee should spend 80% of his study time thus optimizing the effectiveness of his review.
Many reviewees ask me if they should also read the survey of bar exam questions and answers published by the U.P. Law Center. My answer would be yes, but not as a primary review material but as a supplemental training material. You may from time to time pick some questions from the Q&A and then answer them without looking at the suggested answers. Needless to state the services of a certified bar exam coach to evaluate your answers and give written feedback is strongly advised as “self-coaching” has its drawbacks.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS. Remember to exercise daily or at least three times a week. Exercising improves blood circulation to the brain and makes one think more clearly. It also builds up one’s resistance to sickness and infection and improves one’s stamina. Remember that the bar exam is a grueling four-hour exam in the morning and another one in the afternoon. So I’m not greatly exaggerating when I say that it’s like training for a 20-kilometer run. I’m not saying though that you should train like a triathlete – – brisk walking or a short jog will do.
Get enough sleep. At least six to seven hours of daily sleep is advised. Lack of sleep will result in drowsiness and sluggishness when studying, aside from making you susceptible to sickness or fatigue.
Proper diet is often overlooked but it is of the utmost importance. Observe a balanced and healthy diet, not forgetting fruits and vegetables. Please take it easy on fast food especially instant noodles! (Well, from time to time fast food is alright but don’t make it your staple food). A diet which would send a cardiologist into fits is not likewise appropriate for a bar reviewee. For coffee drinkers, black coffee is the best. Take it easy with the popular “3-in-1” coffee preparations which tend to contain a lot of sugar and fat. Drink plenty of water when studying.
In fine take care of your health. Good health is the foundation of an outstanding bar review.
IMPROVE YOUR HANDWRITING. Handwriting is of capital importance in the essay exams. Your answers may all be logical and correct but if your handwriting is illegible all your hard work will go down the drain. If your handwriting is difficult to read, the examiner will most probably not take the time to decipher your booklet, taking into consideration that he has about five thousand other booklets to read.
You may think that your handwriting is legible when it’s actually not. Take a mock bar examination and show your booklet to another person and have him read it. You may be surprised to find that your handwriting is actually difficult to read. If that is the case, work on improving your handwriting.
DURING NOVEMBER AND THE BAR EXAM
AVOID UNNECESSARY STRESS AND DISTRACTIONS. Some stress and nerves is unavoidable during the review and exam week and in fact helps to drive you harder in your studies. However undue and excessive stress and nerves is an enemy of the bar examinee as it results in lack of sleep and hinders proper thinking both while studying and taking the exam itself. If you feel that you are unduly stressed or worried, learn relaxation techniques like yoga and deep breathing. Prayer and meditation are powerful relaxation techniques.
Ignore useless distractions. Usually rumors of who the examiner is become widespread during this time and examinees worry themselves silly with the type of questions the rumored examiner usually asks and with obtaining notes and materials written by or about the rumored examiner. This is just a useless exercise which would distract you from doing what should be done: studying. All examiners are in the main bound by an unwritten law that their questions should be on the basics of the law and on significant jurisprudence. So just ignore rumors or information on the examiner’s identity and stick your nose to your review materials.
The bar exam month features the annual frenetic paper chase by bar examinees. Examinees go on a quest for the Holy Grail of the bar exams: the red or blue notes from San Beda or Ateneo or the UP notes. These notes are supposed to embody the answers or even “leaks” of bar exam questions. This is balderdash. I graduated from Ateneo and worked in the bar-ops. I know that the so-called blue notes are simply compilations of probable bar questions with answers prepared by law students with a little assistance from the faculty. While they are definitely helpful, you don’t have to wail and grind your teeth if you do not get them. What is contained in the blue notes is more often than not also in your bar reviewers and review materials.
One examinee I knew spent a lot more time looking for notes, tips, and leaks and compiling dossiers on the rumored examiners rather than actually studying. He failed the bar five times and is now exploring career opportunities with the CIA.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. This advice cannot be overemphasized. Adequate sleep makes the mind sharper and allows us to recall what we have studied with facility. So do not make the mistake of studying until the witching hour. The extra hours of study is not worth it if you find yourself sleepy and thinking sluggishly during the bar exam.
You should hit the sack by 9 p.m. Do not panic if you find that you are unable to sleep. Just relax and continue lying down in bed, at least your body will be rested. But do not make the mistake of standing up and studying. In that case you will lack both sleep and rest, and the chances of a disaster are multiplied threefold. Ron de Vera slept for only an hour the night before the first Sunday exam and for only 30 minutes the night before the second Sunday exam of 2004. He placed second. (Lat et al., Bar Blues, p. 85). Of course I’m not saying that you get only an hour’s sleep if you want to place in the top ten, what I’m saying is that there is no need for you to call 911 if you find yourself unable to fall into the arms of Morpheus.
I advise against taking sleeping pills. They often have the side effect of muddling up your thinking. There was an examinee who, finding himself unable to sleep the night before the Civil Law exam, popped a sleeping pill. He was able to sleep all right, but the next day he found himself unable to distinguish between loco parentis and crazy momma.
REMEMBER TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. Before you start reading and answering the questions, take the time to first read and understand the instructions. Quite a lot of examinees in their eagerness go straight to reading and answering the questions without bothering to read the instructions. This could be disastrous.
NEVER LEAVE ANY QUESTION UNANSWERED. Even if you are clueless as to the answer to a question, give it your best try. Never leave any question unanswered. The examiner may feel slighted if you do not answer a question. He may think that you felt that the question was not properly crafted that is why did not answer it. Moreover a blank response will get you zero while giving it your best shot could net you 2 or 3 points which could spell the difference between flunking and passing.
MANAGE YOUR TIME WISELY. Many examinees spend too much time on the first part of the exam only to find themselves rushing through the second part or worse running out of time and leaving some questions unanswered. Learn to pace yourself properly. Taking mock bar exams will help you learn how to pace yourself in an 18-to-20 question examination.
DO NOT BE FLUSTERED BY “SHOCK AND AWE” QUESTIONS. Those who took the 1991 Bar Examination (like me) will never forget the infamous first question in Political Law: “What is the Writ of Amparo? Discuss its constitutional basis.” Considering that the only Amparo we knew of was Amparo Muñoz (the 1974 Miss Universe who won her title in Manila, if you’re a Millennial), the question had the effect of a sneak punch to the solar plexus. I can still picture in my mind the bar exam room at MLQU, with everyone’s jaw plunging to the floor in utter shock.
Of course, now every law student knows what a writ of amparo is, but back then in 1991 B.G. (before Google), only a law student or law professor who had travelled to Latin America could have known of this most extraordinary writ.
Other “shock and awe” questions include one which asked who the current president of the International Court of Justice was, one which asked for the meaning of the acronym ACID (from a speech of Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban), and another which asked the examinee to define the Denicola test in intellectual property law.
“Shock and awe” questions were trending in the 2015 Bar. In Political Law, bar examinees were asked to discuss the “evolution” of jus sanguinis under the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitutions. In Labor Law, the word of the day was “equity of the incumbent,” an anachronism whose term of office had long ago expired. In Civil Law, they were asked to define “depecage.” In Commercial Law, the shock-and-awe word to define was “Jason Clause.” In Remedial Law, the examinees were confronted with the common-law terms, “larceny” and “voir dire.” It did not help any that “larceny” was used in a fact-setting which did not involve any unlawful taking of property but rather violence and sexual abuse, while “voir dire” is a term that a Filipino lawyer would be unfamiliar with unless he is an aficionado of American jury trials.
The examiners’ penchant for throwing screwball questions put the bar examinees in a serious funk. Many spent quite a bit of time accumulating a glossary of legal gobbledygook in the various bar exam subjects instead of studying the fundamentals and important jurisprudence. I even heard a story (probably apocryphal) that a law school engaged a lexicographer to beef up its bar ops.
This brought back memories of the 1991 bar examination. After the examinees were torched by the Amparo question in political Law, the succeeding preweek reviews were turned into a Gobbledygook chase. The fad back then was the M&A (mergers & acquisitions) craze in Wall Street (remember Michael Milkin and Ivan Boesky with his infamous “Greed is Good” mantra). In the mercantile law preweek, we parroted terms like “hostile take-over,” “leveraged buy-out,” “white knight,” “junk bonds,” and a plethora of other investment-bank junk rather, jargon. I think this was partly to blame for the dismal pass rate of 17.81%. An examinee who flunked the bar “leveraged” his experience to apply for and land a job in the M&A department of a leading investment bank.
My advice is that a bar candidate should not spend precious time burning the midnight oil with Black’s Law Dictionary. A cost-benefit analysis would lead one to conclude that time spent on looking for and even studying obscure legal nomenclature would only result in dividends that are well, de minimis. Better to just study the basic legal principles and significant jurisprudence and encounter legal terms in the course of such study.
Moreover, screwball questions are not really expected to be answered correctly by the majority of the examinees (and even law professors) but are meant more to test the resolve and fortitude of one who aspires to be a lawyer. Do not panic or lose hope if you do not know the answer to the question. Just give it your best try and proceed to the other questions.
AFTER THE EXAM
DO NOT DISCUSS THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. After you have taken a bar exam in a particular subject, forget about it and concentrate on preparing and studying for the next bar exam subject. After all you cannot undo what you have already written. Avoid discussing the probable answers and avoid people who delight in discussing them. The time spent on arguing and discussing the probable answers is better spent relaxing and preparing for the next exam.
CONCLUSION
To paraphrase Bobby Knight, the key is not the will to pass. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to pass that is important.
The bar exam is a formidable challenge but like any other hurdle it can be surmounted by assiduous planning and preparation. The following quote from Steve Nash, a player of less than imposing physical attributes but who went on to become one of the NBA all-time greats, is inspiring:
You have to rely on your preparation. You got to really be passionate and try to prepare more than anyone else, and put yourself in a position to succeed, and when the moment comes you got to enjoy, relax, breathe and rely on your preparation so that you can perform and not be anxious or filled with doubt.
When your moment comes, enjoy it!
January 2016
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Read MoreKEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE FACTS
As a long-time bar exam coach, one of the common errors or shortcomings which I note in my coachees is the misstatement or assumption of facts. I strongly advise my coachees to read carefully the facts of the question in order to avoid this error. One of the most irritating experiences for an examiner is to read answers which misstate or assume facts. The following suggested answer to Question No. V(B) of the 2014 Remedial Law Bar Exam shows that even the experts may fall prey to this kind of oversight.
“Landlord, a resident of Quezon City, entered into a lease contract with Tenant, a resident of Marikina City, over a residential house in Las Piñas City. The lease contract provided, among others, for a monthly rental of P25,000.00, plus ten percent (10%) interest rate in case of non-payment on its due date. Subsequently, Landlord migrated to the United States of America (USA) but granted in favor of his sister Maria, a special power of attorney to manage the property and file and defend suits over the property rented out to Tenant. Tenant failed to pay the rentals due for five (5) months. Maria asks your legal advice on how she can expeditiously collect from Tenant the unpaid rentals plus interests due. (A) What judicial remedy would you recommend to Maria? (B) Where is the proper venue of the judicial remedy which you recommended?
“Suggested Answer of the UP Law Center Committee to V(B): If Maria decides to file a complaint for collection of sum of money under the Rules of Summary Procedure or Small Claims, the venue is the residence of the plaintiff or defendant, at the election of the plaintiff. (Section 2, Rule 4, Rules of Court). Hence it may be in Quezon City or Marikina City, at the option of Maria. (Emphases supplied).”
The suggested answer overlooks however that Landlord had already migrated to the USA prior to the filing of the complaint. Clearly therefore Landlord the Plaintiff no longer resided in Quezon City and hence the collection suit may not be filed there.
There is a psychological explanation for this oversight. The problem starts out with “Landlord, a resident of Quezon City,” and this fact stands out and remains embedded in the mind of the reader, creating a mental blind spot to the significance of the phrase “migrated to the United States.” That is why I always tell my coachees to read carefully the fact-setting of a problem twice and to underline important facts. The examinee should take note of “fact-changers” or “fact-modifiers.” For instance the examinee might have underlined twice “migrated” and then put an “x” atop “resident,” thus alerting him that “resident” is already a superseded or modified fact.
It is advised that a bar reviewee take practice exams and have the same reviewed by another person, preferably a bar exam coach. Factual misstatements are often not detected by the examinee himself even if he reviews his answer since he is still laboring under the same blind spot. A certified bar exam coach can spot these errors and identify and remedy the mental blind spots which lead to these blunders.
Read MoreThe 2011 Remedial Law MCQ Bar Exam: A Post-Mortem Analysis
“He who diligently examines past events easily foresees future ones.” Niccolo Machiavelli, The Discourses 1517.
The 2011 MCQ bar exams were the first of its kind and as to be expected of any pioneering endeavor there is not much information to be obtained about it. With this in mind, I wrote this brief after-exam report on the remedial law MCQ exam, which hopefully will help shed some light on MCQ exams and prove useful to a bar examinee as he prepares for the 2012 bar.
Time Management
The 2011 Remedial Law MCQ bar examination was held on 27 November 2011 from 8 am to 10:30 a.m. Initially the schedule was from 8 am to 10 am. But midway through the bar exam (in the light of feedback from the examinees that 2 hours was barely enough to answer 100 MCQs), the Supreme Court decided to add 30 minutes to the schedule.
If the exam had been for two hours, the examinees would have on average 1 minute and 12 seconds for each MCQ. Since the exam was for 2 hours and a half, then it meant that the examinees had 1 minute and 30 seconds for each MCQ.
We interviewed numerous examinees and found out that on average it took 26 minutes to transfer the 100 answers to the answer sheet. Simulated exams conducted by Jurists Bar Review confirmed this finding. An examinee should thus give allowance of about 26 minutes for transferring the answers.
Attention should be drawn to the fact that the Supreme Court has reverted to the 2-hour time limit. If we deduct 26 minutes from the 2 hours, it means that the examinee has actually 1 hour and 34 minutes only to answer the 100 MCQs. On average, this means that an examinee has only 56 seconds to answer one MCQ!
Fifty-six seconds is not much time for answering an MCQ, especially a problem-type one. It is thus important that an examinee train and home his time-management skills by taking mock bar exams which simulate the actual bar exam as to time, exam venue conditions, and paraphernalia.
Types of MCQ Questions and their Distribution
There are 3 types of MCQs: (1) know-and-recall MCQs (Type A), (2) read-and-understand MCQs (Type B), and (3) analyze-and-solve MCQs (Type C).
Type A MCQs seek to test the examinee’s ability to know and recall a specific law or legal principle. In drafting such an MCQ, the examiner will employ a specific law or legal principle as a proposition. The first part of the proposition will then be the stem and the second part will be among the choices. An example of this type of MCQ is as follows:
An action quasi in rem is:
A Binding upon the whole world.
B A mix of a real and a personal action.
C Directed against particular persons but seeks the sale or disposition of defendant’s property.
D An action in personam involving real property.
Type B MCQS go beyond a mere know-and-recall task. It tests if an examinee truly understands a specific law or legal principle by relating the law or legal principle to specific situations or particular examples. An example is given below:
The best evidence rule bars the presentation of
- Photocopy of a marked money used in a buy-bust.
- Testimony of plaintiff as to defendant’s answer to plaintiff’s question about the contents of a letter.
- Photocopy of a print-out of an email message.
- Testimony of a witness as to what the defendant texted him.
The Type C MCQ tests the quintessential skill of a lawyer: his ability to analyze a hypothetical case or problem, to determine the applicable law, and to reach a conclusion or opinion. The MCQ consists of a fact-pattern of a hypothetical problem, followed by the call of the question, then by the four options. An example of an analyze-and-solve MCQ is given below:
Although more than 3 months had already lapsed from service by the Defendant of his answer, the Plaintiff had not yet moved that the case be set for pre-trial. The Defendant moved that the complaint be dismissed for failure to prosecute. May the court grant the motion?
- Yes, Plaintiff has the duty to move that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the Defendant should have moved that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the court should simply order the Plaintiff to move that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the clerk of court shall issue a notice of pretrial.
Justice Roberto Abad, the chair of the 2011 Bar, stated that Type B and C questions, since they test a higher level of intelligence, would each make up 40% of the total MCQs while Type A MCQs would make up only 20%, since they test merely rote memory.
A perusal of the 2011 Remedial Law MCQ Bar however reveals the following actual allocation:
2011 REMEDIAL LAW MCQ BAR EXAM
Allocation of MCQ Types
| MCQ Type | Desired Allocation | Actual Allocation |
| A (Know & Recall) | 20% | 36% |
| B (Read & Understand) | 40% | 29% |
| C (Analyze & Solve) | 40% | 35% |
What happened was that Type A had the highest allocation. Type A is the least challenging MCQ. Whether a high percentage of Type A questions results in a higher pass rate remains to be seen.
Justice Abad’s desired total allocation for Types B and C was 80%. As it turned out the actual allocation was only 64%. Most probably the reason for this is the difficulty in crafting Type B and C MCQs, as opposed to the relative ease in coming up with a Type A MCQ. (All the drafter has to do is break up a legal rule into a stem and an option and then come up with distractors).
For the reviewee, what this all means is that he should not take lightly the study of and training for Type A MCQs. Until MCQ writers gain more experience and the Supreme Court attains a critical mass of Type B and C questions in its data bank, one can reasonably expect Type A MCQs to comprise the majority of MCQs, or at least to exceed the 20% cap.
It may not be amiss to remind the examinee that the 3 types of MCQs all have the same weight of one point for scoring purposes. Thus if you answer correctly a Type A and a Type C question, you will get one point for both, not one point for the Type A and two points for the Type C.
FORMAT OF QUESTIONS
Majority of MCQ testing experts recommend against negative questions, the reasons being that the focus is on finding a wrong premise rather than searching for the correct answer and that negative questions could confuse the examinee. However there were 16 negative questions in the remedial law MCQ bar. This was somewhat surprising as Justice Abad himself had advised against using negative questions unless the purpose was to test the examinee’s knowledge of rule exceptions. One negative question is MCQ No. 4.
4. Which of the following is NOT CONSISTENT with the rules governing
expropriation proceedings?
A. The court shall declare the defendant who fails to answer the complaint in
default and render judgment against him.
B. The court shall refer the case to the Board of Commissioners to determine the amount of just compensation.
C. The plaintiff shall make the required deposit and forthwith take immediate
possession of the property sought to be expropriated.
D. The plaintiff may appropriate the property for public use after judgment and
payment of the compensation fixed in it, despite defendant’s appeal.
The above question does not test the examinee’s knowledge of an exception to a rule but requires him to search for the inconsistent or incorrect premise. The lesson here is that the examinee should also be trained to tackle negative questions, even those which do not call for knowledge of rule exceptions. As a matter of fact majority of the negative questions asked did not test knowledge of exceptions. Nonetheless knowledge of rule exceptions should still form part of the examinee’s arsenal.
Justice Abad recommends that as much as possible a negative question should be redrafted into an affirmative format. Let us look at MCQ No. 15.
15. Which of the following grounds for dismissal invoked by the court will NOT
PRECLUDE the plaintiff from refiling his action?
A. Res judicata.
B. Lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter.
C. Unenforceability under the Statutes of Fraud.
D. Prescription.
A negative question also suffers from the disadvantage that it could be somewhat confusing. Note that “not preclude” is actually a double negative, but the examinee may under grinding time pressure overlook this. Following Justice Abad’s recommendation, the MCQ could have been redrafted to read, “[w]hich of the following grounds for dismissal will allow the plaintiff to refile his action?” which phrasing is less susceptible to being misunderstood. It is praiseworthy however that in negative questions, the negative words were capitalized in order to lessen the chance of confusion.
It was also good that the examiner avoided MCQs which call for the best answer, and those with “all of the above” and “none of the above” as options.
Question-series type MCQs in which a series of two or more questions are based on a single fact-pattern were not used. An example of a question series is the following:
Questions 72 and 73 are based upon the following facts: A, a resident of Dagupan City, secured a favorable judgment in an ejectment case over real property located in Malolos, Bulacan, against X, also a resident of Dagupan City, from the metropolitan trial court of Manila. The judgment entered on 15 June 2006, had not as yet been executed.
72. If A decides to enforce the judgment of the MeTC, what is the procedure to be followed by A in enforcing the judgment?
A. Action for revival of judgment.
B. Action for enforcement of judgment.
C. Ex parte motion for execution of the judgment.
D. Motion for execution of judgment with notice and hearing.
73. With what court and in what venue should A institute the proceedings?
A. RTC Dagupan City.
B. MeTC Dagupan City.
C. RTC Manila.
D. RTC Malolos, Bulacan.
Question series are liberally used in the U.S. Multi-State Bar Exam (MBE). It remains to be seen whether they will be employed in the Philippine MCQ Bar. It is prudent however that an examinee be also trained to tackle such kinds of MCQs.
Effectiveness of MCQ Tactics and Strategies Proven
Our study of the 2011 Remedial Law MCQ Bar showed that MCQs were “vulnerable to attack” by MCQ tactics. Any MCQ no matter how carefully drafted will leave tell-tale signs and clues which can be exploited by a trained examinee.
MCQ tactics can generally be classified into two types: The first type is comprised of elimination and discounting tactics, that is, those tactics which look for indications that an option is wrong or dubious. The second type is made up of hunting tactics, that is, those tactics which look for clues that an option is correct.
The experience gained from the 2011 Bar together with feedback from the Jurists candidates enabled Jurists to further fine tune and improve its MCQ training manual and system.
Effectiveness of Mock Bar Exam and Coaching
After-exam debriefing of Jurists examinees showed the effectiveness of Jurists’ mock bar and coaching system. The examinees stated that the series of mock bars and one-on-one coaching sessions trained them to apply the time-management and MCQ tactics and strategies that had been taught to them. Testimonials from the successful Jurists examinees were one in praising the Jurists system for enabling them to land in the history books as passers of the first ever MCQ Bar Exam.
Read MoreMajor Changes in the Bar Examination: Impact On Bar Exam Review and Coaching
“Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight battles with no danger of defeat.” Sun Tzu,The Art of War
Last 31 July 2010, I had the privilege of attending the Supreme Court’s Seminar-Workshop entitled “Preparing for the 2011 Bar Exams and Beyond” held at the U.E. College of Law. Invited were bar-review lecturers, deans of law schools, law professors, and law students of the U.E. The seminar-workshop was personally conducted by S.C. Associate Justice Roberto A. Abad, the chairman of the 2011 Bar Examination.
Justice Abad apprised us of the major changes that will be implemented starting in the 2011 Bar Examination. These are the following:
- A new method of defining the coverage of the bar exams by topics and sub-topics rather than by statutes or rules.
- Part 1 of the bar examination will be in the form of multiple-choice questions (MCQs). This part will have a weight of 60%.
- Part 2 will be in the form of a one or two essay-type questions requiring the examinee to analyze a hypothetical legal dispute and to write a trial memorandum or decision for the side of the dispute that he chooses to uphold or defend. This part will have a weight of 40%.
Justice Abad informed us that these changes had already been approved by the Supreme Court.
I daresay that these changes are not only major but revolutionary. They will have far-reaching implications for the stakeholders in the bar examination: the bar examinees and the law professors and reviewers. One of the early advocates of the use of MCQs was retired Justice Vicente V. Mendoza. Many of his recommendations were subsequently adopted by the Supreme Court and incorporated in Bar Matter No. 1161, which provided for a phased implementation of bar exam reforms.
New method of defining the bar-exam coverage
The previous system of defining the bar exam coverage was to state the statutes and the rules that the bar examinee has to study. The Supreme Court felt that while this was acceptable in the past when the laws and rules were not that many, such a statement of the coverage would be too sweeping and over-broad given the exponential increase in the number of statutes and rules. The sheer plethora of the coverage would overwhelm the bar examinee.
Justice Abad said that while it was the consensus that a bar examinee should be tasked with studying and knowing only the basics of the law, defining the coverage of the remedial law bar exam as including the Rules of Court, or the coverage of the civil law bar exam as including the Civil Code would give little guidance to the examinee on what the “basics” of the law are. In this regard, I remembered a question in remedial law in which the examinee was asked to discuss Section 25, Rule 114 regarding the administrative duties of judges in conducting monthly inspection of detainees.
The new system would hopefully avoid such esoteric questions by circumscribing the source of questions that an examiner may employ. The new system would be very similar to an outline or syllabus that a law professor gives his students at the start of the course so as to guide the students in what areas to study.
Use of multiple-choice questions
A seismic shift in the format of the bar examination is the forthcoming use of multiple-choice questions in the 2011 bar exam. This is patterned after the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) given in theUnited Stateswhich consists of multiple-choice questions.
The evident purpose of using MCQs is to make more objective the correction of answers. Appreciation of answers to standard problem-type questions tends to be subjective and parity in grading standards is far from guaranteed. Justice Abad also stated that the use of MCQs is a better measure of an examinee’s knowledge of the law since an examiner can ask 200-300 questions and can cover more topics, unlike the standard problem-type questions in which about only 15-20 questions may be asked.
Justice Abad did not give a definitive figure for the number of MCQs to be asked or the time allowed the examinees for answering the MCQs. In the United States, the MBE consists of 200 questions to be answered in 6 hours. In the morning session of 3 hours, the examinee has to answer 100 questions, and in the afternoon he has to answer another 100 questions in 3 hours. This means that on average an examinee has about 1 minute and 48 seconds for each question.
Basic format of a multiple-choice question
An MCQ consists of a stem and four choices or “picks.” A stem may either be a question or an incomplete statement. The choices consist of either (1) answers to a question, or (2) a word, phrase, sentence or sentences which will complete the statement.
An example of a stem which consists of a question is as follows:
1. P filed an unlawful detainer case against D before the MeTC of Manila. D filed an answer in which he raised a counterclaim that P borrowed P350,000 from him (D) for bar review expenses. What defense may P raise against D’s counterclaim?
A. The MeTC has no jurisdiction over the counterclaim.
B. D did not pay the docket fee for the counterclaim.
C. The counterclaim is a pleading which is not allowed.
D. The counterclaim is in excess of P200,000.
An example of a stem which consists of an incomplete statement is the following:
1. An order confirming the foreclosure sale may be appealed within ___ days from notice.
A. 60.
B. 15.
C. 30.
D. 5.
Justice Abad said that for 2011, an MCQ would ask the examinee to pick the correct answer, rather than the best answer. Choices like “all of the above,” and “none of the above,” will not be used, at least for 2011, although they may be used in the 2012 or succeeding bar exams.
Use of distractors
According to Justice Abad, while there is only one correct answer among the four choices, the other three would have the appearance of correctness or would be “plausibly” correct. The 3 incorrect choices which are plausibly correct are called “distractors.” The distractors should be plausibly correct, otherwise, the MCQ would be too easy.
For instance in the first MCQ given, many of my students picked A. This is plausibly correct; however the correct choice is C. Under Section 4, Rule 70 of the Rules of Court, the only pleadings allowed to be filed under Rule 70 are the complaint, compulsory counterclaim and cross-claim pleaded in the answer, and the answers thereto. The counterclaim is permissive and is thus a pleading which is not allowed under Rule 70.
A is not correct because the MeTC is in Manila and hence the jurisdictional amount is P400,000, not P300,000. B is not correct because it wrongly assumes that the MeTC may entertain the counterclaim once the docket fees are paid. D is not correct because it is based on a wrong premise, that is, the jurisdictional amount is P200,000 when it is P400,000.
MCQs of 3 types
According to Justice Abad, there are 3 types of MCQs: (1) know-and-recall MCQs, (2) MCQs which test the examinee’s understanding, and (3) analyze-and-solve MCQs.
Knowledge and recall
The first type of MCQ seeks to test the examinee’s ability to know and recall a specific law or legal principle. In drafting the MCQ, the examiner will employ a specific law or legal principle as a proposition. The first part of the proposition will then be the stem and the second part will be among the choices. An example of this type of MCQ is as follows:
An action quasi in rem is:
A Binding upon the whole world.
B A mix of a real and a personal action.
C Directed against particular persons but seeks the sale or disposition of defendant’s property.
D An action in personam involving real property.
The proposition in the mind of the examiner is “an action quasi in rem is directed against particular persons but seeks the sale or disposition of defendant’s property.” The examiner uses the first part as the stem, and then embeds the second part as one of the choices among four plausibly correct answers.
A “knowledge and recall” question mainly tests a examinee’s rote memory or ability to regurgitate legal knowledge, which while not trivial is on the low end of lawyerly skills. Hence the bar exam will devote only 20% of all MCQ items to “knowledge and recall” questions.
Understanding
This type of MCQ goes beyond a mere know-and-recall query by testing whether an examinee truly understands a specific law or legal principle by relating the law or legal principle to specific situations. An example is given below:
The best evidence rule bars the presentation of:
- Photocopy of a marked money used in a buy-bust.
- Testimony of plaintiff as to defendant’s answer to plaintiff’s question about the contents of a letter.
- Photocopy of a print-out of an email message.
- Testimony of a witness as to what the defendant texted him.
This type measures a higher grade of skill than just knowing and recalling laws. The examinee is measured not only on his textual knowledge of the best evidence rule but also on his ability to apply the rule to specific fact scenarios. 40% of the MCQs will consist of this type.
Analyze-and-solve MCQs
The analyze-and-solve MCQ tests the quintessential skill of a lawyer: his ability to analyze a hypothetical case or problem, to determine the applicable law, and to reach a conclusion or opinion. 40% of the MCQs shall be of this type of MCQ. The MCQ consists of a fact-pattern of a hypothetical problem, followed by the call of the question, then by the four picks. An example of an analyze-and-solve MCQ is given below:
Although more than 3 months had already lapsed from service by the Defendant of his answer, the Plaintiff had not yet moved that the case be set for pre-trial. The Defendant moved that the complaint be dismissed for failure to prosecute. May the court grant the motion?
- Yes, Plaintiff has the duty to move that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the Defendant should have moved that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the court should simply order the Plaintiff to move that the case be set for pretrial.
- No, the clerk of court shall issue a notice of pretrial.
The analyze-and-solve MCQ is the one closest to the typical problem-type question found in previous bar exams. However instead of the examinee writing out the answer, he will have to pick the same from four plausible choices.
MCQ more challenging and difficult than traditional problem-type question
The consensus among the law professors who attended the seminar was that the MCQ would be more difficult than the old problem-type question. The basis for this opinion was that in an MCQ question, either the examinee “knows the answer or he doesn’t”. In a problem-type question, the examinee even if he gives a wrong conclusion can get substantial credit for his legal reasoning and argument. Compare this with a MCQ where a wrong answer will get no credit whatsoever.
As Supreme Court spokesperson Atty. Midas Marquez said: “In an essay-type exam, it may be difficult for an examiner to determine if the examinee really knows his codal provisions. In a multiple choice exam, there are no ifs and buts. Either you know it or not.” And guesswork will be of little help to the examinee as the odds of picking the correct answer are 25%, far below the passing percentage of 75%.
The consensus was proved when I administered MCQ exams to my law students. The results (percentage wise) were considerably lower than results in the standard problem-type question. This was also confirmed by other law professors whom I talked with.
Added importance of coaching & training
The new format involving MCQs means that the importance of coaching and training has assumed greater proportions. In the United States, the more important part of the review is not the study portion but the practice and coaching sessions. As stated by one American law professor, you cannot hope to pass the MBE by simply studying your notes and outlines in the same manner that you cannot hope to finish a marathon by simply reading books about running.
You have to do practice and training sessions. An essential part of the MBE review is for the reviewee to answer practice MBE questions over and over again. A reviewee who foolhardily relies on study alone, eschewing or paying only slight attention to practice and training may find himself falling apart when confronted by a daunting 200-300 MCQs exam. He is like a person who prepares for a marathon by simply reading books on how to run and who collapses after the first 5 kilometers.
Answering mock MCQ exams will improve a reviewee’s test-taking ability or his “testmanship.” As you may have gleaned from some of the sample MCQs, they can be quite tricky. The examiners have artfully drafted the questions such that an examinee can be easily fooled by the close answer choices. There is an art and technique for reading and answering MCQs. This is acquired not from mere theoretical studies but from answering practice exams under the guidance and tutelage of experienced bar exam coaches. Furthermore, time-simulated practice MCQs will test a reviewee’s ability to work under grinding time pressure and the ability of his body and mind to stand the pressure and rigors of a 3-hour or 4-hour MCQ exam. Practice MCQs will enable an examinee to time and phase himself so that he can answer on average an MCQ in one minute and 48 seconds or less.
In this regard, Jurists Bar Review Center is in the best position to undertake training and coaching for the new bar-exam format. Jurists already has a proven practice-exam and coaching program in place since 2005 and which has been readily adopted and fine-tuned to the new MCQ format. In fact Jurists had anticipated the eventual shift to an MCQ format and had collected and is continuing to collect a bank of MCQs for use in the practice exams and coaching.
The need for coaching has been further underscored in the essay-portion of the exam. The essay portion will test the examinee’s “lawyering skills,” particularly his skill in writing in English, sorting out the relevant facts, identifying the issue or issues, organizing his thoughts, constructing his arguments, and persuading his reader to his point of view. The emphasis here is not on theoretical knowledge but on legal writing and reasoning. The Jurists coaching staff has considerable experience in coaching examinees on how to read a bar exam question, spot the issues, and present the answer in a logical and persuasive manner.
This experience will prove in good stead to the coaching staff as they train examinees on how to answer the essay portion of the bar exam. Good legal writing and reasoning is something which is not acquired from mere reading and studying but from actually writing out essays to practice questions under timed conditions and then discussing the answers with an experienced coach in order to pinpoint weaknesses and remedy flaws.
In fine, the 2011 Bar Exam is a new “enemy” about which the bar examinee knows little about. A competent coaching and training program involving practice exams and training under competent bar exam coaches will do much to conquer the new adversary.
Read MoreAdvice for the Bar Examinee (2015 ed.)
BEFORE THE BAR EXAM
READ MATERIALS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR AND PASS THE BAR EXAM. The bar exam is not a matter to take lightly. Hence reading materials on how to prepare for and to pass the bar will greatly increase your chances of seeing your name inscribed in the bar exam hall of fame. You can bring these materials as light reading to your three-day vacation after law school graduation. When I prepared for the 1991 bar, I read a well-worn pamphlet by Prof. Jose Nolledo, Pointers for a Bar Candidate (1960). I also read a booklet by Commissioner Regalado Maambong on the bar examination. The two booklets served me well by giving practical advice on how to prepare for the bar and how to avoid costly mistakes during the preparation and the actual taking of the bar. Unfortunately it seems both booklets are out of print.
Bar Blues (Central Books 2013)written by Tanya Karina Lat, Maria Gracia Gamez, and Marilyn Manait is one good book on bar exam preparation which I highly recommend, comprehensive yet very readable. Slaying the Bar Exam Dragon by Dean Rufus Rodriguez is another book which I would advise you to read.
Dean Wenceslao Laureta’s Secrets on How to Pass the Bar Examination (Rex Book Store, 1990)is a classic in the field of bar exam strategies and tactics. It is somewhat a ponderous or even tedious read, replete with strong opinions and side-comments which the reader may not agree with. Nonetheless there are valuable gems among the plethora of obiter dicta. In particular I recommend the chapters on Types of Bar Questions, How to Tackle Bar Questions, and Brass Tacks. I particularly commend the book to law professors and bar exam coaches and mentors.
PREPARE AND ORGANIZE YOUR REVIEW MATERIALS. Prepare your list of reviewers after your graduation and buy those that you do not have. Get the opinion of professors and last year’s bar examinees as they are the best judges of law reviewers and can give you the pros and cons of a particular reviewer.
As for the copious annotations or commentaries that you used as textbooks during your first three years in law school, consult them only if you need examples or illustrations of particular legal provisions. This is an area where annotations or commentaries have an advantage over most reviewers which tend to put too much emphasis on rules without giving the underlying fact pattern for such rule.
In this regard, I strongly advise the use of reviewers which are in Q&A form or which give examples or illustrations of the rules. This reviewers will serve the dual purpose of being a review material as well as a training material for answering the bar which is substantially made up of problem-type or fact-based questions.
PREPARE A BAR REVIEW SCHEDULE. A bar-review schedule is your road-map to navigating the six months of bar review. When you are enrolled in a bar review center, synchronize your schedule with the bar review center’s schedule otherwise you will not be reviewing effectively. In this regard, choose a bar review center wherein there is a topical continuity in the schedule, that is, where one particular bar exam subject is discussed at a time before proceeding to another bar exam subject. Avoid bar review centers with a hodgepodge schedule where for example, negotiable instruments is discussed on one day, then labor relations on the next, and then civil procedure on the day after.
My advice is that you study one bar exam subject before going to another. Some advise reviewing one subject in the first half of the day (say remedial law) and then another (say commercial law) in the second half of the day. The avowed purpose is to avoid ennui. I think this sacrifices focus and effectiveness just to add variety. One must simply have the self-discipline and drive to study one bar subject at a time.
A rule of thumb in dividing your study time is to multiply the number of days available for review with the weight given to a particular bar examination subject. Assume that you have 130 days allocated for your review (April to August excluding Sundays). Political law has a weight of 15%. 130 days multiplied by 15% will give you 19 days. So you allocate 19 days more or less for political law.
In your review schedule, the last bar subjects that you should study should be labor law and then political law (the so-called “mirror schedule). This will enhance the effectiveness of your review since political law and labor law are the bar exam subjects you will tackle on the first Sunday.
In your daily study schedule, your wake-up time should be at 4:30 a.m. and lights out should be at 9 p.m. This is to make your body clock adjust to this schedule so that by October or the bar month, you would be used to sleeping early and waking up early.
ENROLL IN A BAR REVIEW CENTER. There are advantages and disadvantages to enrolling in a bar review center. Among the perceived disadvantages are the increased costs, which include the enrollment fee, the transportation and food costs, and accommodation costs for those who reside in the provinces. Also quite some time is spent in preparing and dressing up and in going to and from the bar review center.
Despite these considerations, I strongly recommend that a bar examinee enroll in a bar review center. A law graduate does not have the degree of knowledge of the bar subject and the intuitive feel for what are the important topics and probable bar exam questions which an experienced bar review lecturer has. Also a bar review center provides case and statutory updates, which because of time limitations, is often not provided by law schools.
Take note that law and jurisprudence is in a constant state of flux and what you thought may have been good law last year or even last month may no longer be so. Recent developments affect the law as a whole and not just specific or isolated provisions. Hence these should not be taught or learned in a truncated or isolated manner but should be imparted to the reviewee in a holistic manner, that is, seamlessly woven into a bar review subject as an integral element thereof. Only a seasoned bar lecturer, with his experience and intuitive feel of the law, is capable of performing this challenging feat. A bar reviewee who relies on past review material and simply tries to incorporate “updates” into his study is playing with fire.
A recent innovation is online bar review. The bar reviewee need not go to a “brick-and-mortar” bar review center but can review in the comfort of his own home or wherever there is internet access. This has the advantages of cost and time efficiency.
In this regard, Jurists Bar Review is offering JURISTS COMBO, which combines the structured regimen and face-to-face coaching of the traditional review with the convenience and flexibility of an online review.
CHOOSE YOUR BAR REVIEW CENTER WISELY. There are three important things which you should take into account in choosing a bar review center: The line-up of lecturers, the schedule, and the existence of a coaching or mentoring program.
The line-up of lecturers is important. Get the line-up and study this carefully. In appraising the line-up, get the opinion of successful bar examinees and your law professors. Word usually gets around among the bar reviewees and the law academe about the outstanding and the mediocre lecturers. Pay special attention to the lecturers in the subjects in which you feel you are weak.
The schedule is also of capital importance. Some bar review centers draw their schedule based on the availability of the lecturers rather than on topical continuity. As previously stated, avoid bar review centers with hodgepodge schedules. This will greatly undercut the effectiveness of your study.
If you have taken the bar more than three times, ensure that the bar review center is run by a recognized law school or that it has an accreditation agreement with one. The Supreme Court will not allow you to sit for the bar examination unless you get a certification from such a bar review center.
TAKE MOCK BAR EXAMS AND AVAIL OF THE SERVICES OF A BAR-EXAM COACH. Another thing to look out for is if the bar review center has a coaching program. The program should not be limited to the mere administration of mock bar exams, but should provide for one-on-one coaching wherein a coach reads and evaluates the examinee’s answers and then sits down and discusses the same with the examinee, seeking to identify the examinee’s strong and weak points, to remedy the latter, to coach the examinee on how to read and answer the bar exam questions, and in general to improve and maximize the examinee’s test-taking abilities.
See to it that the mock bars replicate the bar examination (that’s why they’re called mock bars) and that there is a series of mock bars and coaching sessions (not just one or two) so that there will be adequate feedback and performance monitoring.
Professor Mario Mainero, one of the foremost bar prep experts in the U.S., advises thus: “taking a practice exam under exam conditions is the best way to prepare for an exam. If you do not take them as actual run-throughs, your mind and body will not become used to taking law school [bar] exams, and you are more likely to freeze up or perform at a less-than-peak performance level.”[1]
Analyzing and answering bar exam questions is not a matter of gut feel or intuition. The examinee who thinks that it is enough to just read and attend lectures when preparing for the bar is taking a huge risk. A bar-exam coach or mentor would be most invaluable in helping the examinee acquire the necessary competencies for succeeding in the bar exam.
The new changes introduced in the bar exam format underscore the importance of coaching and training. The new format employs two kinds of questions: (1) essay or problem-type questions, and (2) multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Look for a coaching program that trains the examinee to handle both types of questions.
The high mortality rate in the bar examination is traceable to the sole or over-reliance on passive study and the absence or lack of training and practice on bar exam strategies and tactics. This matter has been raised as early as 1959 by Dean Wenceslao G. Laureta in the preface to his classic Secrets on How to Pass the Bar Examination (Rex Book Store, 1959 ed.)
Thus, it may be proper to remind the bar candidates some of the myths involved in the domain of bar examinations. Almost invariably the bar candidates have the mistaken belief that by – – (1) Attending the best law schools; (2) Listening to lectures of renowned bar reviewers during review classes; and (3) Memorizing the law or the rules of procedure, including doctrinal rulings will guarantee his passing the bar examinations.
Wrong.
There is no question that the above circumstances will help to enable the bar candidate pass the bar examinations. But the blooming secret in this regard is simply this: Present good answers that will make the examiner take notice. Good answers anchored upon logical reasoning, written in readable English and more importantly, justified by appropriate legal authority.
…
It would do well for the bar candidate to study carefully the manner in which answers are framed and the corresponding comments given. He will not fail to see why a given answer is poorly presented and the value of the corresponding remedy to improve it in a manner acceptable to the examiner. He must not make the tragic mistake of assuming that he knows all these things. He must supplement his reading by actual practice in answer framing. After all, one may know all the techniques on swimming which he can master from books on the subject, but until he jumps into the water, he will never learn to swim. [Emphases supplied]
Bar exam strategies and tactics is a nuanced field which cannot be acquired from merely reading books and listening to omnibus lectures. The services of a competent bar exam coach or mentor would be most helpful. A mock bar and coaching program is also in line with the recent pedagogical trend of shifting stress to “outcome-based education” from the conventional “input-based learning.”
The Supreme Court itself recognized the salient role played by mock bars and bar exam coaching. The Guidelines for the 2014 Bar recommend thus:
Practice Exams
A good practice for law schools/review classes to observe is to hold practice examination sessions with the Bar candidates, both on the Essay and the MCQ formats. In evaluating these practice exams, attention should be given to both the law and the Bar candidate’s presentation and use of English. In many instances, incorrect English is more serious as a problem than the lack of precise knowledge of law, and has been the cause of high failure rates. [Emphases supplied]
In line with the Supreme Court’s observation, Jurists has brought back the lecture “English for Bar Examinees” in order to train the bar examinees write in correct, readable, and concise English. This would be especially helpful for those who need improvement in their legal writing and English proficiency as the course would provide them with helpful tips in order to surmount their challenges.
FOCUS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS IN YOUR BAR REVIEW. The key is not really studying more but studying smart. It is simply impossible to read during the five months of review the entire code provisions of a law much less the texts or annotations thereon. Besides some code provisions and comments are unimportant for purposes of the bar and are seldom if ever asked in the bar.
During your review, you need to concentrate only on the primary review materials: a bar reviewer, the code provisions, and the bar review materials provided by the bar review center. In reading the code provisions, do not read the entire code but only those which are important. You know a code provision is important if it was discussed by your professor or bar review lecturer or mentioned in your bar reviewer.
A useful supplement to your reviewer is the Lex Pareto Notes written by Zigfred Diaz, Maria Patricia Katrina de Guia, Alrey Ouano, Louella Matsumoto, Ma. Salud Barillo, Danell Fernandez, Nolito Dayanan, and Helenytte Yu. This is a breakthrough work wherein the authors, applying the Pareto Principle to the field of bar exam review and forecasting, have found that approximately 80% of the bar exam questions are derived from 20% of the law. The authors have pinpointed this 20% of the law on which the reviewee should spend 80% of his study time thus optimizing the effectiveness of his review.
Many reviewees ask me if they should also read the survey of bar exam questions and answers published by the U.P. Law Center. My answer would be yes, but not as a primary review material but as a supplemental training material. You may from time to time pick some questions from the Q&A and then answer them without looking at the suggested answers. Needless to state the services of a certified bar exam coach to evaluate your answers and give written feedback is strongly advised as “self-coaching” has its drawbacks.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH AND FITNESS. Remember to exercise daily or at least three times a week. Exercising improves blood circulation to the brain and makes one think more clearly. It also builds up one’s resistance to sickness and infection and improves one’s stamina. Remember that the bar exam is a grueling four-hour exam in the morning and another one in the afternoon. So I’m not greatly exaggerating when I say that it’s like training for a 20-K run.
Get enough sleep. At least six to seven hours sleep daily is advised. Lack of sleep will result in drowsiness and sluggishness when studying, aside from making you susceptible to sickness or fatigue.
Proper diet is often overlooked but it is of the utmost importance. Observe a balanced and healthy diet, not forgetting fruits and vegetables. Please take it easy on fast food especially instant noodles! (Well, from time to time fast food is alright but don’t make it your staple food). A diet which would send a cardiologist into fits is not likewise appropriate for a bar reviewee.
In fine take care of your health. Good health is the foundation of an outstanding bar review.
IMPROVE YOUR HANDWRITING. Handwriting is of capital importance in the essay exams. Your answers may all be logical and correct but if your handwriting is illegible all your hard work will go down the drain. If your handwriting is difficult to read, the examiner will most probably not take the time to decipher your booklet, taking into consideration that he has about five thousand other booklets to read.
You may think that your handwriting is legible when it’s actually not. Take a mock bar examination and show your booklet to another person and have him read it. You may be surprised to find that your handwriting is actually difficult to read. If that is the case, work on improving your handwriting.
DURING OCTOBER AND THE BAR EXAM
AVOID UNNECESSARY STRESS AND DISTRACTIONS. Some stress and nerves is unavoidable during the review and exam week and in fact helps to drive you harder in your studies. However undue and excessive stress and nerves is an enemy of the bar examinee as it results in lack of sleep and hinders proper thinking both while studying and taking the exam itself. If you feel that you are unduly stressed or worried, learn relaxation techniques like yoga and deep breathing. Prayer and meditation are powerful relaxation techniques.
Ignore useless distractions. Usually rumors of who the examiner is become widespread during this time and examinees worry themselves silly with the type of questions the rumored examiner usually asks and with obtaining notes and materials written by or about the rumored examiner. This is just a useless exercise which would distract you from doing what should be done: studying. All examiners are in the main bound by an unwritten law that their questions should be on the basics of the law and on significant jurisprudence. So just ignore the question of who the examiner might be and stick your nose to your review materials.
The bar exam month features the annual frenetic paper chase by bar examinees. Examinees go on a quest for the Holy Grail of the bar exams: the red or blue notes from San Beda or Ateneo or the UP notes. These notes are supposed to embody the answers or even “leaks” of bar exam questions. This is balderdash. I graduated from Ateneo and worked in the bar-ops. I know that the so-called blue notes are simply compilations of probable bar questions with answers prepared by law students with a little assistance from the faculty. While they are definitely helpful, you don’t have to wail and grind your teeth if you do not get them. What is contained in the blue notes is more often than not also in your bar reviewers and review materials.
One examinee spent a lot more time looking for notes, tips, and leaks rather than studying. He failed the bar five times and is now exploring career opportunities with the CIA.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP ON THE NIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM. This advice cannot be overemphasized. Adequate sleep makes the mind sharper and allows us to recall what we have studied with facility. So do not make the mistake of studying until the witching hour. The extra hours of study is not worth it if you find yourself sleepy and thinking sluggishly during the bar exam.
You should hit the sack by 9 p.m. Do not panic if you find that you are unable to sleep. Just relax and continue lying in bed, at least your body will be rested. But do not make the mistake of standing up and studying. In that case you will lack both sleep and rest, and the chances of a disaster are multiplied threefold. Ron de Vera slept for only an hour the night before the first Sunday exam and for only 30 minutes the night before the second Sunday exam of 2004. He placed second. (Lat et al., Bar Blues, p. 85). Of course I’m not saying that you get only an hour’s sleep if you want to place in the top ten, what I’m saying is that there is no need for you to call 911 if you find yourself unable to fall into the arms of Morpheus.
I advise against taking sleeping pills. They often have the side effect of muddling up your thinking. There was an examinee who, finding himself unable to sleep the night before the Civil Law exam, popped a sleeping pill. He was able to sleep all right, but the next day he found himself unable to distinguish between loco parentis and crazy momma.
REMEMBER TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. Before you start reading and answering the questions, take the time to first read and understand the instructions. Quite a few examinees in their eagerness go straight to reading and answering the questions without bothering to read the instructions. This could be disastrous. Keep in mind that there will be different instructions for the three types of exams.
NEVER LEAVE ANY QUESTION UNANSWERED. Even if you are clueless as to the answer to a question, give it your best try. Never leave any question unanswered. The examiner may feel slighted if you do not answer a question. He may think that you felt that the question was not properly crafted that is why did not answer it. Moreover a blank response will get you zero while giving it your best shot could net you 2 or 3 points which could spell the difference between flunking and passing.
In the MCQ exam, remember that a wrong answer will not result in a deduction. The MCQ exam does not follow the “right-minus-wrong” rule. Hence do not leave any MCQ unanswered, since you have at least a 25% chance of picking the correct answer.
MANAGE YOUR TIME WISELY. Many examinees spend too much time on the first part of the exam and thus find themselves rushing through the second part or worse running out of time and leaving some questions unanswered. Learn to pace yourself properly. Taking mock bar exams will help you learn how to pace yourself in a 18 to 20 question examination.
DO NOT BE FLUSTERED BY “SHOCK AND AWE” QUESTIONS. Those who took the 1991 Bar Examination (like me) will never forget the infamous first question in Political Law: “What is the writ of amparo? Discuss its constitutional basis.” Considering that almost all of us examinees could not tell the difference between this writ and Ms. Amparo Munoz, the question had the effect of a sneak punch to the solar plexus. I can still picture in my mind the bar exam room at MLQU, everyone was too flabbergasted to say anything but the shock could be seen in everyone’s faces.
I was not amused but on the contrary bemused. For about seven minutes, I just sat there, unable to think or write anything down. Eventually I was able to steady my nerves by thinking that if I found the question befuddling, quite a few others also probably did. I wrote down something about the writ having to do with the enforcement of civil rights and being of Latin American origin, which I vaguely remembered from some obscure news item in the Manila Bulletin about a speech of Chief Justice Marcelo Fernan.
Other “shock and awe” questions include one which asked who the current president of the International Court of Justice was, one which asked for the meaning of the acronym ACID (from a speech of Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban), and another which asked the examinee to define the Denicola test in intellectual property law.
Such kinds of questions are not really expected to be answered correctly by the majority of the examinees (and even law professors) but are meant more to test the resolve and fortitude of one who aspires to be a lawyer. Do not panic or lose hope if you do not know the answer to the question. Just give it your best try and proceed to the other questions.
AFTER THE EXAM
DO NOT DISCUSS THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS. After you have taken a bar exam in a particular subject, forget about it and concentrate on preparing and studying for the next bar exam subject. After all you cannot undo what you have already written. Avoid discussing the probable answers and avoid people who delight in discussing them. The time spent on arguing and discussing the probable answers is better spent relaxing and preparing for the next exam.
The bar exam is a formidable challenge but like any other hurdle it can be surmounted by assiduous planning and preparation. The following quote from Steve Nash, a player of less than imposing physical attributes but who went on to become one of the NBA all-time greats, is inspiring:
You have to rely on your preparation. You got to really be passionate and try to prepare more than anyone else, and put yourself in a position to succeed, and when the moment comes you got to enjoy, relax, breathe and rely on your preparation so that you can perform and not be anxious or filled with doubt.
When your moment comes, enjoy it!
January 2015
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