MEE Study Tips – Part 3

Let’s finish up our tips on mastering the MEE portion of the Bar Exam.

 

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  • Don’t Try to Memorize Everything: This may require you to change your approach to studying the law. In law school, it was probably commonplace to create your outline, read it and reread it until you memorized the law that you could then apply on practice exams.1Commonplace but still not necessarily the best, most efficient way to study based on your preferred learning style. But on the Bar Exam, there is A LOT more law to learn and you simply cannot memorize everything. You really have to find ways that best work with your preferred learning style (Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, Kinesthetic) in order to get the most out of your studying. Even then, you will not be able to memorize everything. So you should aim to change how you view memorization for the bar exam. 

You should try to memorize the big points (like elements of a Tort or Crime), trigger words, and key phrases. Knowing these things will help jog your memory on the Bar Exam to work through the correct analysis on a MBE question or write a “perfect rule” on your MEE questions. So many students think they need to memorize the exact definition that [insert Bar Company here] gives them in their outlines and then put so much pressure on themselves to learn every single word of that definition. But the truth is that whether you memorize that or give the Bar Examiners the correct buzz terms then apply them using the appropriate facts, you’re getting the points. 

For example, one of the most difficult concepts for me when I was in law school and on the Bar Exam was Proximate Cause in relation to Negligence. I could have spent hours staring at the definition in my Bar Notes from my Bar Company, but it just didn’t make complete sense to me. Until I realized proximate cause comes down to one word: Foreseeability. From there, I didn’t need to memorize a full definition but could use my own words to define it. I could simply write “Proximate cause means that the risk of injury to plaintiff was foreseeable from the actions taken by defendant.” Was this the definition that [insert bar company here] gave me? No. Does it give enough information to the Bar Examiners to get points on the exam? Absolutely. Once you stop trying to be perfect and simplify your memorization, you will begin to remember more than you think about the law. 

  • Be Careful with Sample Answers: Sample answers are great. They help you determine if you are spotting the correct issues, analyzing the correct facts, and remembering enough of the law. However, they are not always properly structured or even in any sort of IRAC organization. So when you are reviewing your sample answers, only use them for checking your substance to see if you recognized the issues and discussed the correct law. Don’t get stressed if your answer is not organized exactly like the sample answer. Stick to using IRAC and your organization will be fine. 
  • IRAC: Keep it simple. You don’t have to try to write beautiful prose, a well-crafted transition sentence, and rhyming couplets. You are just trying to get points. Stick to IRAC and make it as simple, robotic, and formulaic as possible. IRAC each issue you address in a MEE. Your Rule statement should just go through the general law, then the specifics and any important definitions you need to explain the general law, then get into the exceptions that apply to the main issue at hand. Then analyze each element you need to prove or disprove by attaching it to a fact or arguing both sides if you are given the facts to argue both. Do not simply restate the facts or conclude by repeating the law. You do not need to be fancy here. Each sentence can follow a formula: Element + Connection Term + Applicable fact.2For Example: The defendant breached her duty as a reasonably prudent driver (this is your element) because (this is your connection term) she crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic striking the plaintiff’s car head on (this is your applicable fact). Then come to a simple, one sentence conclusion. This organization makes it easy to read, keeps it structured, and makes it simple for the reader to find and award you points. Don’t try to do too much, keep it simple. 
  • Practice NOT knowing the law: A part of being a lawyer is making an argument even when you are not entirely sure of the law. I’m not saying you have to completely make something up, but use the facts that are given to you to work backwards and formulate a rule even when you are not exactly sure or have forgotten the actual rule. This will at least get you SOME points rather than skipping it and getting nothing. It’s also important to remember that you WILL3Not “may” but “will definitely without question” run into a question on the Bar Exam that you just do not know or remember the law to answer. But you still have to do what you can to make an educated creation of the law and argue the facts to get some points. The best way to be ready to do this on the actual Bar Exam is to practice it BEFORE exam day. So don’t skip a question during your Bar Prep simply because you do not know the answer. You should create a strategy to attack these types of questions and then practice it several times to be ready. 

 

Now you have what it takes to master the MEE! But remember, the most important thing is practice so get out there and get plenty of it!

Meet the Author
Stephen Iannacone is Director of Academic Success at Cardozo School of Law and a Bar Exam Coach at Vinco. Prior to joining Cardozo School of Law, Stephen was a trial attorney at the law firm of Spiegel & Barbato, LLP. He specialized in civil litigation in all New York venues and argued several appeals in the First Department. He was also an adjunct professor at Pace Law School where he taught classes to third-year students preparing for the Bar Exam as well as classes to second-year students focusing on legal writing and analysis. Read more about Stephen >