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Actual
preparation for the bar examination starts from the first day a law
student attended class during the first year in the law school.
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The blooming
secret in passing the bar examination is this: Present good answers
that will make the examiners take notice. Good answers anchored upon
logical reasoning, written in readable English and more importantly,
justified by appropriate legal authority.
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If the
candidates are at a loss as to what specific legal provisions or
case doctrines to use in answering problems, the only alternative
left for them is to use their own
common sense.
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The key to
passing the bar examinations is contained in one word: ARTICULATION.
Articulation is expressive of the following basic fundamentals: good
language, impressive presentation, logical reasoning and substantial
background knowledge of law and procedure.
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The examinee who
has a fairly good command of English, assuming that he is prepared
in all other matters, stands definitely with a much better chance of
passing.
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The responsive
character of a given answer would depend to a great extent, on
command of good language, logical reasoning and impressive
presentation. This objective of preparing impressive and responsive
answers can only be achieved by
constant practice.
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Get this
straight right now. Passing the bar examination has been, still is,
and will always be a
difficult proposition!
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No one can
really help you pass the bar examination but
yourself.
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The greatest
blooming secret of passing the bar examination is and will always
be: PREPARATION!
Not just any kind of preparation, but proper, sound and systematic
preparation.
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Systematic
review can only be done by the use of what we call
schedules which the
candidate must follow vigorously to the letter if he expects to
attain the best results.
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There will be
times when you become sleepy while reviewing but never for one
moment, tell yourself: Man, this review can wait!
Do not be stupid.
Always remind yourself that time is of the essence and is decidedly
running too short for you.
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Force yourself
to read, understand and absorb what law you reviewed. Otherwise, all
your efforts will go to
waste.
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Love and review
cannot mix
in the business of preparing for the bar examination.
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Early to bed,
early to rise, that is the way to make a man healthy, wealthy and
wise.
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A
morning shower is a
must.
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Never stay up
late to the wee hours of morning, cramming law into your head. This
would not do you any good. Remember, you have to conserve as much
energy as you possibly can.
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Remember,
keeping your health
in good running condition is just as important as reviewing
and passing the bar examination.
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Good handwriting
is decidedly a great factor in passing the bar examination.
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To beat time,
never write kilometric
answers.
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By far the most
important tool that the bar candidate could equip himself with which
to tackle the examination that is inherently personal to him is
command of written English.
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You have to
write simple, grammatically correct English if you want to hurdle
the examination.
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Presentation of
answers that are not only good but logical, full of substance and
supported by law and other authorities, are
gems to the
examiner, whether he has a good or black heart.
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Make your motto
now: Stick to codal
provisions! Compliment
this with doctrines laid down in recent decisions of
the Supreme Court.
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Impressive
answers showing the candidates
reasoning faculty
is what the examiners want to read in your examination notebooks.
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Ability to
retain your understanding of the
substance of the
law through efforts of study is more desirable quality to possess
than mere ability to memorize legal provisions.
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Memorizing a
particular provision of law word for word but without understanding
it and its various implications is a lot of
wasted effort.
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Never fail to
read the newspapers
when you are preparing for the bar examination. Read newspapers from
20 to 30 minutes every day.
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You can never
expect to pass the bar examination without
preparation.
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Predicting
probable questions based on important principles or provisions of
law is the safer method of speculating what the examiners are likely
to ask in their examinations.
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Never depend on
tips for
your passing. But never brush these tips aside as nothing but trash.
They may likely cause your downfall. Never, however, bank too much
on them.
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Cheating
is one sure way to endanger your future career as a prospective
member of the legal profession. Never commit such atrocious act like
cheating in the bar examination.
It never pays.
Depend on your own capabilities. Fight your
battle royale
on a high plane!
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Fountain or sign
pens
are really the most important equipment in bar examination. Never
start for the examination without bringing along with you
two or more
fountain or sign pens.
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Like the
weather, examiners
are absolutely a bunch of unpredictable fellows, capable of asking
unpredictable questions.
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Do not try to
memorize 50 definitions or distinctions in any given time. Two or
three will do.
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The real secret
in remembering the matters contained in an
enumeration is the
use of keywords.
Make your keywords on enumerations you consider important.
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Never leave a
blank in an
enumeration! However, if you use the letters a, b, c, etc. for
numbers in the enumeration, so much the better. Ten to one, the
examiner may not count his fingers. Make the
first four in the
enumeration definitely good.
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The bar
candidate should do well to be always on guard against
catchy questions
capable of being answered in a number of ways, e.g. What is a
complaint? The perfect answer should include both definitions in
criminal
and civil
procedure.
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Never be content
to answer questions with a
mere yes or no. You must, at all times, give
justification why your answer is a yes or no. Unless, of course, the
examiner qualifies his question with instruction enclosed in
parenthesis like: (Answer with a yes or no
only).
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Always determine
the real facts
(examiners have the bad habit of including irrelevant facts to
confuse you) and the issue
or issues in controversy. Which side you take,
always justify
your side with reasons based on
law, rule, equity and justice.
Whatever your answer may be, provided it is written in legible
language, the examiner will never deny you the corresponding credit
you deserve.
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Always remember,
make efforts to frame your answers so that they are
responsive to the
questions. Never beat
around the bush. Go right straight ahead with your
answer. Avoid citations if and when you are
not absolutely sure
about them. The shorter the answers are, the more direct, the
better. Avoid display of
flowery expressions which are complicated by legal
verbosity. All you need are sensible, direct and reasonable answers
that are responsive to the questions.
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Legal knowledge
is not enough
to solve a particular legal issue. What is important is
ability to apply
this knowledge to the solution of legal controversies.
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The most
convenient method of tackling
problem questions
is to present immediately the
conclusion of a
given answer. Practice, practice, constant practice will help the
bar candidate write good answers that examiners will give favorable
credit.
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The technique of
writing down
answers responsive to questions is a matter that the candidate must
learn as a matter of
imperative necessity.
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Brevity and
directness when done properly could make an answer both effective
and impressive. However, when
overdone to a point
where the ideas sought to be conveyed becomes vague and difficult to
understand, they become a liability.
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Never forget
that every candidate is a
potential bar topnotcher.
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So, if you are a
candidate just preparing for the bar examination, whose chances of
passing are quite problematical, just limit your ambition for the
present to just working hard to obtain a
75 percent in the
great battle of your life.
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Take comfort in
this: That even those who become lawyers by
"just luck", are
making good in the practice of law. Nothing can really put a
determined man down.
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In your
preparation for the greatest battle of your life, call upon
Him who is the
source of all knowledge, wisdom and understanding. In deep humility,
bended knees and tears, He
will make all things beautiful in
His time.
Victory belongs to the most
persevering!
