USD-BAR/BRI EARLY BAR PREPARATION PROGRAM
Saturday, March 28, 2009 – Substantive Review
Saturday, April 4, 2009 – Focused Essay Writing
Saturday, April 18, 2009 – Multi-State Bar Exam Techniques
Saturday, April 25, 2009 – Performance Test
USD is offering a free BAR/BRI Early Bar Preparation program for graduating law students during the spring 2009 semester. This introductory program is not a substitute for taking a regular summer bar review course.
BAR/BRI will offer $100 scholarships to each student who attends all four workshops AND submits both the practice essay and performance test to BAR/BRI for grading.
This non-credit program consists of four FREE workshops on select Saturdays from 1:00-5:00 p.m. at the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE:
The program structure of BAR/BRI’s Early Bar Preparation Program for USD School of Law consists of four workshops as follows:
- Program Workshop One—Substantive Review:
- Program Workshop Two—Focused Essay Writing
- Program Workshop Three—MBE Techniques
- Program Workshop Four—Performance Test
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Substantive Review: BAR/BRI will introduce students to the structure of the California bar examination, including the logistics and coverage of the bar examination and techniques to assist in planning for the effort necessary to study for the bar examination. BAR/BRI instructors will also provide approximately two hours of substantive review in one heavily-tested bar subject. In preparation for Workshop Two, BAR/BRI will give students a series of fact patterns to review over the week and teach them strategies for studying and memorizing the black letter law.
Focused Essay Writing: BAR/BRI instructors will lecture on issue-spotting, essay writing and essay strategies in the area of law reviewed in Workshop One. BAR/BRI will provide students instruction on approaches to various fact patterns and administer an essay exam under simulated exam conditions. Upon completion of the exam, BAR/BRI instructors will discuss the issues the essay examination raised, techniques to spot the issues, answer organization and call responsiveness. In addition, BAR/BRI will remind students that they may turn in their essay exam for grading. BAR/BRI graders will then grade all collected exams and give written feedback in four areas: organization, issue spotting, analysis and writing clarity indicating whether the student passed or failed in each area.
MBE Techniques: BAR/BRI instructors will lecture on the multiple-choice section of the bar exam and provide specific approaches to the questions in the subject area reviewed in Workshop One. BAR/BRI will administer a short test of 12-17 released multiple-choice questions under simulated-exam conditions. Upon completion of the exam, BAR/BRI instructors will review each question, focusing on strategies and techniques to obtain the correct answer.
Performance Test: BAR/BRI instructors will lecture on the performance test section of the bar exam with particular emphasis on California’s performance test. The lecture will discuss the components of the performance test, the different types and strategies for answering each. BAR/BRI will distribute a practice performance test to each student for students to take on their own time. BAR/BRI will provide written feedback on all performance tests turned in for grading.
NOTE:
This introductory course is not a substitute for the regular summer bar review course but is intended to give you a head start on your bar preparation.
BAR/BRI SCHOLARSHIP
BAR/BRI will offer $100 scholarships to each student who attends all four workshops AND submits both the practice essay and performance test to BAR/BRI for grading.
