12 Weeks Until the California Baby Bar Exam

Hello,

Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly FYLSX Newsletter. We've received great feedback from our last few issues, and we encourage you to forward the newsletter to friends or classmates that are taking the October exam.

In this issue, we consider:

A. Exam Study Strategy: The "Testing Effect"
B. Essays In-Depth: UCC v. Common Law
C. Program Highlight: FYLSX Trial Essay
D. Newsletter-Only Discounts
E. Our Twitter FYLSX Tips Of the Day
F. Next Issue Preview

A. Exam Study Strategy: The "Testing Effect"
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Last week we addressed the common dilemma individuals face between "studying the law" or "practicing for the exam" when preparing for the FYLSX. As we described last week, we encourage everyone to practice essays with feedback as soon as they start their review.

This week we want to explain why practice essays are so important for ultimate success on the FYLSX essays. Hopefully, a brief explanation may provide additional impetus for you to faithfully integrate practice essays into your FYLSX preparation. Unsurprisingly to us, in the past 10-15 years, research in the field of cognitive science (specifically, cognitive psychology) has demonstrated two phenomena in trying to understand how human beings learn and retain information: the testing effect and the spacing effect (we'll address the spacing effect next week).

In simplest terms, the testing effect "refers to enhanced memory resulting from the act of retrieving information, as compared to simply reading or hearing the information. The effect is also sometimes referred to as retrieval practice or test-enhanced learning." See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_effect. Research into the testing effect also demonstrates that an individual will know the material better, and be better prepared for an examination, if study is combined with testing vs. study alone. Moreover, the testing effect increases when "feedback" for the "test" is available to the student. "Study" simply means passively reading the testable material (e.g., reading an outline).

So, how does the testing effect help you prepare for the FYLSX? The significance for you is that you can improve your exam preparation by taking advantage of the testing effect by integrating "testing" into your exam preparation instead of study alone. "Testing" can be any activity that requires you to recall ("retrieval" in cognitive science-speak) the testable concept or principle (e.g., rule of law). The "testing effect" has been utilized for many years in the form of flashcards and practice multiple choice questions for individuals preparing for bar exams.

However, one area where the testing effect has been neglected for FYLSX, and bar exam, preparation is the integration of full, practice essays with actionable feedback into an individual's exam preparation. You wouldn't dream of taking the FYLSX multiple choice without consistent, regular multiple choice practice questions that provide you answer explanations (this type of practice already takes advantage of the testing effect). Likewise, to take advantage of the testing effect for the essays, we believe FYLSX essay preparation should include regular, practice essays that provide you comprehensive, actionable feedback to improve upon your mistakes.

All of our programs are designed with the testing effect in mind, and we believe this type of essay practice with knowledgeable, actionable feedback is a major reason why individuals that complete our essay programs pass the exam at a significantly higher rate.

B. Essays In-Depth: UCC v. Common Law
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Our Essays In-Depth feature is a weekly excerpt from our Essay Solution: Workshop or one of our subject-specific Torts, Criminal Law, or Contracts FYLSX workshops. This feature is designed to identify common mistakes individuals make on their FYLSX essays and provide solutions to correct such mistakes. If implemented, these solutions will result in higher scores on your essays. This week we address the issue of UCC v. Common Law in a Contracts question.

1. Properly Identify the Issue
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Hopefully, you already recognize that in almost all Contracts questions (absent a highly-narrow, specific call of the question) one of the first issues you will address in any answer is the issue of UCC v. Common Law. The point of discussing this issue is to demonstrate to the grader that you know and recognize that all Contracts are either governed by the Uniform Commercial Code or the Common Law. Moreover, any discussion of the issue should also apply the tests to determine whether the UCC or Common law applies for the particular question.

A common mistake many individuals make when dealing with the UCC v. Common Law issue is providing an inadequate identification of the issue. Issue Identification* is an essential Issue Component* that should be a part of any issue discussion for any essay question. Too often, individuals will frame the issue with headings like "Applicable Law" or "What Law Applies?" These issue headings are inadequate because they fail to specifically identify the concept at issue.

However, this Issue Identification* can be improved with a simple, minor correction. Instead, any discussion of the issue should begin with the heading "UCC v. Common Law." This heading clearly identifies the concepts at issue.

2. Fully Apply Both the UCC and Common Law Standard in Your Analysis
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Once the issue is correctly identified, most individuals will provide a correct Statement of the Law*, indicating that the UCC governs contracts for the sale of goods over $500 (while also defining what a good is) and the common law governs all other contracts.

Yet, the Analysis* for the issue is where the most common problem occurs for most individuals: a failure to "fully apply" the facts of the question to both the UCC standard and the Common Law standard (by "fully apply" we mean an application of each element of the UCC standard to the facts and the same for the Common Law standard). Too often, individuals will substitute a conclusion for the actual analysis and state something like "Since this is a sale of goods, the UCC applies." This analysis is incomplete.

The solution is to make sure that you full apply the facts to each element of both the UCC and Common Law Standards that you cite in the Statement of the Law*. For example, your analysis should evaluate whether the subject of the contract is a good by applying the definition of good (movable object) to the specific subject-matter of the contract. Additionally, the analysis should evaluate whether the sale is for over $500 by specifically identifying the value of the contract. Then, you should explain whether the Common Law applies based upon the preceding application of the UCC standard (i.e., if the UCC does not apply because the contract is not for the sale of goods or less than $500, then the contract is an "all other contract" and the Common Law governs).

Lastly, do not forget to affirmatively state which law applies, the Common Law or UCC, in an independent, definitive conclusion.

3. Putting It All Together
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Since we've identified these common mistakes and their solutions, here is an illustrative template that provides a practical solution you can utilize in your essays:

[Macro/Micro Organization*]

[Issue Identification*] UCC v. Common Law

[Statement of the Law*] Explain and define when the UCC applies (sale of goods over $500); define goods under the UCC (movable objects); explain how the Common Law applies to all other contracts.

[Analysis*] Apply each element of the UCC standard to the facts: 1) sale of goods and 2) over $500 (use specific reference to the goods in question and contract value). Then, explain whether the common law applies or not based upon the preceding UCC analysis.

[Conclusion*] Provide a specific conclusion identifying which law applies.

*Please note, the above-asterisked concepts are fully defined, explained, and illustrated in our FYLSX Essay Solution workshop, which is available as a stand-alone program or included as part of all of our FYLSX essay writing programs. Immediate access to the workshop is available at http://barreviewsolutions.com/catalog/fylsx/essaysolution.

C. Program Highlight: FYLSX Trial Essay
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This week we highlight our "FYLSX Essay Tutoring Solution: Trial" program. Our Trial program is a 1-essay introduction to our FYLSX essay programs. The Trial program is designed to be a low-risk introduction to our FYLSX essay programs without the longer-term commitment found in our other FYLSX programs (our Fundamentals, Paced, or Ultimate programs).

The Trial essay includes an abbreviated questionnaire, a private, secure feedback page, and a comprehensive critique and evaluation of 1 FYLSX practice essay, which includes actionable feedback for you to improve subsequent essays.

We are so confident that you will immediately recognize the value and benefit of the feedback provided in our essay programs, that we will discount any subsequent purchase of one of our complete programs (Ultimate, Paced, or Fundamentals) by the value of the Trial essay. Since we advocate an open-note approach to essay practice at the beginning of your FYLSX preparation, you could purchase and complete the Trial essay today and receive your actionable feedback in 3 days. To learn more or to begin today, please visit:
http://barreviewsolutions.com/catalog/fylsx/tutoring_trial.

D. Newsletter-Only Discounts
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To receive Newsletter discounts in your inbox, Subscribe to this Newsletter.

E. Our Twitter FYLSX Tips Of the Day
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As a friendly reminder, we encourage you to "Follow Us" on Twitter. As we did for the July bar exams, we will provide daily FYLSX Tips of the Day from now until the October exam. We also periodically provide short-term (e.g., 1-day only) discounts on many of our programs and workshops, including our FYLSX essay programs and workshops. You can follow us at:
http://twitter.com/bar_review.

F. Next Issue Preview
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In our next issue, our Essays In-Depth feature will address the issue of Attempt in a FYLSX Criminal Law essay question. If you have any questions about this newsletter or any of our programs, then please feel free to Contact Us:
http://barreviewsolutions.com/contact.

Study smart,

-The BarReviewSolutions.com Team