How to Bullet Point an MEE during Bar Prep

How to Bullet Point an MEE during Bar Prep

While there are plenty of benefits to writing out full essays under timed conditions (particularly if you are not a great writer, or struggle with timing), writing out every single practice essay can be very time-consuming.  After you have written some practice essays and have a good grasp on the process of writing an essay under timed conditions, a great way to gain exposure to more practice essays in an efficient manner is to bullet-point an MEE during bar prep.

How to Bullet Point an MEE during Bar Prep

Why bullet point an MEE?  

A big mistake that we commonly see students make is that they ignore the essay section as they study and focus too heavily on the MBE section.  One reason many students make this mistake is that it is much easier to practice MBE questions, which might take just a couple of minutes each. That is much quicker than practice essays, which could take up to an hour each (or longer!) after you write it out, check the answer, and self-grade. Incorporating bullet-pointing into your study schedule will hopefully allow you to incorporate more essay practice into your studying without feeling overwhelmed.

Bullet-pointing or outlining essays is a very efficient way of gaining exposure to the types of issues that are tested, the facts that you might see with those issues, and practice organizing an answer.  You can also use bullet-pointing to improve upon your weaknesses.  For instance, if you struggle to come up with rule statements, but you are doing okay with the analysis, you can practice writing out just the rule statements as you practice, while not taking the time to write out the analysis.  Or, if you know that issue spotting is a weakness, you can focus on spotting the issues and organizing your answer rather than writing out full rule statements and analysis.

Here is a sample MEE essay and what a bullet-point answer could look like:

The following is a sample bullet-pointed answer of the July 2015 Torts essay, which can be found on the NCBEX’s website.

The first step is to outline the call(s) of the question:

1. Friend’s liability

2. Landowner’s liability

3. Woman’s liability

Next, identify any legal issues and sub-issues that need to be addressed for each heading:

1. Friend’s liability

Negligence – adult activity

Contributory/comparative negligence of the boy

2. Landowner’s liability

Premises liability – licensees or trespassers

            Attractive nuisance doctrine?

Contributory/comparative negligence of the boy

3. Woman’s liability

Negligence – rescuer’s duty

Finally, add detail to whichever section(s) you want to focus on. 

You could bullet-point the elements for the rules and/or the facts that you will use in the analysis.  Also, you could write a quick conclusion if you struggle to reach the same conclusions as the Examiners’ Analysis and need to practice this part of essay writing!  Bullet pointing allows you to efficiently practice the areas that still need work, while not wasting time doing things that you are comfortable with and are capable of doing efficiently.

1. Friend’s liability

Negligence – adult activity

• Child’s duty: reasonable child of similar age, intelligence, experience
• Adult activity: reasonable adult standard
• Turning onto unmarked trail is not reasonable
• Friend is likely liable for negligence

Contributory/comparative negligence of the boy

• Boy negligently allowed his friend to drive the snowmobile
• Contributory: complete bar
• Comparative: damages reduced by plaintiff’s percentage of fault

2. Landowner’s liability

Premises liability – licensees or trespassers

• License: landowner should have known that “no trespassing” sign would be covered by snow. Implies permission?
  • Duty: Warn or make safe concealed, manmade dangers that the possessor knows of. Landowner had reason to know that chain would be hidden by snow, probably should have provided a warning.
• Trespasser: no permission to come on the land (more likely)
  • Duty: no duty to warn or make safe hidden dangers
  • Attractive nuisance doctrine: landowner has duty if
    • Knows or has reason to know of dangerous, artificial condition
    • Children frequent the land
    • Children cannot appreciate risk
    • Landowner fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or protect children.
  • Attractive nuisance likely doesn’t apply to children engaged in adult activity.
• If licensee, landowner might be liable. If trespasser (more likely), landowner is probably not liable.

3. Woman’s liability

Negligence – rescuer’s duty

• No duty to rescue, but once a rescue begins, the rescuer must act reasonably
• Woman called 911 right away
• Responders delay, frostbite was not her fault (no causation)
• Woman is not liable for negligence.

Do I still need to self-grade? 

Yes!  Self-grading is the most important and most helpful part of essay practice, even when you are just bullet-pointing!  After you bullet point an essay, carefully review the Examiners’ Analysis. Take note of any issues you missed, any rule elements you left off, any facts you did not mention, etc.  Keep track of anything you missed (and keep reviewing your notes of what you missed!) so that those items stay fresh in your mind and you learn from your mistakes and don’t make the same mistakes again on the day of the exam!

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