Optional California Bar Exam Classes To Help You Pass

Optional California Bar Exam Classes To Help You Pass

As a graduating 3L, you may feel prepared for the Bar Exam … if you took the right courses in law school. Several subjects that are tested on the California Bar Exam are not required classes in law school. As cruel as it may seem, students are often surprised to encounter unfamiliar subjects during bar prep. Otherwise, you may panic at the thought of having to learn new subjects and concepts for the California Bar Exam. Students who take certain classes in law school often have an easier time during bar prep. This is because they took optional California Bar Exam classes during law school. Those students don’t need to learn new bar prep material and can treat portions of bar prep as a review.

Although thousands of students have passed the California Bar Exam without taking the classes mentioned below, every advantage helps. Let’s go over the recommended classes to take in law school if you plan on taking the California Bar Exam. Again, these classes aren’t mandatory in law school but are tested on the California Bar Exam.

Optional California Bar Exam Classes To Help You Pass

Community Property

Unlike many other Bar Exam administrations, the California Bar exam frequently tests examinees on community property. Although community property is not tested on the California Bar Exam MBE portion, it is tested on the essay portion. So, what is community property? In general, community property means that all property acquired during marriage by either spouse is presumed to be owned equally. Upon divorce and absent a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, there should be a 50/50 split of community assets and debts.

Since community property isn’t on the MBE portion, you might feel like you’ll be able to “wing it.” Be warned! Writing a full essay on a subject that you recently learned in the month prior is a daunting task. Plus, if you live in California or plan to live in California community property is a useful subject to know.

California Civil Procedure

While you focus on federal civil procedure in law school, little mention is made of the California variant. The California Code of Civil Procedure is exactly what it sounds like. The California Rules of Civil Procedure have only been tested twice. The first instance occurred in July 2009 when California civil procedure was tested within a larger Real Property question. The second time the concept arose was in July 2016, where the question was based entirely on California civil procedure. If you skim California civil procedure during bar prep, you don’t want to encounter a repeat of July 2016! Taking a California civil procedure course in law school is a great way to get familiar with the subject material.

Remedies

“Remedies” is a general term for the basic principles underlying civil litigation damages, equity, and restitution. While remedies aren’t technically tested as their own separate category on the California Bar Exam, they do occur very frequently. On both the MBE and essay portions of the exam, you can be sure to find questions about applicable remedies. It is not uncommon for essay questions or MBE questions to focus solely on appropriate remedies for an aggrieved party. Some essay questions focus solely on applicable remedies, while some test remedies as part of a larger concept.

California Evidence

This is somewhat of a deviation from the list above, but we felt we had to include it. While most (if not all) law schools don’t have individual courses dedicated solely to California evidence, the subject is crucial. California variations on the Federal Rules of Evidence appear on the California Bar Exam essay portion with some frequency. The California variations are usually covered alongside the Federal Rules of Evidence in your 2L year, so pay attention! Some of the distinctions can be complicated, so be prepared to encounter these during bar prep and on the exam.

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