Bar Breaker will help you Pass!
Written: Jun 15 '02 (Updated Jun 15 '02)
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Pros: The best book on passing the Bar essays on the Market, this one works!
Cons: You better be willing to do the work, no pain, no gain.
The Bottom Line: For $100 this will be the best investment you can make for your legal education. Bar Breaker will give you the tools to write essays that will pass.
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| LRai's Full Review: Bar Breaker Vol. 1 and 2 (Set) Books |
If I don't pass the Baby Bar it won't be because of this book. It will be for a lot of other reasons that are totally out of my control, and to date I don't know of a single thing in the world that can change them.
Most of the score you get, at least on the Baby Bar is in the hands of a subjective reader, and this being the case the best you can do is give them what they want. Bar Breaker by Jeff Adachi, Esq. will help you see that the key to passing is in the style. It isn't so much what you know as much as it is about how you write it.
Bar Breaker is a step by step primer designed to improve your essay skills. I started by writing mush, and worst of all my essays were supposedly the best in my class. Now I feel like I can write an essay that will pass.
Our instructor taught us the IRAC method, however the style was sooooo simple that it would not be enough to get a passing score. We were taught to write out Issue, Rule, Application and Conclusion as actually Headers. Adachi teaches you to put them into the body with phrases that will get the point across to the reader and help you not waste time.
I love this book, it is a tool and one that I have added to my ever growing arsenal. I am signed on with BarBri and I will do that review when the time comes, but for the essay part I highly recommend Bar Breaker. Now let me interject that if you are comfortable with a Flemings approach, then by all means do it, but if that isn't working for you try this.
Bar Breaker is a two volume set that sells for $100. I recommend you go through the distributor Law.com, they ship in one day. You can get it a little cheaper at B & N or Amazon, but it will take much longer. The ISBN is 1-882278-04-6. Jeff Adachi, Esq. is a former Bar/Bri professor and past bar exam grader. That is the part that I feel made it worth the $100. He gives you insight from his experience on just what a bar grader is looking for and with that information you have an edge.
He will give you examples of how to write the Issue. Here is a sample from a Tort on False Imprisonment. This first one is how NOT to do it;
Frank might recover for false imprisonment, but the facts don't say whether Dennis could have left. If Dennis could have left Frank's office, then he wasn't falsely imprisoned. False imprisonment also requires that Frank intended to confine Dennis, but the facts say that Dennis "agreed" to go into the office. If Dennis agreed, how could he now say he was imprisoned? Thus, Dennis may not recover for false imprisonment.
Now here is the RIGHT way to do it;
Frank committed false imprisonment. While Frank initially invited Dennis into his office, once inside the office, Frank committed an intentional act by telling Dennis he had to remain in the office, a "bounded" area. The presence of Frank's four employees supports Dennis' argument that he was subject to actual confinement, and could not have escaped by reasonable means. Dennis was also conscious during the incident, and thus need not demonstrate actual injury.
Frank would first argue that Dennis expressly consented by agreeing to enter the office. While this is true, Dennis would argue that Frank's later acts and statements exceeded the scope of his initial consent. Frank could argue that Dennis remained voluntarily after he "asked" Dennis to remain, but as a matter of semantics, the words "have to remain" indicate a command, not a request. Also, the fact that Dennis remained in the office for one hour suggests that he did so involuntarily, since a reasonable person would probably not do so unless forced.
That is only one example of the style you are taught in this book. You are given many practice essay questions and there is a way to self score. If you do the work you will see the results. I can personally tell you that I saw my essays improve and now I feel that I can write just what the exam reader wants, and to be honest that is all that counts.
Now if only I could improve the multistate score....I guess for that I will still need to use the "flip a coin" method. If you find that essays are where you need help and nothing has helped, try this book. Jeff writes in a style that is easy, sometimes it appears too easy. I promise you that it will be the best $100 you spend and let's face it, you have probably spent way more than that already!
Bar Breakers has been the best find so far in my Law School training, I take my Baby Bar in just 10 days, but I know that I won't be in a panic because of this book. I may still not pass like I said before, but I feel that I have done everything to prepare. For my fellow Law Students, good luck to you all, hell awaits.
Recommended:
Yes
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LRai
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Member: L Rai
Reviews written: 190
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
Business consultant, Business Instructor and English teacher working abroad China and Kazakhstan.
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