Bar Exam Techniques

Subjects & Schedules

The Bar Exam is divided into eight Bar Subjects spread over four Sundays. While the
relative total weights of each of the four Sundays are equal, the eight Bar Subjects are not
however of equal weight.

  First Sunday:    
  A.M.: Political Law & International Law -  15%
  P.M.: Labor Law & Social Legislation -  10%
    Total     -  25%
  Second Sunday:    
  A.M.: Civil Law -  15%
  P.M.: Taxation -  10%
    Total     -  25%
  Third Sunday:    
  A.M.: Mercantile Law -  15%
  P.M.: Criminal Law -  10%
    Total     -  25%
  Fourth Sunday:    
  A.M.: Remedial Law -  20%
  P.M.: Legal Ethics & Practical Exercises -    5%
    Total     -  25%

          All morning subjects have higher weights compared to the afternoon subjects. Remedial
Law is the heaviest at twenty percent (20%) and so it contributes significantly to whether you
make it or not. Remedial Law can literally pull you up or down heavily. On the other hand, Legal
Ethics & Practical Exercises carries the lightest weight (5%). However, this does not mean that
you can take Legal Ethics and Practical Exercises for granted because even if your General
Weighted Average is enough to land you in the Top 10, but if you get a Grade of lower than 50
in Legal Ethics, you still won’t see you name in newspapers or in the Supreme Court website
when the results are released.

Type of Questions
Bar Exam questions come in different types and forms. Most of the questions are essay
problems and those that require theoretical discussions. However, notwithstanding the
supposed policy against asking questions that require pure memorization, we still see a lot of
objective-type questions, like definitions, distinctions, and enumerations. Objective-type
questions should therefore be taken as part of Bar Exam realities, i.e., things that we cannot
control and we just have to find a really good way of dealing with them, which, by the way, is
one of the purposes of this book.
 Time for Answering
You have four (4) hours for morning subjects, that is, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon, but only three (3)
hours for afternoon subjects, i.e., from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. This is understandable because
afternoon subjects carry a lesser weight compared to their morning counterparts. However,
there appears to be no considerable difference in the length of the questionnaires for the
morning and afternoon subjects. This means that you have to think, analyze, formulate, and
write faster in the afternoon. 

Things We Cannot Control

There are things that you can control and things that you cannot in the Bar Exam. The first
technique therefore is to learn how to take advantage of things you can control and minimize, if
not totally prevent the adverse effects of things that you cannot control. For example, there is
too much material to be covered in each subject and you do not know where the questions will
come from. This is not within your control. But if we can only guess or anticipate where the
questions will come from, it will make preparation a lot easier. This is done by looking back
while looking forward.

 Looking Back While Looking Forward

There is no better way to understand the nature of Bar Exam questions than by studying
and examining past Bar Exams. You should closely study and analyze questions of the
last ten (10) years at the least. Look for patterns, trends and repetitions. A good
percentage of questions is repeated or recycled oftentimes with only slight
modifications. These repeated questions or topics are favorites of Bar examiners, and
since they are recycled, you have no excuse if you cannot answer them convincingly.

But looking back is only half the secret, the other half is anticipation. No question in the
Bar Exam should be a surprise, or worse, a shocker. Every question must be
anticipated. Every issue must have a ready solution.

 Why People Flunk the Bar?

It is said that one should have the three L’s to become a lawyer – Logic, Language and
Law. The first two L’s are supposed to be in one’s arsenal even before entering law school,
while the third L is learned in law school. Most of the reasons for flunking the Bar Exams are
related to these three L’s. People who flunk have problems in one, in two or in all the three L’s.

Logic problems come out in terms of misappreciation of the facts and the issues, poor
analysis, faulty reasoning, unjustified conclusions, and the like. Language problems come in the
form of grammatical errors, poorly structured sentences, misspelled words, and poor written
communication skills. Law problems come in the form of ignorance of the law or legal principles
implicated by the questions, poor understanding of the law, obsolete legal knowledge, and not
knowing how to apply the law to the facts of the problem.

Other reasons are illegible handwriting, inadequate preparations, health problems, and
sometimes even emotional problems.

WHAT TO DO BEFORE THE EXAM

Preparation is the Key

Preparation is the key to success to success in the Bar Exam. But this is not just any kind of
preparation. You must have a game plan and you should stick to it as if your entire life depends
on it. The following are proven preparation tactics:

Analyze your strong and weak subjects.

Before you begin your intensive Bar Preparation and Review, you should know your
strong and weak subjects. Evaluate your performance on each of the eight Bar subjects.
Your transcript of law school records can give you a more or less objective evaluation of
your performance. Examine your transcript of records and compute your grade average
on each of the eight Bar subjects. This will give you an idea on what your strong and weak
subjects are as evaluated and perceived by your law school professors. Consider this
data when you allocate your review time on the Bar subjects.

Consider the Weight of Each Bar Subject.

Consider also the weight of each Bar subject as well as your own perceptions on
their levels of difficulty in allocating your review time. More review time should be
allocated to morning subjects, especially to Remedial Law, but make some adjustments
on subjects that you perceive to be more difficult than the others.

Check your armory.

Conduct an inventory of your books and materials. Be sure you have all subjects
and topics covered.

Study to Beat the Exam

Bar Review and preparation isn’t law school anymore where you just sit down in long hours of
lectures and wait for your turn to recite provisions of law and cases. You no longer study to
survive the horrifying graded recitations. The Bar Exams is not only about what you have
remembered or what you can recite. It tests more than mere memory and understanding. It tests
your ability to analyze legal problems and to apply relevant laws and jurisprudence.
Bar Exam Preparation is not just about studying to know the law and jurisprudence. It is not only
about filling up your mind with legal knowledge. It is more about preparing your machine to use
and apply all these legal knowledge that you have acquired.

Study Smartly, Not Just Hard

Bar review and preparation isn’t really about studying hard and burning your machine too much.
Note that there are only around fifteen to twenty numbers or problems in each subject. Hence,
as a general rule, Bar Examiners will only choose topics which are important or relevant.
Questions that are out of this world should not really pose much of a problem. They are rare and
they are just icings on the cake.

Classify Legal Provisions

Since the Bar Examiners can only ask so much, therefore, the actual amount of legal knowledge
that you need in each subject is pretty much limited. The secret here is to classify provisions of
law into different categories. Example of categories are the following:

 Class “A” – very important provisions that should be mastered and memorized. Place in
this category those provisions that have already been asked in the Bar at least five
times. You will know this by studying past Bar Exam questions. Controversial provisions
that have not yet been asked should also be placed in this category;
 Class “B” – important provisions that should be mastered. Provisions that have already
been asked repeatedly in Bar Exam should be included here;
 Class “C” – relevant provisions that are the usual subjects of legal controversies and
cases but which have not yet been the subject of a Bar question or which have not been
the subject of a Bar question in the last five or ten years. Just study and understand
these provisions;
 Class “D” – Not so important or relevant provisions. This includes provisions that are
not expected to be in the arsenal of new legal practitioners. They have not yet been the
subject of a Bar Exam in the last century. More likely, they will never be asked in the
next century or even in the next millennium of Bar Exams. However, you should still read
them as part of your preparation, but if you lack time, they may be sacrificed in favor of
those in Categories “A”, “B” and “C”. Don’t worry, I’m sure you have covered them in law
school.
 Practice, Practice, Practice.
 The problem with many Bar takers is that they think they can hurdle the Bar Exam by
simply attending Bar Reviews, listening to lecturers, and reading their materials. Well,
that is a good way to prepare if the Bar Exam were only an exam on reading
comprehension and listening. But the Bar Exam is more than that – it is an essay exam!
Even objective-type questions, like those asking for definitions, distinctions, or
enumerations are all to be answered in essay form. Hence, there is only one effective
way to prepare, that is, practice writing essays, good essays. 
 The technique, therefore, is to acquire legal knowledge by listening to good review
lectures and by studying your materials and then spend time to practice applying that
legal knowledge by writing good essays.

  Take Practice Test Under Exam Conditions
 Law school exams usually take only about one to two hours. But have you already
tested yourself using a full-length Bar Exam questionnaire in a full stretch of four hours
or two Bar subjects for a total of seven hours in a single day? If not, then you are in for a
big shock mentally and physically in the first Sunday of the Bar Exams. To avoid this
shock, the secret is to take Mock Bar Exams that simulate actual exam conditions. You
reserve days for Mock Bar Exams. Simulate time allocations, ringing of the bell,
completing the name card, inserting it inside the envelop stapled in the notebook,
sealing the envelope, actual answering, reviewing your answers, etc. See if you your
mind can stay active for the whole day, that is, from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. See if your writing
hand and fingers can survive seven hours of punishment. See if you can manage
answering without having to answer the call of nature. Evaluate your mental and
physical readiness for this kind of exam.
 Stick to Your Own Materials

 Choose only one principal book per subject and be sure it is one of the books you have
used in that subject while you were in law school. It must have your markings,
highlightings, underlinings, and your notes and other jottings on the subject. But it
doesn’t mean that it will be your only book on the subject. You still have to quickly
browse other books and materials and look for concepts, matters, or discussions that are
not in your principal book you have chosen. Once you found anything of that sort, make
marginal notes in your principal book. The tactic here is that during the pre-month
(August), your principal book should already contain all you need in that subject.

 To Memorize or Not, That is the Question

 Attempting to memorize all the law available will make the exam frustrating and difficult.
Besides, you won’t have the time to actively and consciously memorize everything.
Moreover, it is not really necessary for you to cite legal provisions, excerpts from cases
or their titles verbatimly. In fact, restating a legal provision of concept in your own words
will have more impact on the examiner because it exhibits profound understanding of
legal provisions and concepts. But I am not saying that you should not memorize
anything. As discussed above, you should limit memorization only to those provisions
which you have classified as Class “A”. As to the others, you will be surprised that you
may somehow remember them, even verbatimly to some extent, by simply studying and
trying to understand them. Oftentimes, it is also through repetition, that is, by reading,
reviewing, and re-reviewing that you will subconsciously commit legal provisions
concepts to memory.

Stick to Codal Provisions

Never take codal provisions for granted. Bar Materials should always be studied in this order:
(a) Codal Provisions; (b) Commentaries; and (c) Cases. These are the three C’s in the study of
law.

Codal provisions contain the text of the law per se. If you have only read the commentaries or
the cases, but not the codes, how can you then write “the Law provides that…” with confidence?
You don’t know the law or what it provides if you have not read the code. I am therefore
surprised to meet many Bar Examinees who got the courage to take the Bar Exam without
having read the text of the Constitution, the Labor Code, Civil Code, the Family Code, the
Revised Penal Code, and the relevant provisions of the Code of Commerce, the Tax Code,
Tariff and Customs Code, Court of Tax Appeals Act, and other key provisions. Well, you may
fool some Bar Examiners some of the time, but you cannot fool all Bar Examiners all the time.
Worse, you may just be simply fooling yourselves.

Prepare Physically & Emotionally

The Bar Exam is not just about mental preparation. You might have prepared your mind for it
pretty well but if your body bugs down, then all your preparation will come to naught. Keep a
healthy lifestyle throughout the review period and the Bar Exam month. Get enough sleep. Eat
nourishing meals. Exercise to keep your body and mind sharp.

You should also keep away from all kinds of emotional problems. Most of these problems may
be avoided if only the persons close to you understand what you are going through in preparing
for and in taking the Bar Exams. One tactic here is to write love letters to your spouse, fiancée,
fiancé, parents, kids, relatives, friends, and your enemies (?) and explain to them what you will
be undergoing, its importance to you and to them, that you can no longer spend the same
number of hours with them as before, that they should spare you from text messaging, chain
emails, and errands that could be done by other persons. Ask for their understanding and
support, morally and financially if you need to or beg for it if you have to.

Avoid radical changes in your personal relationships

Avoid radical changes in your personal relationships during the review period and the Bar Exam
month. If you still have no boy friend or girl friend, then avoid the temptation of wooing one
during this period. You cannot afford heartaches during this period. Do not marry. Do not break
up or cool off with your boy friend or girl friend. Do not separate with your spouse. If they want
to, beg if you must but things like these just have to be postponed after you shall have finished
taking the exam.

If your mind starts to wander and you begin to lose focus on your preparations because of
anxiety, worry, grief, and other personal and family problems that you could not have avoided
like losing a loved one or critical illness in the family, always try to reclaim your mind and
channel your energy to your preparations. God forbids, but if you lose a loved one during this
period, then let him or her serve as your inspiration. Take the Bar Exam for him or her. To see
you fail in the Bar Exam is the last thing your loved one wants to see if he or she were still alive.
Worse, you lost focus in your preparation and review because of him or her.

Countdown
Have you already counted how many days you still have before the first Sunday of the Bar
Exam? If not, then try to count the days remaining and keep a countdown in a conspicuous area
in the place where you will be staying during the review period. I suggest you use a chalk and
an eraser and keep a countdown on your bedroom door. Every time you get up in the morning,
deduct one day from this countdown and it will give you a sense of urgency in your preparation,
as well as a sense of guilt every time a day passes and you have not really studied anything.

Things to Bring
 Notice of Admission
 Identification Card
 Sign Pens
 Tissue Paper
 Emergency Medicines
 Books & Notes
 Lunch & Snacks

The Ten Commandments

 in Answering Bar Exam Questions
I. 
 Thou shall not abandon your common sense.
 II.
 Thou shall leave your personal biases at home.
 III.
 Thou shall answer only what is being asked.
 IV.
 Thou shall not invent facts.
 V.
 Thou shall write legibly and clearly.
 VI.
 Thou shall not write unduly long answers.
 VII.
 Thou shall not brag about your legal knowledge.
 VIII.
 Thou shall not criticize the problem.
 IX.
 Thou shall always state the legal basis of your answer.
 X.
 Thou shall not make an unjustified conclusion.