Thursday, July 12, 2018

Quick guide on how to make a bar exam answer that is direct to the
point, brief, logical and complete
There are really a lot of ways on how to answer bar examinations. But
exploring these different versions in the actual bar exams may not be so good
given the short period of time. Given only a short period of four hours in the
actual bar exams for each subject, there is no time for you to think on how to
formulate your answers that is direct to the point, brief, logical and complete.

What we usually suggest is to follow a system and practice this as much as

possible to frame up the mind to think the way it should be for the actual bar
exams.
We follow a very simple system in the exam answers:

Responsive Answer, + a very short recall of material fact (Yes/no,

____________);
Legal basis (Under the law, _________);
Application (In this case, ___________);
Conclusion (Therefore, ____________);

For example, you are confronted with a possible question in the Bar Exams for
criminal law like:

B is an aspiring Lawyer taking now his formal bar review class in ABC Law
Review Center. B, having a problem catching up with the review lectures,
recorded the discussion of A, a bar reviewer for Criminal Law, without the
latter’s consent. Can B be held liable for violating the Anti-wire Tapping Law?
Responsive answer

The question is a simple Yes/No Question. In order to give a responsive answer,

you must give a yes/no response, with an additional recall of material fact in
the given problem which leads you to your position. So why bother giving a
short recall of some material facts? The reason is simple. This gives the
examiner the hint as to which problem you are and to which he is checking. In
checking the exam notebooks, the examiner will have no time in reading again
the problem for each number the fact that he will be checking 6000+
notebooks. Be sure to give the shortest statement in recall of your material
fact. We always want to keep our answers brief and concise.

Next is legal basis. In giving the legal basis, we usually start with a phrase like:

Under the law;

The law substantially provides that;
The law in substance provides that;
The law states to the effect that;

(Note: The first four must be used in recalling a provision of law. We used
“under the law” if we have memorized the law. If we have not memorized the
provisions of law, we used the other opening phrases. In giving legal basis, we
usually do not provide for the Article number. Why? Giving the article number
can be a two-bladed weapon. It can either impress your examiner if you can
perfectly recall the article number or either it can cause your flunking in the
bar because unfortunately you have cited the wrong article number. Citing
article number especially in Labor Law is very dangerous considering that the
Labor Code has undergone so much amendments.
In addition, why bother giving the article number when it is not even the law
itself?
However, there are some cases where it becomes inevitable to cite Article or
Rule number like in 2017 Bar Examination for Remedial Law where the question
calls for different modes of appeal.

In the case of;

In our jurisprudence;
In one case, the Supreme Court ruled that;

(Note: You do not have to cite GR nor SCRA numbers. It is very dangerous and
would only waste your time in the actual bar examinations. Citing cases is also
not advisable. When you cite like People vs. Santos, the examiner will think
that you are only bluffing. Actually, there are hundreds of cases titled People
vs. Santos. You can cite however celebrated cases.)

Under the doctrine of;

It is well-settled rule in our jurisdiction that;
It is well-settled rule;
It is well-entrenched rule;
Elementary is the rule which states that;
It is well-entrenched in the legal maxim which states that;

(Note: Above are heroes. If you cannot remember the law nor the
jurisprudence, resort with a doctrine, or a legal  maxim in law.)

In our jurisdiction;
(Use it if you cannot remember anything at all.)

Application and analysis to the facts

Examiners are not only interested in your knowledge of the laws but also in
your ability to use such knowledge to the applicable issues of the problem. Bar
examination is composed of 60% to 70% of analytical problems. Mere knowledge
of law is not sufficient.

To give hint to your examiners of your analysis to the issues of the case, you
may use:

In the case at hand;

In the case at bar;
In this case;
The facts showed that;
It the case, it can be gleaned that;

Conclusion.

Concluding statements become important to show your examiners that your

logic is well-crafted. Concluding statements must always conform to your
responsive answer.

Concluding words:
Hence,
Therefore;
Thus;
So.

We hope that this system will guide you and would be able to help you in your
journey to the bar. God bless you.

Note however, that we do not guarantee any correctness of this method. But
this is how we made it in the bar and several others.

Source: auzalinux.blogspot.com