THE GREAT FORMULA IN PASSING THE
There will be times when you become sleepy while
BAR EXAMINATIONS
Posted on January 29, 2016
Contributed by Atty. Glenn M. Mortel
There is nothing that can help a bar examinee most than
a constant and intensive study of the provisions of the
various codes and the interpretation and application
thereof by the Supreme Court in its decisions. By study is
meant, that the provisions must be correctly understood
and the thought or words thereof put to memory. After a
chapter, for example, has been studied, the next one
should be studied next, and after this, a review of all that
has already been studied re-reviewed, to keep the subject
matter and the provisions fresh in mind. Alejo Labrador
1. Actual preparation for the bar examination starts from
the first day a law student attended class during the first
year in the law school.
2. The blooming secret in passing the bar examination is
this: Present good answers that will make the examiners
take notice. Good answers anchored upon logical
reasoning, written in readable English and more
importantly, justified by appropriate legal authority.
3. If the candidates are at a loss as to what specific legal
provisions or case doctrines to use in answering problems,
the only alternative left for them is to use their own
common sense.
4. The key to passing the bar examinations is contained in
one word: ARTICULATION. Articulation is expressive of the
following basic fundamentals: good language, impressive
presentation, logical reasoning and substantial
background knowledge of law and procedure.
5. The examinee who has a fairly good command of
English, assuming that he is prepared in all other matters,
stands definitely with a much better chance of passing.
6. The responsive character of a given answer would
depend to a great extent, on command of good language,
logical reasoning and impressive presentation. This
objective of preparing impressive and responsive answers
can only be achieved by constant practice.
7. Get this straight right now. Passing the bar examination
has been, still is, and will always be a difficult proposition!
8. No one can really help you pass the bar examination
but yourself.
9. The greatest blooming secret of passing the bar
examination is and will always be: PREPARATION! Not just
any kind of preparation, but proper, sound and systematic
preparation.
10. Systematic review can only be done by the use of
what we call schedules which the candidate must follow
vigorously to the letter if he expects to attain the best
results.
11.
reviewing but never for one moment, tell yourself: Man,
this review can wait! Do not be stupid. Always remind
yourself that time is of the essence and is decidedly
running too short for you.
12. Force yourself to read, understand and absorb what
law you reviewed. Otherwise, all your efforts will go to
waste.
13. Love and review cannot mix in the business of
preparing for the bar examination.
14. Early to bed, early to rise, that is the way to make a
man healthy, wealthy and wise.
15. A morning shower is a must.
16. Never stay up late to the wee hours of morning,
cramming law into your head. This would not do you any
good. Remember, you have to conserve as much energy
as you possibly can.
17. Remember, keeping your health in good running
condition is just as important as reviewing and passing the
bar examination.
18. Good handwriting is decidedly a great factor in passing
the bar examination.
19. To beat time, never write kilometric answers.
20. By far the most important tool that the bar candidate
could equip himself with which to tackle the examination
that is inherently personal to him is command of written
English.
21. You have to write simple, grammatically correct
English if you want to hurdle the examination.
22. Presentation of answers that are not only good but
logical, full of substance and supported by law and other
authorities, are gems to the examiner, whether he has a
good or black heart.
23. Make your motto now: Stick to codal provisions!
Compliment this with doctrines laid down in recent
decisions of the Supreme Court.
24. Impressive answers showing the candidates reasoning
faculty is what the examiners want to read in your
examination notebooks.
25. Ability to retain your understanding of the substance
of the law through efforts of study is more desirable
quality to possess than mere ability to memorize legal
provisions.
26. Memorizing a particular provision of law word for word
but without understanding it and its various implications is
a lot of wasted effort.
27. Never fail to read the newspapers when you are
preparing for the bar examination. Read newspapers from
20 to 30 minutes every day.
28. You can never expect to pass the bar examination
without preparation.
29. Predicting probable questions based on important
principles or provisions of law is the safer method of
speculating what the examiners are likely to ask in their
examinations.
30. Never depend on tips for your passing. But never
brush these tips aside as nothing but trash. They may
likely cause your downfall. Never, however, bank too much
on them.
31. Fountain or sign pens are really the most important
equipment in bar examination. Never start for the
examination without bringing along with you two or more
fountain or sign pens.
32. Like the weather, examiners are absolutely a bunch of
unpredictable fellows, capable of asking unpredictable
questions.
33. Do not try to memorize 50 definitions or distinctions in
any given time. Two or three will do.
34. The real secret in remembering the matters contained
in an enumeration is the use of keywords.
35. Make your keywords on enumerations you consider
important.
36. Never leave a blank in an enumeration! However, if
you use the letters a, b, c, etc. for numbers in the
enumeration, so much the better. Ten to one, the
examiner may not count his fingers. Make the first four in
the enumeration definitely good.
37. The bar candidate should do well to be always on
guard against catchy questions capable of being answered
in a number of ways, e.g. What is a complaint? The perfect
answer should include both definitions in criminal and civil
procedure.
38. Never be content to answer questions with a mere yes
or no. You must, at all times, give justification why your
answer is a yes or no. Unless, of course, the examiner
qualifies his question with instruction enclosed in
parenthesis like: (Answer with a yes or no only).
39. Always determine the real facts (examiners have the
bad habit of including irrelevant facts to confuse you) and
the issue or issues in controversy. Which side you take,
always justify your side with reasons based on law, rule,
equity and justice. Whatever your answer may be,
provided it is written in legible language, the examiner will
never deny you the corresponding credit you deserve.
40. Always remember, make efforts to frame your answers
so that they are responsive to the questions. Never beat
around the bush. Go right straight ahead with your
answer. Avoid citations if and when you are not absolutely
sure about them. The shorter the answers are, the more
direct, the better. Avoid display of flowery expressions
which are complicated by legal verbosity. All you need are
sensible, direct and reasonable answers that are
responsive to the questions.
41. Legal knowledge is not enough to solve a particular
legal issue. What is important is ability to apply this
knowledge to the solution of legal controversies.
42. The most convenient method of tackling problem
questions is to present immediately the conclusion of a
given answer. Practice, practice, constant practice will
help the bar candidate write good answers that examiners
will give favorable credit.
43. The technique of writing down answers responsive to
questions is a matter that the candidate must learn as a
matter of imperative necessity.
44. Brevity and directness when done properly could make
an answer both effective and impressive. However, when
overdone to a point where the ideas sought to be
conveyed becomes vague and difficult to understand, they
become a liability.
45. Never forget that every candidate is a potential bar
topnotcher.
46. So, if you are a candidate just preparing for the bar
examination, whose chances of passing are quite
problematical, just limit your ambition for the present to
just working hard to obtain a 75 percent in the great battle
of your life.
47. Take comfort in this: That even those who become
lawyers by just luck, are making good in the practice of
law. Nothing can really put a determined man down.
48. In your preparation for the greatest battle of your life,
call upon Him who is the source of all knowledge, wisdom
and understanding. In deep humility, bended knees and
tears, He will make all things beautiful in His time. Victory
belongs to the most persevering!
Note:
All excerpts, except the last (No. 48), were taken by Atty.
GLENN M. MORTEL from the book SECRETS ON HOW TO
PASS THE BAR EXAMINATION by Dean Wenceslao G.
Laureta, 1990 edition.