THE GREAT FORMULA
IN PASSING THE BAR EXAMINATIONS
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
Actual preparation for the bar examination starts from
the first day a law student attended class during the
first year in the law school.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Get this straight right now. Passing the bar
examination has been, still is, and will always be a
difficult proposition!
No one can really help you pass the bar examination
but yourself.
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.
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.
There will be times when you become sleepy while
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.
Force yourself to read, understand and absorb what law
you reviewed. Otherwise, all your efforts will go to
waste.
Love and review cannot mix in the business of
preparing for the bar examination.
Early to bed, early to rise, that is the way to make a
man healthy, wealthy and wise.
A morning shower is a must.
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.
Remember, keeping your health in good running
condition is just as important as reviewing and
passing the bar examination.
Good handwriting is decidedly a great factor in
passing the bar examination.
To beat time, never write kilometric answers.
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.
You have to write simple, grammatically correct
English if you want to hurdle the examination.
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.
Make your motto now: Stick to codal provisions!
Compliment this with doctrines laid down in recent
decisions of the Supreme Court.
Impressive answers showing the candidates reasoning
faculty is what the examiners want to read in your
examination notebooks.
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.
Memorizing a particular provision of law word for word
but without understanding it and its various
implications is a lot of wasted effort.
Never fail to read the newspapers when you are
preparing for the bar examination. Read newspapers
from 20 to 30 minutes every day.
You can never expect to pass the bar examination
without preparation.
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.
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.
Cheating is one sure way to endanger your future
career as a prospective member of the legal
profession. Never commit such atrocious act like
cheating in the bar examination. It never pays. Depend
on your own capabilities. Fight your battle royale on
a high plane!
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.
Like the weather, examiners are absolutely a bunch of
unpredictable fellows, capable of asking unpredictable
questions.
Do not try to memorize 50 definitions or distinctions
in any given time. Two or three will do.
The real secret in remembering the matters contained
in an enumeration is the use of keywords. Make your
keywords on enumerations you consider important.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
The technique of writing down answers responsive to
questions is a matter that the candidate must learn as
a matter of imperative necessity.
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.
Never forget that every candidate is a potential bar
topnotcher.
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.
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.
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.
