My answers to the July 2011 California Bar Exam

I am always on the look for topics that people want to read on this blog. Since I received such a popular reaction to my post on bar exam scoring I will provide my answers, in a series of posts to the July 2011 California Bar Exam (CBX) essay questions. First, here is a little on the language that I use to describe the questions.

There are four basic kinds of questions that I categorize based on baseball.

Fastballs – your typical issue spotting racehorse question – typically Torts, Contracts, Evidence, Real Property, Wills/Trusts or Civil Procedure. The principles are usually straightforward.

Change-ups – a short question on a very particular area of law – typically Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure or Business Associations.

Curve-balls – a question that twists a two principles together. Here, you need to resolve the first part correctly, in order to resolve the second part.

Screw-balls – a nasty question that both focuses on a narrow area of law and does not contain the facts necessary to answer the question. Skilled exam takers will read “inferences” into the fact pattern in order to fill in the gaps. Less skilled exam takers will make up a rule based on the facts presented.

Here are links to my other posts on the questions themselves:

Question One: Criminal Law (the robbery run)
Question Two: Civil Procedure (I saw this before)
Question Three: Contracts (wait, you’re rich)
Question Four: Professional Responsibility (Your friends are my friends)
Question Five: Real Property (terrible trespasser)
Question Six: Community Property (who gets the stuff)