22. GENERAL ADVICE ON THE FINAL EXAM.
1. JD students -- No computers, no notes, no cell phones, no iPads, no MP3 players, no headphones, no nothing electronic.
2. For JD students, the exam is closed book & no notes. I will provide the relevant Fed. R. Evid.
3. For graduate and exchange students, the exam is open book. You may bring a dictionary, a computer, any text you have printed out, and your notes. I will provide a copy of the Rules of Evidence.
4. The final exam for JD students will be approximately 25 multiple choice and/or short answer questions for which you will have 3 hours. That’s about 7 minutes per question. That’s plenty of time as long as you don’t get hung up agonizing over one hard question. For graduate and exchange students, the exam will be 10-12 short-answer questions for which you will have 3.5 hours.
5. Don't panic if you don't know the answer to a couple of questions. I aim for 10 easy questions, 10 medium questions, and 5 hard questions. No one has ever gotten all 5 of the hard questions.
6. Before you plunge ahead, make sure you understand the basic facts of the case:
a. Who are the parties?
b. What is the cause of action?
c. What is the central event?
d What are plaintiff's basic allegations?
e. What is defendant's response.
f. Are there any affirmative defenses?
You need to know this for relevancy, helpfulness of opinions, and for a number of hearsay responses, especially "not for its truth," state of mind, and statements of the opposing party.
7. Remember that the best objection or response will not necessarily be the one that first pops into your mind. To combat the natural tendency to jump to conclusions, you may want to adopt the following strategy:
a. Decide what is the most likely answer.
b. Identify a second answer that is also plausible.
c. Analyze both approaches (in your head or on scratch paper), thinking carefully about whether all elements of the foundations have been laid.
8. What if you have two plausible answers?
a. If one argument is stronger than the other, use only the stronger argument.
b. If the answers are equally strong, use both. This is not common.
c. If the answers are equally weak: 1) Go back to the beginning and look for a 3rd possibility; 2) If you can't find a 3rd possibility, use both weak answers. Not common.
9. Scoring:
a. Generally 4 points per question (100 points total on JD exam)
b. You gain points for good answers and lose points for bad answers.
c. A good answer is always worth twice as much as a bad answer, so if you give one good answer one silly answer, you end up with 2 points -- 4 for the good one minus 2 for the bad one.
d. For many questions, there will be a second-best answer worth 2-3 points.
10. EXAMPLES. Follow the link to sample JD exam or sample graduate and exchange student exam.