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Don't Argue With Judges and Other Pending Dooms
Besides marathon prep (which is really all psychological at this point), and thinking a little about NaNoWriMo starting next week, it seems a bit like there's not much going on around here, but that's not exactly true. For one thing, I totally failed in my attempt to write and argue a motion to suppress last week. Thankfully it was a class exercise so no one is going to jail because of my incompetence. Two lessons from that experience:
First, I tend to do better when I think I'm going to lose; I think this is because I am more humble and earnest and attuned to what the judge is saying and how he/she is reacting to what I'm saying. This time I thought I had a slam dunk legal argument and when the judge disagreed, I had nothin'. I was dead. It was ugly.
Second, never argue with the judge. Duh. This is so basic it's humiliating to have to admit I apparently needed to hear it yet again, but there you go. When my slamdunk legal argument fell on deaf ears and I had nothin,' I tried to support my position with argument that was, well, not sufficiently deferential to the, uh, rank and great wisdom of the judge. And, of course, I hadn't prepared very well for that argument b/c I thought the law was so much on my side that I wouldn't need much support for it. That left me just sort of repeating the same things with more and more exasperation, hoping that if I said them firmly and confidently enough, and repeated them enough times, the judge would be persuaded. It didn't work and apparently just made the judge mad. In all, a very bad performance on my part. I hope my real arguments to suppress coming up next week go a little better. I assume I'm going to lose those, so maybe I'll win. ;-)
Besides that, I'm all registered for the MPRE taking place very very soon on Nov. 4, and wow, that's exciting! I haven't lifted a finger in preparation, so I'm thinking the next couple of weeks could kind of suck.
Can anyone tell me what happens if you fail the MPRE? Are there consequences (besides wasting the $55 registration), or can you just take it again the next time?
Posted October 25, 2005 09:51 AM | 3L
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You don't fail the MPRE. You just get a study book and waste about 1.5 days cramming. Then, when you take actual exam, you just answer each question according to the following maxim: screw your friends, collegues and loved ones, but never screw your clients. You'll be fine.
Posted by: Beau at October 25, 2005 11:12 AM
There are no major consequences to failing the MPRE provided that the state you hope to practice in does not require you to pass the MPRE BEFORE sitting for the bar; however, rather than worrying about the consequences of failing, I recommend putting a little effort in and passing the first time around ;)
Posted by: Samples at October 25, 2005 12:13 PM
MARATHON???? Stop the insanity!
Seriously.. I go away for a bit and you turn into one of those weirdos who thinks running 26 miles is some sort of cool thing.
The only marathon for me is one involving my iPod and some great new music.
Posted by: justin at October 25, 2005 03:18 PM
Don't worry, you won't fail the MPRE. It is the easiest test imaginable (almost). I studied for about 1 1/2 days and passed easily.
For the sake of academic argument, I don't know if the fact that you took the exam before shows up on any report, but I think the only negative is that you have to take it again.
Posted by: Unreasonable Man at October 25, 2005 03:56 PM
i'm pretty sure you can just take it again. the BarBri course really is very helpful.
And what about EJW Fair this weekend?
(btw, my typekey ID hasn't worked since you upgraded MT.)
Posted by: monica at October 25, 2005 05:54 PM
You take it again, and again, etc until you get the required grade. I knew someone who took it four times.
I highly recommend the one day BarBri prep course for the MPRE. If you already registered for BarBri then it's free. It is usually the Sat before the exam.
Good Luck!
Posted by: TSC Girl at October 25, 2005 06:39 PM
If you don't pass the MPRE on your first try, you get to try, try again, so long as you are willing to part with another application fee.
Don't sweat it too much. If you took a professional responsibility class, review your notes and you should be fine... Your experience may vary, of course.
Posted by: Andrew at October 25, 2005 10:37 PM
"I knew someone who took it four times."
Was his name Tom Delay? :)
Posted by: Dave! at November 4, 2005 09:52 AM
