Test Day 3: Civil Procedure

This was by far the most brutal and difficult exam of all the law school exams I have taken so far. It was not so much that the fact pattern was complicated with many issues or that it took the entire four hours of steady writing to get everything down on paper but the nature of the exam was exhausting. In contracts or property, we were supposed to describe the parties rights and liabilities. If I was not sure exactly what a court would do or what I would advise a party, I could just write about what both parties to a dispute might have as rights and could move on to the next issue. The civ. pro. exam required us to take a position on the issues and we couldn't hedge our answers. This forced us to decide one way or the other and what made the doubt and necessity to make a decision worse, subsequent issues depended on how we decided earlier issues. Each conclusion of an issue effected how you decided later issues and since it was timed, you could not spend a long time trying to decide which way to play it. It was "an rewarding educational experience" in a way, but it feels like I went running for four hours. It made me think how productive I would be if I could bring some of that same level of focus to studying. You can't function at that level of intensity all the time, but an exam shows you both how well your brain works and where its weaknesses are. Alright, I am not really making any more sense here. Tomorrow I begin to study for torts. Two more reading days and one more final and then a weekend off!!!!!