S.O.U.N.D. Advice for the Bar Exam, 4.27.09

S.O.U.N.D. Advice for Bar Essays:

On the essay exam, use precise legal terms of art. For example:

* if the applicable principle of law is “adequate provocation,” then you shouldn’t call it “sufficient provocation”
* if the term is “minimum contacts,” don’t write “minimal contacts”
* if the term is “hearsay,” don’t write “heresy"

While you may not necessarily lose points if you don’t state every legal term of art precisely, the graders may pick up on your lack of precision and wonder what else you may be missing. Failure to use precise terms may signal to the examiners that you have a flaw with a basic legal concept with which you should be familiar.