That was remarkably unpleasant

Let me preface this entry by saying it really has been an excellent day — my NC State Wolfpack dominated (and shut out) the University of Non-Compliance at Cheater Haven on the gridiron today to extend our win streak to 5 consecutive years, ((I heard through the grapevine they’re going to rename the UNCCH mascot to “Tar Heellllls” — yep, with 5 consecutive L’s )) I got to enjoy a dinner celebrating the 30th anniversary of NCCU Law’s Evening Program, and had an opportunity to catch up with friends before and after. ((Though I probably should have been studying instead ))

Everything you read after this paragraph is not indicative of how everything else turned out.

But d*mn the MPRE was rough!

I couldn’t come up with a humorous metaphor to throw out as a comparison, though I imagine a swift kick to the shins would be only marginally more painful.

The first mistake I made was not studying more sooner. There’s been so much going on at the law school academically ((Four papers to work on now…)) and otherwise ((Made Moot Court Board last week! )) that I just never had time to study much of anything. I watched the 4-hour BarBri lecture video and filled out the corresponding outline, but that ended up being it. No review of the Model Rules. No reading of the review book I got. No multiple choice questions. Nada.

My figuring was that I’ve got a fairly well-developed sense of right and wrong and the rules would be common sense, so I could just wing it and still be OK…

…then I got to the first question on the test and was like “omgwut?”

Now there are a few questions that I know 110% for certain I got right.  For example, I paid enough attention in ConLaw to know a state’s attempts to restrict law licenses to its residents only violates the Privileges & Immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. There were others that truly did seem like common sense and I feel comfortable with my answers.

But things like the imputation of conflicts ((Can law firm represent Party A in a contract dispute with Party B, when long-since-departed Attorney of law firm negotiated the contract on behalf of Party B, didn’t speak with anyone else at the firm before / during / after, and took all the files with him when he left? I still don’t know for certain )) and the whole privileged-vs-merely-confidential stuff left me scratching my increasingly bald head.

I was sufficiently clueless that it only took me about an hour and 10 minutes to get through the thing, feeling totally awkward as I ended up being the very first person in the room to turn in the test and leave.

There’s a slim-but-nonzero possibility I won’t have to retake the test in March, but until then all I can do is cross my fingers and pray that I somehow managed to pass.

To any 1Ls/2Ls who happen to read this: don’t repeat my mistakes

Have a good night y’all!

Tags: #gthc, 3L, ConLaw, Moot Court, MPRE, NCCU Law, NCSU Wolfpack