"Guerilla Tactics in Passing the Bar"

"Guerilla Tactics in Passing the Bar"Submitted by: Atty Liza Alferol:

I came across this booklet while I was reviewing for the Bar in U.P. Diliman. The author is a graduate of the UP College of Law. If I can still remember right, he graduated in 1992. He did not mention if he had honors when he graduated but he did mention that he was a member of the UP College of Law Debating Team. He did not immediately take the bar. Instead he worked as a car sales man for five years before taking the bar in 1997.

When he applied for a leave he was given only a month before he was going to take the Bar. He had less than a month to prepare and realizing this he formulated strategies to aid him in his review. This is the birth of his "Guerilla Tactics in Passing the Bar" (I might not be accurate about the title but we lovingly just call it Guerilla Tactics). This guy did not only pass the bar, he ranked 11th. Proving that with hard work and determination, there is always hope.

Oyson says that one should have a systematic and organized gameplan in reviewing for the bar. He also said that prayers are very important. I agree, I prayed a lot not only during the pre-bar review but during my law shool days. He enumerates the following tips in the first chapter of his book:

1. THE EXAMINEE MUST HAVE A "SINGLE-MINDED DETERMINATION TO TAKE THE BAR EXAMS NO MATTER WHAT"

2. POUR ALL THE EFFORTS YOU COULD COMMAND INTO THE BUSINESS OF PREPARING FOR THE BAR EXAMS. YOU MUST BE PREPARED TO SACRIFICE.

3. IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPAREDNESS.

4. RESOLVE NEVER TO QUIT, NOW OR LATER.During the 2001 Bar, I almost quit after the exam on Labor Law. I decided not to when I realized that I can still pull up my grades if I do good in other Bar subjects. I was so glad that I did not quit. I wouldn't have passed the bar if I did so.

5. DO NOT AIM FOR PERFECTION OR MASTERY OF THE LAWI'd like to remind you friends that our author only had a month to review. It would have been impractical for him to master the law. It was practically impossible to do that. I did not aim for perfection myself. I was very protective of my self confidence during the review that I had very attainable goals. I did not want to disappoint myself and end up entering the bar exam room in pieces.

6. LIMIT YOURSELF TO BAR EXAM REVIEWERS OR THE CODAL PROVISIONS THEMSELVESNow, this is something that provincial law students are good at. The trend now is to study codal provisions during the pre-bar review because I tell you, there will not be enough time to read 5 volumes of Paras, 2 volumes of Reyes, several books in Taxation etc.. etc.. so limit yourselves to the codal and if you have time, the reviewers. Our author recommended Albano's reviewer in Civil Law and also Balbastro's in Commercial Law.

7. CHOOSE THE BEST BAR EXAM REVIEWER IN THE MARKET

8. MANAGE YOUR TIME PROPERLY.

1. Political Law - Outline Reviewer in Political Law by Cong. Nachura- this one's really good. My highest grade in the Bar was in Political Law and Taxation so I know this book works. I read the chapter on constitutional law twice.2. Labor Law - Everyone's Labor Code by Azucena- this one's great also. It worked well for me because Azucena was our pre-bar reviewer. It's easy to read and very brief. All the essentials are there.3. Civil Law - Codal Provisions- I think there is no other way to tackle Civil Law except by reading the provisions. I used the Codal Provisions in 4th year law review classes so I have some reminders and notes written on the margins already so it was easy for me to review. You should buy the one printed by Central Bookstore, but if you have one now, it's okay. Don't buy a new one.4. Taxation - Tax Reviewer by Francis Sababan and Comprehensive Tax Reviewer by De Leon plus a Codal Provision, I used the one by Dascil.- Sababan's reviewer is available at Rex Bookstore.5. Commercial Law - Commercial Law Reviewer by Miravite and Codal Provisions by Agbayani (its this blue book which is a compilation of all commercial laws, banking, corporation etc...)6. Criminal Law - Compendium by Regalado and Pointers in Criminal Law by Sandoval, codal provisions- If you're doing great with your JBL Reyes book then stick with it. The Compendium is pretty expensive. I just bought it because my JBL Reyes book is circa 1993 so it doesnn't have all the new ammendments to the laws.

7. Remedial Law - Get hold of the Codal Provisions... Revised Rules of Court... I used both volumes of Regalado's Book because that was what I used when I was a student.

8. Legal Ethics - now this is free for all... but I suggest you just memorize the Attorney's Oath, Read and put to heart the Canons of Professional Ethics and Judicial Ethics too. For the Forms, I have to admit I did not study for this, but I paid attention to the hand outs given to us during the review.

So, that, in a capsule is the list. I hope it could help you in formulating your gameplan for your review. The most important thing is that you know yourself, you know your weaknesses, your strengths and formulate your plan according to what you know.