We Now Pause Our Regularly Scheduled Broadcast ...

... for a commercial break.

First off, I would like to offer my commercial services to the world (for the FIRST TIME EVER) through this blog.  Okay, it's probably not the FIRST TIME EVER, but what the heck, a little drama never hurt anybody (on the other hand, it probably has, but let's just roll the dice, shall we?)

I'm going to provide a link here (somewhere) to my Private Investigator website and my LinkedIn page.  If there is anyone out there in GP Blog Reader Land who has the need for a PI, please feel free to avail yourself of my services, or at least contact me for a free (more drama please) THAT'S RIGHT, FREE, consultation!  All you pay is a low, low shipping and handling fee (the price of a phone call, and your time.)  And for a limited time you can get MORE FREE CONSULTATION for the same low, low shipping and handling charge if you ACT NOW!  Operators are standing by!  (Not really, it's just me.)  CALL within the next 10 minutes (or 10 years) to take advantage of this AMAZING OFFER!  But wait, there's MORE!  If you CALL NOW, I will throw in another FREE CONSULTATION!  That's THREE FREE CONSULTATIONS for the PRICE OF ONE! 

How's that for a commercial break, eh?  I think I used enough exclamation points and CAPITAL LETTERS in there to get get my point across.  Although I probably should have bolded and underlined a few words.  But what the heck, if I was any good at marketing I would have gone into that business.


And as an ADDED BONUS(!!!) if you have a court awarded judgment against some deadbeat who won't pay, I'll talk to you about how you can enforce that judgment yourself or, alternatively, discuss the option of assigning the judgment to me for enforcement.

There are links on my LinkedIn page to both my Private Investigator website and my Judgment Recovery website.  I don't have a Registered Process Server website so you'll just have to trust me on that one.  But if you do need an RPS, and an extremely reliable, competent, diligent, etc., one at that, I'm your man.

(Disclaimer: I have a very personal interest in the two products mentioned above and all profits, proceeds, income, earnings, compensation, money, funds, cash, etc., raised by said products goes directly into my very own personal pockets.) (!!)

And now, before I return you to our regularly scheduled broadcast, I will endorse two more commercial products.

Jason Tolerico's ONE TIMERS bar review course and BEST MBE program, "The Only MBE Course You Need To Pass The Bar Exam With Ease!"

Most regular readers know that I have an apparent aptitude for the MBE portion of the bar exam, and that I hadn't improved my raw scores above about the 130-135 mark until I used Jason's program.   Jason's questions are very different from the MBEs you find in BarBri, PMBR, Adaptibar, etc., because he actually thinks about the concept the NCBE is testing with a particular question and he tweaks it to highlight the crucial issue.

Further, Jason's answer explanations are far and away, heads and shoulders, light years ahead of, and much, much (MUCH!!), better than those other programs.  Jason goes through great pains to tell you why the correct answer is correct, including references to cases and codes.  And he seems to know what you were thinking about as you were puzzling out the correct answer because he brings up the things that caused you to think another answer might be the correct one.  He is extremely intuitive in that regard and I was consistently pleased and surprised that he was able to add that value, which was frustratingly absent in the other programs.

One of the students in his program (and I know this gentleman personally but I will hide his identity for his personal safety, private comfort, public image, confidential protection, personal charm, and ease of use - and because I didn't ask him if I could use the name his mother gave him), improved his raw MBE score from 100 on the July exam to 140 on the subsequent February exam.  In my mind, that's incredible (not to mention amazing, astounding, and all those other "-ing" adjectives.)

Before I used Jason's program I believed that I had hit something of a ceiling as far as how well I could do on the MBEs.  Like I said, I had always done fairly well on them, but I was happy to find that my score increased too.  My raw MBE score on the February 2012 exam was 149 (thank you, it was nothing, really, you're too kind, you can stop applauding now, aww shucks, now you're embarrassing me) and without yet knowing how I did on the July 2012 exam, I feel like I improved on that score (please, God, let me not find out how I did on that one.)

But Jason not only helped with my MBE score, his insights into what the State Bar is testing on the essays is incredible.  His sessions on the essays are/were extremely (EXTREMELY!!!) helpful.  As you all know, I've struggled mightily to figure out what I was doing wrong on them when I tried to write a passing essay answer, but after working with Jason I finally (finally, FINALLY) feel like I know what they want.  And it's not just a matter of finding issues (even though Jason helped me tremendously in that regard) - for me, it was a matter of how to write my answer so it looked competent and confident to the grader.  Jason's suggestions as to how to start and end an essay answer, and how to manage my time and mental state from the crucial 15-45 minute mark, completely changed the way I approached the (DAMN!!!) things.  I've used a lot of tutors in the past but none of them were able to give me this insight.

Regarding the PTs, Even though Jason does not claim to know where the Holy Grail is hidden, his approach is extremely logical, reasonable, workable, and straightforward.  I've read a lot of books, and sat through a lot of classes, on how to write a passing PT, but everything became much clearer to me after working with Jason on these.

Of course, as you all know, I worked with Jason for the February 2012 exam, which I failed, but my scores on that exam would have earned me a passing score had I gotten them on the July 2011 exam.  I create an Excel spreadsheet with all of the scaling factors after each exam so I can compare and contrast my scores and this is the ONLY time that has happened.  As a result, I am confident that even if it turns out that I didn't pass the July 2012 exam (oh please God, no), my eventual (inevitable) success will be credited directly (yes, I said DIRECTLY!) to the things I learned in Jason's classes.

(Disclaimer: Jason is my friend but I receive no compensation, remuneration, consideration, promissory estoppel, implied reciprocal negative servitude, or easement, for this shameless plug.  I paid my good hard-earned money to sit through his classes and the only thing I'll be receiving (besides, hopefully, some eventual PI work (another shameless plug)), is a passing score on the bar exam.)

Jessica Klein's, " The Goat's Guide. The complete step-by-step guide to preparing for the California Bar Exam on your own."

Jessica is an amazingly bright, wonderful, caring, attractive (very!), organized, focused, lawyer and mother (Gee, she sounds a lot like me! (except for the organized, mother, lawyer, and attractive parts)) who dedicated considerable time to write a book about the method she used to self-study for the bar exam.  I read her book from cover to cover and in it she lays out a very manageable schedule for people to follow who are trying to prepare for the bar exam on their own.

Jessica suggests the order in which the subjects should be tackled and the time that should be allotted for each subject.  As you progress through your studies, she provides a method for maintaining what you've learned on the subjects already covered while including the next subject into your study routine.  There are charts and suggested study routines for both the person who can dedicate 10 hours per day to studying, and for the person who has only two to three hours per day to study.  The book is very comprehensive in its approach and covers all aspects of the bar exam.  She even includes suggestions for reasonably priced (cheap?) supplemental study materials.

Jessica chose the name "The Goat's Guide" to highlight the contrast between her self-studying approach and the 'go along with the BarBri herd of sheep' approach.  The 'sheep' method is certainly viable, and perhaps preferable, for those who have the time and money to sit in large class rooms watching video lectures, or listening to live lectures in which no questions are allowed, for months at a time, but Jessica's "Goat" method is preferable for the person who cannot afford either the time or money, or both, for the 'sheep' method.

Check out her "Be a Goat" website.  She has many testimonials from people who have passed the exam using her book. 

(Disclaimer: Jessica is my friend and I receive a percentage from book sales that are made at the click-through link on my blog.)