I received copies of Steven Harris’ WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List as part of my enrollment in his California Bar tutoring program. I highly recommend both books to Bar exam applicants, as well as law students.
WINNIN’ TIME! contains substantive outlines that condense an admittedly daunting amount of law into clear, concise rule statements that are easy to apply on exam day. Furthermore, WINNIN’ TIME! contains guidance on how to write a clear, lawyerly response to every type of legal fact pattern a professor or the Bar Examiners can conceivably throw your way. Steven’s “requires” and “because” style of answering exam fact patterns provides a clear writing structure that allows you to focus your energy on what you’re saying rather than how you’re saying it. WINNIN’ TIME! also contains other writing tips that, in my opinion, can be the difference between a passing and failing exam answer. This book not only helped me with writing for the California Bar exam, but also provided me with writing techniques that I currently use as a post-Bar law clerk and will continue to use as I begin practicing as an attorney.
The Trigger List, like WINNIN’ TIME!, was immensely helpful to me while preparing for the Bar exam. It helped familiarize me with key words used by the Bar Examiners that typically always implicate particular issues. Learning these triggers was the foundation for an issue spotting structure that was reliable and easy to use during the Bar exam. I found myself spotting issues during the California Bar that I know I would’ve otherwise completely overlooked, and I attribute that ability to The Trigger List.
Both books are easy to use and, as mentioned above, applicable to both the Bar exam and law school exams. I wish I had known about these books during my time as a student at UC Hastings, and if I had to do the Bar exam again, I wouldn’t want to be without WINNIN’ TIME! and The Trigger List. — Adam McConney, Esq., passed the July 2013 California Bar Examination