Professional Responsibility Exam

Question #1

One hour into a 3-hour Professional Responsibility Exam, Mike decides to take a break. He uses the restroom, and then goes to grab some coffee. Explain the implications of the following under the ABA Model Rules, the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and the law school honor code.

a) Because there was no coffee made in his office, he has to make it himself. Is this a problem?

b) Once the coffee is made, he's about to head back down to his exam, but then remembers the words of the proctor: "You may leave the exam room, but you may not take anything out of the exam room, nor bring anything back in." Assuming that a coffee mug would qualify as "anything," he chooses instead to drink his coffee upstairs before returning to the exam. What gives?

c) If the coffee mug qualifies as something he ought not to bring back into the exam room, then what about the coffee itself? And should we consdider his bathroom break, in which he certainly "took something out of the exam room" with which he did not return? Is the logical extension of this line of thought that anyone wishing to leave the exam room during the exam would have to first disrobe entirely, and is this necessarily a bad thing?

d) In your opinion, would most law school exams be made more enjoyable if they included a 30-minute coffee break in the middle?

Comments

[Elle Woods]

No, I had an exam with a break between the multiple choice and essay and I almost shanked a gunner with my pen.

[Ruth]

Sheesh, and I thought my 5-minute Amy's Ice Cream break between the multiple guess and essay portions was hard core. I feel so unworthy now...

[Tokyo]

I believe question d) is meant to replace the word "enjoyable" with "tolerable."

[Miguel]

The only way that law school exams could be made more tolerable for me is to compress them into no longer than an hour and a half. It's not like I have anything important to say after 90 minutes anyways. By that point I'm already daydreaming about drinking after the test.

Is the justification solid on shanking a gunner? 'Cause I feel like I could be pretty justified.

[Anon]

I'm sure going to miss you when you graduate!

Common misconception. The proctor instructions only say that you may not take anything from the exam room. You may bring whatever you like back in, be it coffee, a notebook or TV's Joyce DeWitt

Enough of this...when are you posting your graduation speech online? Since *someone whose name will not be written here* is giving the actual speech, I think you need to get yours up here ASAP so we can all enjoy it prior to graduation. My $.02.

Whats up with that rumor about the 1Ls? Are they going to be put on double secret probation?

[counseling psychology doctorate degree]

To apply, please send your application letter, CV, recent passport sized photograph, copy of last education certificate and academic transcript by putting the code on the top left of your envelope at the latest 26 September 2009 to:

[4rx]

I have no professional responsibility, I failed all this test