# Beryl\_Mooncalf Resurfaces, Tries To Pass California Bar **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 8, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496 "2005-06-08T19:45:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/21 "2005-06-08T21:39:40Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > Beryl Mooncalf is a man? Internal evidence in his posts suggested so. On further review, I don’t believe this guy is **Beryl**. A certain similarity of thinking and writing pertains, but **Beryl** never used emphatic devices to that extent. Still, I’d never hire either of them, even only to write a nastygram to my landlord. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/22 "2005-06-08T21:53:44Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > **Beryl** never used emphatic devices to that extent. Well, the letter is dated May 2005 and Beryl’s last post was in September 2003, so he had over a year and a half to… what’s the opposite of mellow? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/23 "2005-06-08T21:59:24Z")
Jesus Christ, did he get the Time Cube guy to do his website? ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/24 "2005-06-08T22:01:31Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, the letter is dated May 2005 and Beryl’s last post was in September 2003, so he had over a year and a half to… what’s the opposite of mellow? Fester? Ramp up? Build to a fever pitch? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/25 "2005-06-08T22:01:35Z")
Or rather, to do his writing? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/26 "2005-06-08T22:07:59Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, the letter is dated May 2005 and Beryl’s last post was in September 2003, so he had over a year and a half to… what’s the opposite of mellow? Ferment? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/27 "2005-06-08T22:08:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone knows that the Bar will “BLACKBALL ANYONE WHO CONFRONTS THEM!” They rule Attorneys through FEAR AND INTIMIDATION! AND A FANATICAL DEVOTION TO THE POPE! I’ll come in again. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/28 "2005-06-08T22:13:33Z")
Wait a minute, wait a minute…what kind of a person (older than, say, high-school-age) refers to a multiple-choice exam as “multiple guess”? Also, he has zero understanding of statistics. Check out his comments about “regression”. What a maroon. But a highly entertaining one. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/29 "2005-06-08T22:23:06Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Well, the letter is dated May 2005 and Beryl’s last post was in September 2003, so he had over a year and a half to… what’s the opposite of mellow? Go crazy? -ier? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/30 "2005-06-08T22:25:47Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Go crazy? _DON’T MIND IF I DO!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/31 "2005-06-08T23:17:34Z")
> [@](#): > > I know a particular attorney who is known throughout the Denver metro area for doing the exact same thing. She also likes to use 18 point font at times, italicized, bolded, all caps, and double-underlined. …very professional. Some lawyers I know do this too. They like rigorously architectured writing, so there are lots of A. B. C. a. b. c. I II II i ii iii… plus sections, subsection, subsubsection subsub_sub_sections… So anyway, they decide they need to emphasize the headings for the lowest level, so that’s italicized. The level above that is bold. The level above that is bold italic. The level above that is bold italic underline. The level above that is bold italic undeline caps. And so on, and so forth, until you end up with a 18pt small cap bold italic underline 3d with little sparklies. Plus, they indent every level of bulleting, of which they nest several, so in the end the subsubsub bulleted text _starts_ 6 inches from the lefthand margin. And then I get to try to put the doc in a 2.5" column layout. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/32 "2005-06-08T23:21:54Z")
**Bricker** , you’re onto something here. It sure does seem like our wandering paranoid alright. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/33 "2005-06-08T23:32:18Z")
Yup, that sounds like our friend all right. More fun than a **Beryl** of monkeys, and just as apeshit. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/34 "2005-06-08T23:34:21Z")
Oh yeah, now that’s someone I’d want arguing for me in a court of law. (Couldn’t one just retake the exam next time?) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2005, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/35 "2005-06-08T23:56:05Z")
What is a pass for the California bar, anyway? The letter-writer suggested 1436 (or whatever) was significantly higher than his corrected 1310 (or whatever). What’s the actual pass mark? ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/36 "2005-06-09T00:18:55Z")
1466, see my post above. 1390-1466 puts you in something called phased grading (2 stages). If you fall below 1390 you are an automatic fail. If he was close enough to the high 1300s that evaluating his essays might have gotten him more points he would have gotten 2 more evaluations. However, he could a) also have received lower points than the imputed ones he got b) we were told people rarely get a pass after going into phased grading so it’s in your best interest to make it above 1466. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/37 "2005-06-09T00:26:19Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > What is a pass for the California bar, anyway? The letter-writer suggested 1436 (or whatever) was significantly higher than his corrected 1310 (or whatever). What’s the actual pass mark? It is: > [@anu-la1979](#): > > On the other hand, if his scores totalled below a 1390 he’s an automatic fail anyway. The only way it could have made any difference is if he was between 1390 and 1466 in which case it would have gone through 2nd or 3rd phase grading so unless those points would have pushed him into middle-ground additional review it seems pointless to make such a fuss (and fool of yourself). If I remember correctly, the bar divides the test scores into three groups: clear fail, maybe, and clear pass. I’ll take **anu-la1979** ’s word for what the cutoff points are, because I have successfully blocked it from my mind. If you score below 1390, you fail. Do not pass go, do not collect a license. If you score above 1466 (I guess), you pass. Swear your oath and get your bar card. If you score between them, your test is sent for a “second read” and regraded. Same results. So if you’re in the “maybe” zone, you could go through a second and a third read to determine whether you pass. You could fail (i.e., be below the clear pass line) on your first read, again on your second, but be above it on your third and so get your license. The bar is set up with three different kinds of tests: short essays (six of them), two performance tests, and a multiple choice test. On the first day, you do three short essays in the morning, and a performance test in the afternoon. The second day, you take the multiple choice test (I think it’s 200 questions in the morning and 200 in the afternoon). The third day is a repeat of the first. What we were told is that most people fail (barely) their essay and performance test sections, but do really well on the multiple choice, so that when the scores are added together, you pass. And, notably, if you pass, they never tell you your score or return your exam booklets to you, so you don’t know if you passed by a point or by a gazillion points. I feel this guy’s pain, but really: that whole conspiracy thing about the non-accredited schools. Didja think that maybe their pass rates were lower because the caliber of student is different? I guarantee you that if you look at accredited law schools, you’ll see that the better schools in general have higher pass rates than the third and fourth tier schools. Doesn’t mean anything, because everyone is on their own in taking the test, and it’s as easy to fail if you’re Stanford as it is to pass if you’re Southwestern – if you study and understand the material. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/38 "2005-06-09T00:27:38Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > see my post above Wait, wait, to pass the bar you have to write _succinctly_? At what point in a lawyer’s career is this valuable skill discarded? When they start billing? Eh, I’m just kidding. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/39 "2005-06-09T02:43:33Z")
> [@Gaudere](#): > > Some lawyers I know do this too. They like rigorously architectured writing, so there are lots of A. B. C. a. b. c. I II II i ii iii… plus sections, subsection, subsubsection subsub_sub_sections… So anyway, they decide they need to emphasize the headings for the lowest level, so that’s italicized. The level above that is bold. The level above that is bold italic. The level above that is bold italic underline. The level above that is bold italic undeline caps. And so on, and so forth, until you end up with a 18pt small cap bold italic underline 3d with little sparklies. Plus, they indent every level of bulleting, of which they nest several, so in the end the subsubsub bulleted text _starts_ 6 inches from the lefthand margin. And then I get to try to put the doc in a 2.5" column layout. 🙂 Actually, section headings are an entirely different thing. I go down to several different levels of headings, with typographical differences for each. However, these types of laywers use mutiple types of emphasis within one paragraph of text. It is about as jarring as the linked text. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496/40 "2005-06-09T07:14:08Z")
I have no idea of who **"Beryl\_Mooncalf**" is, but it seems like he’s long gone from here, thus a PITing of him is in rather poor taste, no matter how much of a jerk he was while here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beryl_mooncalf-resurfaces-tries-to-pass-california-bar/307496.md?page=3)