Kicking Myself

[ExpLo]

I just took my contracts final, and I found out most of my classmates spotted frivolous contracts defenses and then explained why they didn't apply.  Ugh...I only brought up the relevant defenses where the party at least had a chance of winning with it in court and analyzed it from there.  For example, people were bringing up the defense that the contract might be unconscionable because a baseball player was broke so he had to sign a $66 million dollar contract.  Then they explained why the defense wouldn't work because $66 million dollars is not substantively unfair.  Captain obvious!  Was it even necessary to bring up such a frivolous defense just to strike it down?   

[bryan9584]

Ummm, i think it depends on what the teacher wants and what the question ask (ie, list all the possible claims and defenses for X). If it could possibly apply, i think its good to include it. But if you failed to include something that was only slightly related, its probably not worth that much so I don't think you should feel too bad.

[ExpLo]

Yea I think you're right. . . the question did ask for  a list the contractual claim and defenses.  I just hope the slightly related ones aren't worth that many points.  I devoted my time to analyzing the more relevant defenses in detail.  Hopefully that counts for something. 

[vap]

Ummm, i think it depends on what the teacher wants and what the question ask (ie, list all the possible claims and defenses for X). If it could possibly apply, i think its good to include it. But if you failed to include something that was only slightly related, its probably not worth that much so I don't think you should feel too bad.

TITCR.  It all depends on your professor.  Some profs grade with a "point maximization" scale.  That is, they just award points for bringing up issues that are only tangentially related to the prompt.  Other profs use a grading key and only give points for issues that could actually be in dispute (or actually matter).

[UnbiasedObserver]

Ummm, i think it depends on what the teacher wants and what the question ask (ie, list all the possible claims and defenses for X). If it could possibly apply, i think its good to include it. But if you failed to include something that was only slightly related, its probably not worth that much so I don't think you should feel too bad.

Yeah, it definitely depends on the precise question asked and the professor.  I know some professors that really don't want to see the "far-fetched" claims and defenses, while others want it/don't mind it.  

[summerisnear]

sure it depends on your teacher, but from my experience this is what law school exams are all about.  you bring up EVERYTHING and explain why it does or does not apply.  learn from it and move on, you'll find out soon enough what your prof wanted.  

this is the benefit of teachers giving out old exams with model answers.  some teachers give the high grades to the students who bring up everything, including a bunch of crap that doesn't even relate.  

[mrs. palsgraf]

Speaking of troublesome Contracts exams...

I completely bombed mine. I misread part of the fact pattern, and my faulty understanding of the facts will surely ruin my grade (and my GPA), as the application of those misunderstood facts was necessary to correctly answer a significant chunk of the questions.

But I did know the material. And I did participate every time in class -- and demonstrated better understanding of the subject matter than the majority of my classmates. I just got tripped up at the start of the exam (think: beginning of "Cool Runnings").

In light of my mistake and also my frequent contribution, does anyone think it might be a good idea to get in touch with the professor and explain to her what I did wrong, that I am not a total dunce when it comes to this material, that I am not deserving of a D or F? What do you guys think?

[vap]

In light of my mistake and also my frequent contribution, does anyone think it might be a good idea to get in touch with the professor and explain to her what I did wrong, that I am not a total dunce when it comes to this material, that I am not deserving of a D or F? What do you guys think?

No.

[Oldguy48]

Be careful about this.  In my school they take the anonymity policy very seriously.  A friend of mine emailed a Prof. after taking a final asking, "hypothetically," how many points one could lose on a small format error (going over word count).  She replied. tersely, that had she not already finished grading exams and turned in results to registrar she would have reported an honor code violation...

[RobWreck]

In light of my mistake and also my frequent contribution, does anyone think it might be a good idea to get in touch with the professor and explain to her what I did wrong, that I am not a total dunce when it comes to this material, that I am not deserving of a D or F? What do you guys think?

No. Nope. Don't do it. XXX. This isn't undergrad where teachers can listen to excuses and can hand out sympathy grade bumps with little/no restriction. This is law school... where grades are anonymous and based off of 1 test at the end of the semester. Further, there's a really good reason why a teacher WON'T want to even begin to hear an excuse or explanation... if they open the door one time, it becomes an open invitation for every student to come in and try to explain why they shouldn't get 'X' grade. In a system that works on a hard curve, it doesn't matter WHY you answered the way you did, only that you DID answer the way you did. Are they to listen to your excuse and bump your grade... maybe requiring the teacher to now lower someone else's grade to accommodate the slight change in the class grade average? No, not going to happen.
Plus, it's a life lesson... when the jury comes back with a verdict against your client, are you going to try to explain to the judge that you meant to introduce 'X' exhibit but you accidentally introduced 'Y'? Silly analogy, but it's the same results... you live with what you got and try to avoid making the same mistake in the future.
Sorry.
Rob