You Can’t Find What You’re Not Looking For: The Munchos Rule of Bar Exam Fact-Spotting

The other day, I had a craving for a nostalgic snack I hadn’t thought about in years: Munchos potato chips. Light, airy, salty, and packed with childhood memories. I wasn’t even sure they still existed, but to my surprise, there they were at the local Kroger—just as I remembered them.

When I brought them home, my wife looked at the bag with total confusion.

“I’ve never seen these in my life,” she said.“Have you ever looked for them?” I asked.She paused. “No.”

And right there—between the salty crunch of retro snack food and a casual kitchen conversation—I realized we had stumbled onto a perfect bar exam truth: You don’t see what you’re not looking for.

The Munchos Rule

This is the bar exam in a nutshell (or a chip bag). You’re handed a long, sometimes strange fact pattern. Some details stand out immediately. Others don’t. But just because something doesn’t jump out doesn’t mean it’s not there—or not important.

Too many examinees skim a question and let their instincts take the wheel. They latch onto obvious facts and start writing. But bar examiners don’t just test what’s obvious. They test what’s hidden in plain sight.

It’s the subtle mention that the person making an arrest is a private citizen, not a state actor, that turns a Fourth Amendment claim into a nonstarter. It’s the quiet fact that a party’s discriminatory conduct lacked any intent that sinks an Equal Protection argument. It’s the casual reference to an oral agreement that triggers a Statute of Frauds analysis you might have otherwise overlooked.

But if you’re not actively looking for these clues, you won’t see them. You might say, “I didn’t notice that.” Or worse, “I didn’t know that mattered.”

What This Means for Your Bar Prep

Train yourself to slow down and look. Don’t just race to the rule—study the facts like you’re hunting for Munchos in a crowded snack aisle.

Highlight oddities. If a detail feels off, out of place, or too specific, it’s probably there for a reason.

Ask: Why is this here? Every sentence in a fact pattern is a choice. Writers don’t add random filler. If it’s included, it’s probably testable.

Build your fact-spotting reflex. Practice issue-spotting doesn’t just teach the law—it teaches you to look harder.

So the next time you’re reading a bar essay and something doesn’t seem important, ask yourself: Am I ignoring a Munchos moment?

Because the facts are there. The question is whether you’ve trained yourself to notice them.