| Topic Name: |
The SECRET to LAW SCHOOL, that is rarely revealed |
| Message Name: |
Different unusual advice... |
| Date Posted: |
08/11/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
I went to one of the top law schools and currently work at a top 5 firm. Got mostly A's. I wish someone gave me this advice before entering law school. No matter what the rest of your classmates say and do [because most law students are like sheep], follow these rules and you'll do well and not be too stressed out:
*Don't read cases in your case books. Don't read hornbooks. Just read the case summaries in Emmanuels and Gilberts.
*What you learn day to day in class is not what you'll be tested on. For exams, you need to know the big picture, not case names or trifling details about the cases. Knowing how to apply the big principles important to your professor is all it takes. You can figure this out by reading the answers to old exams...see point below.
*Never outline, it's a waste of time. Quicksand that doesn't help you in the exam.
*Spend most of your time preparing for exams just taking old tests, on reserve in your law library. You'll quickly learn which issues are most important to your professor. Augment this by reading a few law review articles relevant to the main themes of the class. But mostly JUST STUDY THE MODEL ANSWERS FOR EVERY OLD TEST. OVER AND OVER. In most cases, similar material will be tested.
*Don't form study groups like they did in the Papercase. Too much time is wasted by blowhards.
*I repeat, don't read the cases assigned to you. Just the summaries. Reading the cases is like quicksand. Too many cases; too little relevance to the test. You may be underprepared for class, but you're not graded on class participation. Resist the urge to learn every detail of a case. It's all a distraction.
*I didn't do it, but kissing professorial butt helps. Grading at most schools is supposed to be blind, but profs can usually adjust your grade before committing it to the grade report sheet.
*Take it easy during the semester. Don't read that much. Stay fresh. Two weeks before exam, start studying old exam answers. Notice the patterns common to every old test. Professors are only human and they tend to repeat themselves every few years. They don't have the time to create truly new exams. The ideas get recycled. Studying this way is so critical, yet so rare because most law students are afraid to not do their assigned reading, based on instincts that served them well in college and before. But the trick is that law school is completely different and you're rewarded on you ability to see the big picture and parrot back what's important to the professor. Old exams will give you this info 1000x better than suffering through old caselaw that bares little relevance to the exam.
*Don't worry about learning the law. That doesn't happen until you're a lawyer anyway. Law school, and the bar exam, is all a game.
G-d, I wish someone had told me this stuff when I was entering as a 1L. It would have avoided much angst.
Good luck and try to relax and have some fun. There will be plenty of time to do so if you fight the urge to overstudy the wrong materials.
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| Message: |
First of all, what I wish someone had told me when I started law school:
From the first second you enter law school, it is ALL ABOUT GETTING A JOB. Your first year grades can make or break you...or at least make things a lot easier or a lot harder for you. If you want a big firm (= lots of $$$$) job, concentrate on your grades your first year. And the best way to do that, in my opinion, is to stay on top of the assignments--don't let yourself fall behind.
Secondly, I have to disagree with Challenger35. I did read (most) of the cases in the case books my first year. Sometimes the case summaries in Emmanuel's and Gilbert's are WRONG (as one of my professors pointed out to a fellow student in the middle of class). If you read the cases first, the case summaries can help put it together, but it's dangerous to rely on them completely.
GOOD LUCK!!! and don't forget that your life outside of school is important, too!!!
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