A partner at a very large law firm gave me an assignment once. It should have taken about 5 hours of research and writing and the result ought to have been a five-page memo. After I sent the five-page memo to him, he called me into his office and said: “Look, for good legal writing you have to remember just two Cs: concision and clarity…coherence. Concision, clarity, coherence. And it should be complete, obviously. So four Cs: concision, clarity, coherence, completeness… cogent, it should be cogent, as well.” [Read more…] about Three Cs of Legal Writing…and One T
About Tyler Coulson
The Importance of Sleep in Law School
Once, when I was in law school, I was talking on the phone to a woman in my class who was looking for a study partner in a particular class that I was in. It was nearing finals and she felt like she needed some help. “Sure!” I said, because I’m darned helpful. And then she said, “The only thing is, we can’t study at my house because it’s covered in dog sh*t because I haven’t had time to take my dog out I’ve been so busy studying and I haven’t slept for two days.” We did not end up studying together.
I tell this story for two reasons: 1) because it’s funny in a sad way, and 2) to illustrate a tendency that law students have toward mismanagement of basic living skills. Right now is a good time for you to vow to yourself never to end up in a situation where your house is covered in crap and you haven’t slept in two days. The former portion of the vow sort of speaks for itself, and as for the latter….
The Reality of Law School Debt And Planning For It
I’m going to tell you this plainly: I know of a lot of people whose lives are substantially and negatively impacted by law school student loan debt. We aren’t talking here about people taking one fewer Mediterranean vacations per year. We are talking about serious, lifelong financial ramifications. I have known people whose student loan debt has contributed to the end of their marriages. I have talked with dozens and dozens of people who have delayed buying homes because of student loan debt. [Read more…] about The Reality of Law School Debt And Planning For It