For the uninitiated: cold calls are a fact of the law student life. It’s a tool of law professors who subscribe to the Socratic method. The idea is this: professors ask questions of one student, follow up, change the facts, or push back, all in an effort to help develop the critical thinking skills of aspiring lawyers. When you get cold called, that means the professor has chosen you, without advance warning, to engage in such an exercise.
Professors often stress that cold calls are not intended to be intimidating or stressful. Indeed, some professors are very kind about cold calling. They do not hide the ball, but give hints or encourage students to draw on their intuition, rather than try to get to one correct answer. I’ve also seen professors use a modified system—panels—where a group of students are put on notice that they may be called in a given class. This helps alleviate the stress of not knowing when you will be called on. [Read more…] about How to Deal with a “Bad” Cold Call
During the pandemic, take home exams have become more common. One silver lining of this change is that students have more control over their exam environment.
Congratulations! You are in your last year of law school and graduation is just around the corner. Time to celebrate and kick back and relax, right? Well, even though your senioritis may be kicking in, there are some important things you need to do before you walk across the stage and graduate. I remember how I felt when I was in my last semester of law school. The