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Are You in Law School Crisis Mode? Here’s How to Get Out

April 16, 2012 By Lee Burgess 1 Comment

A student came to my office this week to ask for help. She is one month out from finals and hasn’t started outlining. Even worse, she doesn’t know how to start outlining let alone how to take practice exams.

Now, I doubt that she is alone. I think many students may be in a similar position.

They are in their second semester of law school and perhaps didn’t do as well as they had hoped in their first semester. Although they promised this semester would be different, so far it has not been.

Now they are staring down the road to finals and are frozen because they don’t know what to do. They are in crisis mode.

All is Not Lost

Well, I don’t think all hope is lost. I think that with some very disciplined and dedicated work you can actually save this semester and get ready for finals.

Will your outlines be as good as if you had been working on them for months? No! But does that mean that you shouldn’t try? No!

Here is a plan of attack for students who are in crisis mode:

6 Must-Have iPhone and iPad Apps for Productive Law Students

April 11, 2012 By Alison Monahan 4 Comments

Today we’re excited to welcome our first guest poster, Leslie Krick, who’s sharing six useful iPhone and iPad apps for law students and young lawyers.

Mobile Technology Keeps You Up-to-Date

Apple and the iPhone technology have changed the way people communicate, socialize, shop and do business. Apps for the iPhone and tablets, like the iPad, are also changing the way professional business is done. I’ve seen the attorneys I work with using their mobile devices to work between court and the office.

Apps make perfect sense for legal professionals — who are always running between the office and the court room — and apps are especially useful to help lawyers stay connected to clients, their office and the justice system while on the go.

The following apps for iPhone and iPad can be conveniently purchased at the Apple store for your mobile device to help lawyers and law students stay in the loop:

How to Approach a Moot Court Argument

April 9, 2012 By Lee Burgess Leave a Comment

It is that time of year when many law schools are having moot court arguments for their first-year law students. For some — those who love oral advocacy — this can be an exciting time. For others, it can be nerve-racking and turn into a complete time waster.

So, how do I recommend you approach moot court?

What’s the Right Mindset for Studying?

April 5, 2012 By Alison Monahan Leave a Comment

When you sit down to study for law school exams, how do you feel? Bored? Anxious? Stressed? Confused? Excited? Some combination of the above?

For most people, it’s one of two things: either bored/tired or anxious/stressed. Unfortunately, neither of these mindsets is conducive to studying effectively!

How to Keep Track of Ambiguity

April 3, 2012 By Alison Monahan Leave a Comment

We’ve talked previously about factual and legal ambiguity, but let’s see how this plays out on an exam, and how you could prepare — in advance — for the sort of questions you’re likely to get.

First things first. Let’s say you’re preparing for your Contracts exam, and you want to identify some areas of likely ambiguity. Where would you start?

Copy and Paste: Your Worst Enemy on a Law School Exam?

April 2, 2012 By Lee Burgess 4 Comments

As many of you know (if you have read our website), I am an adjunct law professor at two Bay Area law schools. I love teaching, but I must admit grading papers is not my favorite part of teaching.

What Bad Habits Can Impact Your Law School Grades?

Anyway, when I am grading exams, I always have my eyes out for habits law students pick up that can negatively affect their grades.

One of them is using copy and paste.

Why is Copy and Paste a Problem?

Let’s take an example of a question on torts.

How Should You Handle Multiple Parties?

Typically, an exam question that covers negligence doesn’t have just one potentially negligent party, but multiple parties and each needs its own negligence analysis.

Should you:

(a) copy and paste the entire negligence analysis from the first part of the question and just edit it for the second part of the question OR
(b) write the new section completely and use “see above” to reference law previously stated?