While most law students aren’t especially technically-inclined by nature, there are lots of useful technological options to help organize and optimize your law school experience. Explore a few below, and see if any prove useful to you!
Using Technology Effectively
- Thinking Outside the Box: Should You Start a Virtual Study Group? As the analog world quickly fades into the history books, it is probably time to rethink the concept of the “study group.” Today, there are so many digital tools available to enhance the traditional study group, that it might be a good idea to take it one step further, and create a wholly virtual study group.
- Read to Succeed: Learn the Language of the Law Learning the language of the law is critical to success in law school. Here are some websites with quality legal reading that will help you immerse yourself in the language of the law and develop your legal mind.
- A Law Student's Guide to Emails Law school demands that you “up your game” by learn new skills and adopting new habits. Some of these new skills take a lot of time, such as learning how to Bluebook or analyze cases, while others take money, such as getting an appropriate interview suit so you look the part. Today, however, I want to talk to you about a simple, quick, and inexpensive step that you can take to “up your game” by writing emails that look and sound professional.
- My Journey with Ergonomics The way most of us work at our laptops is bad for us. Is this really all that shocking? No, but hard to admit. Here are some lessons we've learned about ergonomics.
- Video Profiles: This Is Not Your Father’s VHS Camera We are excited to have a guest post from Jason Randolph, the co-founder and CEO of ViewYou. ViewYou lets you create video resumes, which are interesting ways to go about your job hunt (as long as you make sure you put together a great looking, professional video).
- Top Podcasts for Law Students Podcasts are not only a super convenient way to make your commute fly by, but also a great method to keep up with the law and everything involving it. In case you’re not sure where to start or want some new podcast suggestions, I listened to and reviewed a few well-known legal podcasts in no particular order.
- Three Ways to Create More Time in Your Day During Exam Season There is so much to do on the internet, but do you know how much time it's taking away from your studies? Here are some ways to reclaim some of that time during exam prep season.
- Ahead of the Curve: A Guide to Essential Law School Supplies This post is a guide to the best tech today and some recommended supplies for starting law school right! Read on for our advice on how to get the right gear at the right price.
- A Law Student's Perspective: LexisNexis Tips LexisNexis is one of the three major legal databases (others: Westlaw and Bloomberg) which you will become familiar with throughout your legal career. Each person has their own preference on what database they will use. Do not feel obligated to choose one that someone else suggests. Nevertheless, these are the cool things Lexis has to offer which may be useful!
- If You Only Take One Piece of Advice… If you only listen to one thing I’ve ever said about law school…listen to this.
- Put Down the Computer, Cell Phone, iPad (etc.) Technology is great; it keeps us connected, helps us do our work, type, and create pretty documents, you name it. However, when it comes to law school, for most of us, technology is not our friend. Here's why.
- Podcast Episode 104: Law School Essentials - What to Buy (And Not to Buy) Beforehand Are you gearing up to start law school? Listen for a discussion of law school must-haves, as well as some ways to save time and money as you plan your shopping.
- Podcast Episode 112: Managing Distractions in Law School From technology, to analysis paralysis, to life’s ongoing drama, there are a million things you can turn your attention to at any given moment. Learn to master distractions in law school and you’ll have greater success, not only academically, but in your law career and in life as well.
- Podcast Episode 161: Should You Use a Laptop in Law School Classes? We’re talking about using laptops and other technology in law school – when to use them and when to leave them at home – because this is not as straightforward as it might seem.
Useful Apps for Law Students
- Best Apps for Goal Setting Try these apps to set (and exceed) your goals!
- Apps to Improve Your Life There are lots of things to juggle as a law student, but we've got a list of apps that can help to make things easier!
- Top Organizing Apps for Law Students In this post, we highlight several top applications for staying organized in law school. From note taking apps to calendar organizers, this list will get you moving in the right direction to becoming more organized.
- 6 Must-Have iPhone and iPad Apps for Productive Law Students 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.
- Everything You Need to Know About Law School -- Textbooks 101 Law school textbooks cost an arm and a leg, but they are also absolutely crucial to your law school survival. Here's a guide that will help you save some money and provide some useful pointers for purchasing your books.
- 5 Money Saving Apps for Law Students Let’s face it, law school is expensive. Why add to that growing debt with your everyday living expenses like groceries, clothing and other sundries? Save a few bucks with these useful apps!
- Best Apps to Stay Organized in Law School Today we have a post for you law students who need some help organizing yourselves. Staying organized is critical in law school, especially when the handouts, books, and pamphlets start to pile up around exam time. If you think you are organized with binders, dividers, and folders, we still encourage you to embrace that thing sitting next to you right now: your smartphone and/or tablet!
- Scrivener: The Ultimate Writing Tool While legal writing may seem daunting at first, you will soon realize that all it takes is organization. In this post, we discuss a program that can help you with that organization and make legal writing a breeze. That program is Scrivener.
- More Must-Have Apps for Law Students If you are a law student, add these apps to your phone.
- Ahead of the Curve: How to Ensure You're Getting Things Done in Law School Are you feeling lost or falling behind? Here are some tips and tools to help you stay productive.
- Podcast Episode 87: Affordable Bar Prep & Social Entrepreneurship (w/ Chris Henjum of Esqyr.com) We’re talking with Chris J. Henjum, an attorney and social entrepreneur, about providing credible, affordable test prep (starting with the bar exam).
Tools for Note-Taking
- The Art of Note-Taking One of the most important components of law school studying is how effectively you take class notes. Professors will often take what they discuss in class and use it on the final since not everyone takes effective notes and it will create a curve. So even if you’re keeping up on your readings and understanding the material- without great class notes it could all be inane. When considering what is best when writing or typing your class notes the best method…depends.
- Tech Correspondent: My Love Affair with Microsoft OneNote In this post, April Philley, a 1L from the University of Texas School of Law, gives some excellent suggestions for using Microsoft OneNote as a way to organize your class notes.
Social Media for Law Students
- Video Quick Tip: Social Media We’ve put together a new series of short video “Quick Tips” to answer your most pressing law school questions. In today’s video, Alison discusses how social media can be useful to you as a law student.
- 7 Ways to Use LinkedIn as a Law Student We're looking at how to use LinkedIn to your advantage as a law student.
- Law Student Social Media How-To: Twitter Learn the basics of Twitter and how you can use it as a law student. It can be more useful than you think!
- Law Student Social Media How-To: Facebook Read about how Facebook can be useful to you as a law student and how to create a professional page.
- Ahead of the Curve: Setting Up Your Social Media - Getting a Fresh, Professional Start to Law School Did you know that your social media accounts can make a difference to you professionally? Here are some ways for you to get your social media into shape - and why you should do it!
- Podcast Episode 125: Maintaining a Professional Profile in the Digital Age We discuss how to maintain a professional profile in the digital age where so much of your life is online, for better or worse. If you want to maintain a professional image, it is important to be mindful of what you’re posting, where you’re posting it, who can see it (intentionally or unintentionally), and other activities that might put you at risk.