Law School 101

by R. Stephanie Good

Overview

Everything you need to know to excel in your first year of law school and beyond.

Whether you are thinking about law school, have already applied and been accepted, or started your first year, you need to know what to expect in law school and how to succeed. Law School 101 gives an honest look at the law school experience from someone who has been there, and tells students what they should really expect. It also helps students develop the skills necessary to survive the challenges and excel in their program. It includes the survival skills you need in key areas, including:

• Handling the pressure of law school
• What to expect from your classes and professors
• How to study for and pass your law school exams
• Job information for first and second year students

Avoid common pitfalls, decode law school myths, and achieve your dream.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402228674
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	06/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	670 KB

About the Author

R. Stephanie Good received her law degree and her LL.M. in International Law from Hofstra University School of Law. She has practiced law on both the private and governmental levels, focusing most recently in entertainment law. Ms. Good serves as corporate counsel to SilverCreek Entertainment and resides in New York.

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter One: Thoughts to Ponder before Setting Foot on Campus

You have finally arrived at law school. The buildings are historic and carefully constructed of sturdy, red bricks covered in centuries old ivy. Tall, white columns elegantly frame each entranceway. Incoming students are greeted by sprawling, green blanketed lawns with dogwoods lining the walkways. The salt and pepper-haired professors are distinguished gentlemen dressed in tweed cardigans bearing suede-patched sleeves. They grasp pipes tightly between their teeth and carry law books neatly tucked under their arms. They walk with their heads tilted at a thought-provoking angle, and as they quickly rush by, they lower their eyes, glance at you above their glasses, and smile curtly. You shyly grin back, turning your head with curiosity to catch a glimpse of who they are before they disappear into a swarm of new recruits.

You continue moving across campus along with the flowing current of eager students until you finally arrive at the school's main building, where an upper class person welcomes you with open arms, hands you your schedule, and escorts you to your first class. You quickly scour the room for a seat, eagerly looking around at all of the new friends you will make. Everyone is chatting away about their new endeavor and you avidly join in like an excited child. The professor enters, welcomes you, gives a brief description of the course, and sends you on your way with your first assignment and a list of all of the materials you will need. You search the building for your next class, which turns out to be a repeat of the last one.

In approximately one hour, your first day of law school comes to an end and you run off to meet some of your new friends for lunch. But, just as you approach the group, things become fuzzy. You begin to hear the distant sound of an alarm. It's getting louder and louder. You look around, scanning the parking lot to see if it's coming from someone's car. Your vision becomes even more distorted and you begin to feel light-headed. You try to continue across campus, but you feel as though you have lead in your shoes. Just as panic sets in, you wake up.

Back to Reality!
As pleasant as that experience was before your alarm clock went off, unfortunately, it was nothing more than a dream. Hopefully, you realize that before setting foot into law school, because if you are expecting your first day to mirror that experience, you might want to go back to sleep and keep dreaming. A more sensible option would be to read on and spend some time journeying into the real world of law.

Obviously, your decision to attend law school was not entered into lightly. The three or four years you spend there are going to force you to make life-altering changes. Your thought processes will forever be refurbished. Your perception of life will be turned upside down. Your friends and family will often wonder what is happening to you. Law school is not like college, where, after graduation, you may be filled with a sense of excitement about all of the ways to utilize your newfound knowledge. When law school comes to an end, you will most likely have a specific plan laid out and it will probably revolve around the practice of law. Law school is a place where you will be indoctrinated into a world where the factual outweighs the theoretical, where reality smothers the imaginary, where the truth has to be sifted out from beneath all of the lies, where the
good and bad seem to merge into a microcosm of uncertainty, and where you will be entrusted with the mission of sorting it all out and making sense of it. You have made a huge commitment and you believe that this is your true calling in life. This book will ensure that you succeed in making your dream come true.

So You Want to Be an Attorney
Prior to entering law school in fact, even before you began filling out your applications you most likely took a serious look at your reasons for wanting to become an attorney. Hopefully you recognized that being an attorney is not like what you have seen on shows like Law and Order. The truth is, weekly one-hour television series have very little time to present you with an accurate portrayal of what an attorney experiences on a day-to-day basis. You watch with excitement as crimes are committed, suspects are arrested, trials are held, and defendants are convicted all within sixty minutes (including commercials). The end result is quick and painless, and you are left with the impression that the legal system is swift and stimulating, and that justice prevails almost all of the time.

In real life, the wheels of justice turn much more slowly. The commencement of a trial can take several months or longer, and the trial itself may last for weeks. Defendants who have committed crimes are not always found guilty, and when they are, their punishments do not always satisfy their victims. So, if you believe in the fantasy shows, it's time to come out of the world of make-believe and view what really goes on behind the doors of the legal world.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Section One: Preparing for Law School

Chapter One: Thoughts to Ponder before Setting Foot on Campus
Back to Reality!
So You Want to be an Attorney
Law and Disorder
Motivationally Speaking
Take Inventory
Lifelines
Sense and Sensibility
Returning to School Later in Life
Summer Solstice
Let's Recap!

Section Two: First Year

Chapter Two: Avoiding First-Day Fumbles
Things to Take Care of Before Classes Begin
What You Need to Buy
Let's Recap!

Chapter Three: Welcome to Law School
So Much to Learn Before Classes Even Begin
Honor Thyself
Re-Orientation
Welcome to the Jungle
First-Year Quarantine
Discover Your Own Secrets for Success
Bar Review Courses
Professors
Socrates Who?
Let's Recap!

Chapter Four: Non Illegitimi Carborundum
(Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down)
Handling It All
Isolation, Intimidation, and Humiliation
Beer Here
Habitat Habits
Method to the Madness
Let's Recap!

Section Three: Knowing the Ropes without Hanging Yourself

Chapter Five: Studying the Right Way
Researching in the 21st Century
Reading, Reading, and More Reading
Briefing Briefly
Note-Taking for Novices
Recording Rhetoric
Outlining for Success
Let's Recap!

Chapter Six: The Truth about Law School Exams
Tricks of the Trade
IRAC
Tricks for Passing Your Exam
Passing is Not that Difficult
Anonymity
Using Your Laptop
Let's Recap!

Chapter Seven: First-Year Employment
Tweaking Your Résumé
Résumé Writing and Rewriting
Rules for Writing a Riveting Résumé
Formatting Your Résumé
Résumé Dos and Don'ts
Creative Cover Letters
Cover Letters Dos and Don'ts
Let's Recap!

Section Four: Second Year

Chapter Eight: Freedom to Choose
Now That You've Gotten to Know Your Professors
Grading Methods
Other Important Questions
Prerequisites
Let's Recap!

Chapter Nine: Acclimatized Amnesty
Clinical Programs
Moot Court
Research Assistants
Law Review
Journals
Extracurricular Activities
Studying Abroad
Let's Recap!

Section Five: Career Chase

Chapter Ten: Finding the Right Job
Time to Tweak Your Résumé a Bit More
On-Campus Interviews
Interview Etiquette
Informative Interviewing
The Interview
Thanking a Prospective Employer
Callbacks
Brush-Offs
Let's Recap!

Chapter Eleven: Finding the Job That's Right for You=
Law Firms
Public Interest Jobs
Government Agencies
Judicial Clerkships
In-House Corporate Counsel
Educational Endeavors
Pro Bono Law
Let's Recap!

Section Six: Third Year

Chapter Twelve: The Last Mile
One Final Test
The Bar Exam
Things to Help You Survive During the Testing Period
Other Stressful Stuff
Soothing Thoughts
Nonfatal Failure
Bar None
What Next?
Let's Recap!

Section Seven: Where Do You Go from Here?

Chapter Thirteen: What You Really Learn in Law School
Objective Thinking The Key to Being a Competent Attorney
Speaking Like a Lawyer
Looking at Life in Real Terms
Comfort Zone
What if This is All a Mistake?
Perceptive Blindness
Let's Recap!

Chapter Fourteen: A Final Thought

About the Author