| Author | Message | ||
| Dominic L. DiMento (Domenico)
New member Username: Domenico Post Number: 39 Registered: 2-2002 |
William, my wife's in her 2nd year at American Univ. Wash. College of Law. She has used exams from previous semesters to help with her tests and gone to professors office hours. She meets with her study group every week and it's help them achieve top ten status for all of them in their class. Take as many practical classes as possible -- Trial or Appellate Advocacy, Civil Trial Practice, etc. They are more interesting and more useful for real life. Take on as many opportunities to write as possible as the first year writing courses at a lot of law schools are somewhat of a joke. Good luck! All this info courtesy of my wife Julia. Me, I just pass the info along. You also may not get many weekends to play with the toys. | ||
| Ken Ross (Kdross)
Member Username: Kdross Post Number: 259 Registered: 2-2002 |
William: Crusing is 100% correct. I could not have said it better myself. Ken | ||
| Crusing (Crusing)
New member Username: Crusing Post Number: 40 Registered: 10-2002 |
William - Lawschool is a miserable time. I found that you are taught to think a certain way rather than taught what the law is. If you are only concerned with learning the law, take a Bar review course. That is where I learned the LAW. Three years of lawschool is spent tearing your mind down and teach you analysis. Now if you still want to go... This is what worked for me. Less I studied, the better I did. I found that I could cram two to three days before a test and do better than if I had spent the entire term reading every line of every case. Don't waste your time. The cases are there not to teach the law, but to be used by a professor to confuse you and make you analyze the case from every angle. Like I said above, the law is taught in the Bar review course. Go to Class! This is much more important than reading cases. Outline are helpful. To do well on tests, learn to pick every issue and then discuss every possible outcome while assuming various facts in the fact pattern to come up with different answers. In other words beat the issue to death with all the various possible outcomes. This will show how you analyze the issues, and this is what is important in Law School, on the Bar exam however, they don't want analysis, they want law and no analysis. Reminds me of all the straight A Law review types that failed the Bar the first time. Good luck to you, I would only do if you truly need to. Email me if you have more questions. | ||
| EFWUN (Efwun)
New member Username: Efwun Post Number: 16 Registered: 2-2003 |
Countach, I wrote you an email re: your question. | ||
| Kyle Madan (Kmadan)
New member Username: Kmadan Post Number: 13 Registered: 1-2002 |
Congrats William! Nebula - I will be starting a JD/MBA program in the fall - just not sure where yet. I have been accepted in a few programs, but am waiting on some other responses. Each school does their JD/MBA a little different. All require you to get into each school (school of business and school of law) separately. Meaning you have to take the GMAT and LSAT, then submit two different applications for each campus. There are even a few programs that require yet another application to be recognized and approved as a dual degree student. Usually each of the first two years is spent exclusively at one school, then the last two years you take classes at both. Some programs require you to attend law school your first year, others leave it up to you. | ||
| William H (Countachxx)
Intermediate Member Username: Countachxx Post Number: 2005 Registered: 2-2001 |
I dont have to worry about getting a job later, If I want I know several firms that I "could" work at. Question is could they afford me ?  fred, its a private matter that i cant get into, I dont mind studying and I feel I will be bvetter protected and be able to protect my family better by taking this route | ||
| David White (Dwhite)
Junior Member Username: Dwhite Post Number: 110 Registered: 7-2002 |
I know many Lawyers - most are non-practicing. Why would anyone want to be a lawyer, the perception vs. reality is so far apart in this profession. If you don't graduate from a top school, in the top of your class, with a connection you are not even recruited. Besides, the legal industry is in the toilet from a hiring perspective, many highly qualified 1-4 year associates out of work. If you do it I would suggest straight A's, write for the law review and anything else to get noticed. Everyone gets A's & B's. You want to practice in a "white shoe" firm don't attend anything less than a top 25 school. | ||
| Fred (I Luv 4REs) (Iluv4res)
Member Username: Iluv4res Post Number: 330 Registered: 8-2002 |
William, just curious, why do you want to go to law school??? | ||
| Jason Wesoky (Wesokyjb)
New member Username: Wesokyjb Post Number: 14 Registered: 1-2003 |
I don't know how well St. Thomas ranks, but a great rule of thumb is graduate from a top 10 law school or graduate in the 10% percent of any other law school. As for studying, etc., follow these ten commandments and you will do well, unless you're the moron in rule 2, which you won't be if you follow this advice (although I was a full-time day student, these rules, for the most part apply to part-time night students as well): 1) treat it like a job, go in at 8am and leave at 5 or 6pm (this will have to be modified for night students). You will gain nothing by rereading a case three or four times. I cannot emphasize this enough. You should be reviewing and preparing before, between and after classes. Staying until midnight does you no good. 2) pay attention only to what you do, 90% of the people in your classes are morons, trust me on this one, it becomes more and more apparent as you progress. The guy who asks all the questions first semester will be noticably quiet in the second because he bombed most of his finals. He's an idiot, ignore him and anyone like him. 3) get into a good study group with 3-4 people you know are smart. Everyone asks or answeres a question or two in the first week. Pay attention to who doesn't sound like they know everything but gives reasoned, intelligent answers. Get together with them at least once a week to study and review. 4) go to class. This was stated earlier, but it's vital advice. 5) don't take verbatim notes, they're useless. 6) ask upperclassmen for outlines for your specific class. While commercial outlines can be helpful, they'll never make you top 5% of your class. Remember, it's Torts taught by professor X, which can be radically different than Torts by Emmanuel. 7) when studying for finals, remember the guy sitting next to you doesn't know any more about contract law (or whatever else) than you do. It's a matter of application. Again, reading Hadley v. Baxendale ten times will not help, but being able to explain it in plain english will. 8) take notes with pen and paper, it requires more "active" learning than typing on a computer b/c you organize your thoughts as you go. 9) Law school is more like high school than anything else, no matter how old you are. Ignore the petty crap, the gossip and the chit-chat about who did what on what test. The people engaging in this are probably those referred to in rule 2. 10) learn to love a professor or a subject area. for me it was Constitutional Law and the professor who taught it. I took two more classes from him on subjects I probably wouldn't have, but loved every minute of it. Good luck. | ||
| Nebula Class (Nebulaclass)
Junior Member Username: Nebulaclass Post Number: 206 Registered: 11-2002 |
I'll be in law school in a year or so. Looking forward to it. One thing, though....has anyone here done the MBA/Law Degree route? From what I know, it takes about four years, but you leave with both your MBA nd Law degree. Any info on this? | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Intermediate Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 2377 Registered: 6-2001 |
Dr. T. That wont work for him, he already has 3. lol | ||
| arthur chambers (Art355)
Member Username: Art355 Post Number: 944 Registered: 6-2001 |
I ddint' have to study the 1st year. If you have to spend 40+ hours per week studying, you will have trouble dealing with those who didn't after school. ARt | ||
| Dr Tommy Cosgrove (Vwalfa4re)
Member Username: Vwalfa4re Post Number: 510 Registered: 5-2001 |
Do like I did in dental school. Tape a picture of the Ferrari you want some day near where you study for that extra little motivation. | ||
| DES (Sickspeed)
Intermediate Member Username: Sickspeed Post Number: 2112 Registered: 8-2002 |
William- if it's not too late, go here, see why it might be a tough choice to be an attorney, period... In any case, good luck... | ||
| Ken Ross (Kdross)
Junior Member Username: Kdross Post Number: 245 Registered: 2-2002 |
William: I am in the middle of my second year at Rutgers Law School. The worst part about the first year of law school is the legal research and writing classes and moot court. They will account for 80% of your time even though they are only two credit courses. They are a necessary evil. Rutgers has an excellent writing program, and I even took advanced brief writing during the summer, but that is another story. The best advice that I can give you is to buy professional outlines. They are books from Emanuel and Lexis and should be available in your law school bookstore. They basically summarize the entire course for you and tell you what to study for your test. I work full time and do not have time to read for class (I skim the material before class and I am really smart, so this may not work for everyone). I then study a day before the exam and usually do well (I get all A's and B's). Again, make sure that you buy a professional out line for each course. They cost about $20-$30 and are only about 300 pages - most of which you will not even read since they are detailed examples. Ken P.S. Make sure that you attend all classes too. While I do not take notes myself, I learn what the teacher is looking for. | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Intermediate Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 2369 Registered: 6-2001 |
i heard those are fun.... just another reason why i dont want to be a lawyer. | ||
| William H (Countachxx)
Intermediate Member Username: Countachxx Post Number: 1943 Registered: 2-2001 |
already took the LSAT, Had a great time. I felt like a zombie the rest of the day | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Intermediate Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 2368 Registered: 6-2001 |
have fun with the LSAT. | ||
| John (Modenaf1fan)
Junior Member Username: Modenaf1fan Post Number: 102 Registered: 11-2002 |
stay away from girls | ||
| William H (Countachxx)
Intermediate Member Username: Countachxx Post Number: 1940 Registered: 2-2001 |
I will be attending St Thomas law School here in Miami startung in August. WHat can I expect ? What do i need to get through ? Should I hire a secretray or tutor to help me through ? Thanks |