October 13, 2008
Procrastinating? just can't get started?
If you just cannot get started or find every reason to put off outlining or finalizing that brief or preparing for exams, try listening to this 16-minute podcast on Avoiding Procrastination.
Download it right now to your I-pod or other equipment. Listen while you take a break.
Or visit this blog entry:
Posted by sschmitz at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2008
Tps for the stressed
We are posting the attached from Dr. Jarmon at Texas Tech U School of Law. Her tips may be helpful to you. Where she suggests you see her, obviously, you should see me instead. Suzanne Schmitz, sschmitz@siu.edu; Rm. 230; 453-8712.
Tips for the Behind and Stressed
Dr. Amy Jarmon,
Assistant Dean, Academic Success Programs
You have just finished the third week in which classes have been held. Are you getting behind? Are you losing sleep? Are you feeling stressed? If so, the following tips may help you get back on track.
Catch up on your back reading in chunks. It makes more sense to find time to read 10 pages a night for four nights to catch up than to try to find time to read 40 pages at one time. Prioritize the back reading by importance to current class understanding. For example, background reading may be of lower priority than cases that are on your current class topic.
Tackle your most difficult (or least enjoyable) tasks first. By focusing first on your hardest tasks, you are more alert when your brain cells are doing a heavy workout. By doing the least enjoyable task first, you do not have it hanging over you all day.
Do not let your level of studying be affected by whether you will be called on in class. If you have assigned days for the “hot seat” in a class, do not stop reading the material and slack off once your day has passed. If you do, you will have to spend more time learning the course later. “A” and “B” grades are more often won by the tortoises that plod along consistently throughout the semester than by the hares that race through a cram at the end.
Distribute project or paper time over several weeks rather than using one long stretch at the very end. If you have been given two weeks for an assignment, break it down into smaller tasks that you work on during separate days throughout the two weeks. It is easier to get motivated to work on a specific small task than to get motivated to write an entire paper in a few days.
Outline for each class every week. Finding time to outline one week’s material is very easy. Finding time to outline six weeks’ material is very difficult. You will forget 80% of what you learned within two weeks if you do not review. So, why put off outlining until you have to relearn the material before you can outline it?
Learn more by processing material yourself. You will remember more and gain a deeper understanding if you make your own outline, flashcards, flowcharts, etc. The struggle of processing the material will increase your learning. If you use study aids (either commercial or from others), use them to check your own processing or to compare your own results rather than as substitutes for your own hard work.
Increase your hours of sleep to no less than seven per night, and preferably to at least eight per night. Research shows that getting minimal sleep will negatively affect your memory, your concentration when reading, your attention level in class, your stress level, your interpersonal relationships, and your outlook on life. Need I say more?
Get help now if you are confused in a course. Go to your professor on office hours or after class. Go to your tutor’s office hours for individual help. Ask classmates for help in understanding the material. Do not wait thinking the fog will lift eventually. It may become denser and engulf you completely.
Start now to study for exams. Memory only works for you if you distribute learning and review over the entire semester. If you wait until the last half or third of the semester to study for exams, you will need to relearn that segment of the course while you are trying to learn the rest of the course.
Use your learning preferences/styles to advantage. Learning preferences are critical to using your study time efficiently and effectively. There are a myriad of useful tips that can help you study with your learning preferences in mind. If you want an appointment with Dr. Jarmon to assess your learning preferences, e-mail her for a day/time.
Use weekend time wisely. By sleeping to noon or two o’clock, you lose valuable time that is needed on reading or outlining or other study tasks. Likewise, endless hours of television or video games only make you guilty about studying you have not done. Use the morning and afternoon hours productively.
Keep balance in your life. Exercise. Eat healthy and regular meals. Spend time with family and friends outside of the law school (on the phone if not here). Schedule down time to read a novel, see a movie etc. If you are saying there is not time, make an appointment with Dr. Jarmon ASAP – you need help with time management.
Remember your goal is to know the law when you get to the bar review at the end of law school. If you manage to cram at the end and do okay in a course, you are ultimately cheating yourself as a graduate. Students who learn the material at a deep level of understanding during law school will be more likely to remember material when they take the bar review course. Students who remember material only long enough for their law school exams will have to relearn more material prior to the bar exam.
Remember your goal is to be a competent attorney when you graduate and pass the bar exam. You are making your professional reputation right now. If you are known now as a person who cuts corners (using scripts, outlines from other people, or notes from other people; not doing the reading; leaving research and writing assignments to the last minute; cutting class more than the allowed absences; surfing on the web during class), your classmate attorneys will be unlikely to feel comfortable in referring clients in the future to you as an attorney. Bad study habits in law school often translate into bad work habits as an attorney.
Posted by sschmitz at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2008
When are they teaching me about the courts?
They aren't. They expect you to learn. Here are some good resources:
If you are unsure about the court system, read Succeeding in Law School, pp. 6-22 or check out www.abanet.org and click on Public Resources, About the Law, and read the piece on How Courts Work, including Steps in a Trial. You do not need to memorize this information; as you work through cases, this material will become familiar to you and you will learn what information you do need to memorize.
Posted by rburkett at 08:38 AM | Comments (0)
Study aids you can find in the library
Look at the study aids in the library before you buy one. Please note the following are available at the reference desk:
Examples & Explanations
Administrative Law
Agency & Partnership
Bankruptcy & debtor/creditor
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law--individual rights
Contracts
Corporate Taxation
Corporations
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Environmental Law
Evidence
Federal Income Tax
Payment Systems
Property
Real Estate Transactions
Sales & Leases
Secured Transactions
Securities Regulations
The Law of Torts
Will, Trusts, and Estates
Questions & Answers
Administrative Law
Business Associations
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Environmental Law
Evidence
Family Law
Federal Income Tax
First Amendment
Payment Systems
Property
Remedies
Secured Transactions
Torts
Trademark & Unfair Competition
Will, Trusts, and Estates
Crunchtime
Contracts
Quick Review
Civil Procedure
Settlement Reference Manual
Emanuel
Civil Procedure for law school & bar examinations
Contracts
Lexis-Nexis for law students
Strategies & Tactics for the first year law student
Gilbert
Gilbert Law Summaries. Pocket size law dictionary
Roadmaps
Basic Income Tax
Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law
Contracts
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Evidence
Professional Responsibility
Torts
Exam Pro
Evidence
Property
Posted by rburkett at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2008
Making Mentoring Work
If you have a mentor or are considering a mentor/mentee relationship you should read Making Mentoring Work.
Posted by rburkett at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2008
The Process to Law School Success
The Process to Law School Success provides a variety of useful information from case briefing to exam preparation and everything in between.
© 2003 Rogelio Lasso*
INTRODUCTION
Success in law school means different things to different people. To some, success is defined by how much they learn, regardless of grades. To others, success is defined entirely by grades, regardless of how much they learn. To some, it is defined by whether they survived the experience. To others yet, success is defined by some combination of the above. I define success in law school as a combination of how much you learn and how well your grades reflect that learning.
First, let me clear up a misconception. Although there is a relationship between intellectual brilliance and success in law school, it is a limited correlation. Bluntly put, law is not intellectually very hard. Astrophysics, or quantum mechanics are intellectually very hard areas of study. But you can be a very competent attorney even if you are or average intelligence. There is a more predictable correlation between law school success (or success as a lawyer) and following a defined process. In other words, for most of us, success in law school is less dependent on innate intelligence than on following a prescribed course of action. Rather than thickness of gray matter, the main ingredient of law school success is preparation. Preparation in law school involves two principles: hard work and development of some tried-and-true skills.
There is no short cut to success in law school or in the practice of law: they both require hard work. Some students fail to understand this principle of success. Every year, I meet students who took short cuts as undergraduates but nevertheless received good grades. Some boast that they got top grades despite waiting to prepare for exams until literally hours prior to the test. They arrive at law school believing they can replicate this approach. Every year I suggest early in the semester that students not use short cuts in law school and every year some students choose to ignore this advise. Unfortunately, they don't find out they were wrong until they receive their first semester grades.
In addition to hard work, successful students must learn to work well. Many students brief every case, go to every class, take copious notes, read hornbooks and commercial outlines, and yet do poorly in law school. These students worked hard, but not necessarily well. Thus, success in law school depends on two factors: (1) how hard you work; and (2) how well you work.* This article provides you with the tools you need to work well. Only you can determine how hard you are willing to work.
I. HOW SUCCESS IN PRACTICE IS RELATED TO SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL
Clients hire lawyers to resolve issues. Whatever a client's issue may be, the essence of what lawyers do is resolve problems. To accomplish this task, lawyers must call upon a combination of skills, including oral and written communication, factual investigation, research, analysis and reasoning, counseling, and negotiation. Additionally, lawyers must be skilled in litigation and alternative dispute-resolution procedures. Successful lawyers apply these skills in a well organized, thoughtful, and ethical manner. I believe that the primary mission of the law school is to prepare students to enter the legal profession. Law schools should train students to learn and develops the skills, perspectives, and personal attributes that will make them successful lawyers. This means that the skills needed to succeed in law school should relate to the skills needed to succeed in practice.
Students in courses like torts, contracts, civil procedure, and business associations should not only learn the underlying substantive law but also skills such as problem solving, analysis, and reasoning. (These skills are sometimes referred to as "critical analysis" skills.) Students in these courses should also learn oral and written communication skills as well as organization, and ethical and professional demeanor. In addition to substantive courses, law schools offer a broad array skill developing courses (like research and writing, pre-trial & trial practice, oral advocacy, clinic, client counseling, and practice management), and courses aimed at developing a student's perspective and personal attributes, like jurisprudence, and legal ethics.
A. The Skills Needed to Succeed in Law School
Because I teach tort and procedure courses, the focus of this article is on the skills needed to succeed in those courses. However, I believe the same skills are needed to succeed in all substantive course. To succeed in a substantive law school course, students need to master the following four skills:
1. Thorough understanding of legal rules and their underlying principles and policies.
a. This requires more than simply learning what the rules say. It requires understanding what the rules mean, how and why they were developed.
(1) for example, it is not enough to know that to recover for a battery, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant intended to cause a harmful or offensive contact. Students must understand "intent" in the law of battery means more than merely the subjective desire to achieve an outcome.
2. Ability to separate legally relevant facts from irrelevant facts and red herrings.
a. Not all the facts a client gives her lawyer are relevant to her ability to recover damages. Sometimes the facts the client considers to be the most important are not legally relevant. Sometimes the most heart-wrenching facts have nothing to do with the client's claim- they are red herrings. Good lawyers focus only on the legally relevant facts when trying to make their client's case.
b. Likewise, successful law students must focus only on the facts that are relevant to the specific element being analyzed and not allow themselves to be distracted by irrelevant facts or heart-wrenching but legally insignificant facts.
3. Ability to spot and describe the issues raised by the relevant facts - and the problem being analyzed.
a. Good lawyers quickly zero in on the issues raised by their clients' facts and the applicable law.
b. Successful law students are able to spot and describe only the issues that are raised by the relevant facts, the applicable law, and question the professor is asking, in class or in the final exam.
4. Ability to apply the pertinent legal rules to the relevant facts in an organized and thorough manner.
a. This means interweaving the relevant facts of the problem into the elements of the applicable rule in a systematic way that follows some logical order.
(1) successful lawyers not only (1) use the law and facts to argue on behalf of the client's position but also (2) understand what arguments can be made against the client's position using the same or other relevant facts.
(2) Successful law students learn to argue strongly not only on behalf of one party but also on behalf of the other.
B. How Are These Skills Different than Undergraduate School
"I hear, and I forget; I see, and I remember; I do, and I understand."*
Undergraduate students become proficient at developing a very important skill: acquiring knowledge. Most undergraduate assessment tools measure the ability to acquire, memorize, and regurgitate information.
To succeed in law school, however, students need to acquire information and to develop the ability to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate that information. In other words, "law students should not just know; they should be able to do what they know."**
The successful law student utilizes the learned skills not only to acquire but also to use knowledge "to think, judge, decide, discover, interact, and create."
II. THE PROCESS TO LAW SCHOOL SUCCESS: FROM CASE BRIEF TO FINAL EXAM
Preparing for success in law school should begin the first week of the first semester of law school. Following is a list of steps in the process toward law school success. I have synthesized these steps from my own experience and from interviews with dozens of students who have been successful in my classes and in law school during the past several years.
A. Read and Brief Assigned Cases
Learning to read and brief cases is a time-consuming and tedious task but it is an essential step toward success in law school. As overwhelming a task as it seems, reading and briefing cases (at least during your first year in law school) is fundamental to developing the skills essential for success in law school and in practice.
For a detailed tutorial on reading and briefing cases, read Reading & Briefing Law School Cases or watch the videostreamed lecture entitled Reading & Briefing Law School Cases
A. Prepare for Class
Reading and briefing the cases prior to discussing them in class is essential. However, to fully prepare for class you should also answer the questions, hypotheticals, and problems in the class handouts and in the casebook's notes.
B. Attend and Participate in Law School Classes
Attending classes is important for several reasons. Understanding a subject matter requires much more than learning its "black-letter law." To develop critical skills in any given area of law requires an understanding of the social, political, and historical underpinnings of the law. In addition, the interaction of the various perspectives, experiences, and approaches of your classmates and professors will help you to fully understand the legal rules and principles of any area of law. Your life experiences have given you a unique perspective on the legal issues discussed in class. Participate in class so that your unique perspective can be heard. You participation enriches the class experience of all of us. Your participation also insures that the gunners won't hog all the air time. Finally, you paid dearly for these classes and you should stick around to see if you are getting what you paid for.
C. Participate in a Study Group
They may not be for everyone and finding a study group that works for you may require some trial and error. However, most students benefit from participating in a study group. The exchange of ideas in the intimate environment of a small group of peers is helpful to understanding complex legal concepts. People learn in different ways and at different rates. You may be the one to explain a concept to your group one week and another member may be the one to explain a concept to the group the next week. Explaining concepts out loud helps solidify your own understanding of issues. Moreover, you will often work closely with other lawyers during your legal career even if you practice law by yourself. Law school study groups help develop the collaborative skills needed to succeed in practice.
D. Course Outlining: Prepare an Outline of the Class
The most common mistake law students make in final exams and lawyers make in legal briefs is presenting arguments that are disorganized. For most people, making logical, well reasoned arguments is not instinctive. Spotting the issue, recognizing the applicable law, and drawing the correct conclusion is not nearly enough. You also need to explain why you chose to apply that particular law and how the law applies to the facts of your case. An outline is the tool that provides the structure needed to arrange an extraordinary number of complex and interrelated concepts into a comprehensive document. The class outline is the most important document you will prepare in law school. Even if you buy, borrow, or steal outlines prepared by others, you should always prepare your own. Only then will you fully understand the concepts and their interrelation with each other.
For a detailed tutorial on outlining, read: How to outline a Law School Course or watch the videostreamed lecture entitled: How to outline a Law School Course
E. Take Practice Exams
Law School exams and the bar exam are more about a particular process than about substantive knowledge. Each law school professor has her or his own conception of the required process. Practice exams (often the professor's old exams) give you a valuable insight into the process as perceived by that professor. Practice exams allow you to get a feel for what you can expect on the final exam. If the exam has a sample answer or a top student answer, you can also get a feel for what that professor requires. You only take one exam in most law school classes. Waiting until then to find out what the professor expects often results in an unpleasant surprise.
F. Write a Good Final Exam
Although success in law school does not depend only on how well you do on any one exam, how well you do in law school will depend on how well you do on your exams.
For a detailed tutorial on test taking, read How to Write a Good Law School Exam or watch the videostreamed lecture entitled: How to Write a Good Law School Exam
The above guidelines are not the only views on how to succeed in law school.
For another viewpoint visit Professor Leslie Bender's "Basic Manual for Law School Success" at http://www.law.syr.edu/faculty/bender/torts/generalinformation/basicsuccessmanual.asp
III. HOW TO AVOID LAW SCHOOL-RELATED STRESS
A. Can't Be Done but You Can Learn to Work Through It.
To a great extent, stress is part of the law school experience, particularly during the first year. Students are presented with new (and sometimes obscure) fields of study, each with its own unique language. Additionally, law school is so labor intensive that it leaves little time for other important pursuits, like family, relationships, hobbies, etc. And, to top it all, how well you do in classes is often based on well you do in a single, several-hours-long, closed-book examination.
Although it is hard to completely avoid stress, being well prepared for class and for your final exams will reduce some of it. Following the above guidelines is a first step. A sense of humor is also helpful.
For more on how to avoid law school stress, read The Secrets to Relieving Law School Stress or watch the videostreamed lecture entitled The Secrets to Relieving Law School Stress
* You are welcome to copy or otherwise use any of my intellectual property. All I ask is that you give me authoring credit.
*Old Chinese proverb. See Gregory S. Munro, Outcome Assessment for Law Schools 70 (2000) (hereinafter Munro).
**Munro, at 12.
Posted by at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
Getting Organized!
Get Organized!
Manage YOUR Time
Schedule your days (and nights), weeks, and semester
See the train wreak BEFORE it happens
Plan for the unexpected…build buffers into your time
Organize YOUR materials
Use a binder, folder, or whatever to keep each class organized
Understand YOUR Readings
Review to topic BEFORE each reading
E.g. consult the book’s table of contents
Consider color-coding your highlighting
Write YOUR OWN notes and outlines
Review your notes weekly and incorporate into an outline
Use Active Reading
Know the general topic of each reading before you start reading (consult the syllabus or TOC)
The assignment has a purpose… really!
Find the law, think about the policies behind the law
Consider color coding* your highlighting
General material & Facts = Yellow
Procedural Posture and holdings = Red
THIS court’s reasoning = Green
Prior Cases/Reasoning = Blue
Dissent = Orange
*Adapted from John Miller’s book Law School Confidential
Beginning Book TOC/Syllabus Outline Contracts II (Spring 06)
Capacity to contract
Mental Capacity
Duress and Undue Influence
Misrepresentation and Nondisclosure (see note on 551)
Unconscionability
If you know the context, the materials are easier to understand
Posted by at 08:00 AM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2008
General Advice to 1Ls
You think you are ready for law school. Think again. Even the best students have self doubt about law school. Advice to First-Year Law Students, will give you insight into the student's life in law school.
Posted by at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Welcome
Welcome to the Southern Illinois University School of Law Academic Success Blog. We periodically post helpful tips to make your law school endeavor more successful and less stressful. You will also find links to the academic success workshops and the professional development workshops on this blog. If you have any questions or need assistance, don't hesitate to ask your study group leader or Professor Schmitz.
Posted by sschmitz at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)