My Two Cents About Law School Success... Forum

[MTU]

((Please pardon any misspellings. I didn’t take the time to proofread…))

I know others have done this, but I thought I would share how I prepared for law school. I will cover (1) what I did as a 0L; (2) what I did during the semester; (3) my strategy for OCI. I am halfway through 2L year, and while I’m not the absolute top of my class, I am easily within the top 10% at Cornell. I will be working for a V10 firm this summer. Finally, this isn’t meant to be a definitive “do this and you’ll succeed” approach, it merely information that can be used with other similar posts to help develop a law school game plan.

This brings me to my two “rules” for law school success: (1) Have a game plan. (2) Be prepared to change the game plan once school starts. I think rule one is important because having a game plan means that you prepared and have some idea of what to expect before school starts. Rule two is important because you have to be able to adapt if reality doesn’t perfectly match your expectations. Without rambling any further, here is what I did.

0L “Plan”

I’m not big on doing a lot of class work as a 0L. While I don’t think it will hurt you, it will probably not benefit you. Instead, I think you are better off focusing on preparing for what exactly law school will be. I recommend reading law School Confidential, Getting to Maybe, and the sticky posts under this site’s “Forum for Law School Students.” As you read this material, or other “strategy” material (including my post and other posts like mine), don’t try to emulate it precisely, but think about the purposes behind what the authors are saying and start coming up with what your own personalized strategy.

Besides the strategy materials, I also recommend reading Scott Turow’s book “1L.” This is a scare-you-to-death narrative of law school. It will give you an idea of what to expect (though law school is not nearly as scary as he makes it sound), and I thought it was a fun read. The trick here is to know what to expect so you aren’t scared during your first year.

I also recommend Jonathan Harr’s “A Civil Action.” This is just a great read.

There are other similar books out there, and I think the trick is to read them, get an idea of what they say to do, develop your own ideas, and be in position to start making a plan.

My plan was basically in the form of a schedule, and I still do this before any semester. Once I had my class list, I made 7 tables in OneNote (which I HIGHLY recommend). Each table corresponded to a day of the week. In each table I put my class times. Then I added the time I would get up and the time I would go to bed. Then I started filling time slots throughout the day so I could spread out my preparation throughout the week. I slotted two hours of reading for each class. At the beginning you might need the entire two hours (or maybe even more), but as the semester went on, I started to get this down to 1-1.5 hours. I also scheduled all of my reading so that I was never an assignment ahead. In other words, I waited until after I had the present class before I would start reading for the next. This worked best for me because the present topics were always fresh in my head.

Once you have your schedule complete, you will notice that you actually have quite a bit of free time, especially if you utilize your weekends to do a few hours of work (1-2 classes). This time will usually remain free during the semester, or it might get taken up by writing, preparing for moot court, or any other random events that might come up. But, for now you have your typical weekly schedule. You can look at this and tweak it as necessary so that you don’t burn out. Maybe 40 hours is all you think you need a week, or 60, or 80… Anything more than 80, however, is probably setting you up for burn out. I stuck to about 50-60 hours myself.

Finally, I would HIGHLY recommend that you increase your typing speed as much as possible. If you don’t know how to touch type—LEARN. There are many online drills you can find using Google, there are games you can download, classes you can sign up for, whatever, but become as fast as you can. A hard truth of law school is that in many classes, the number of words you type on the exam (as long as they are on point) will determine your grade. Even if you’re in a class with word limits, a faster typing speed means you have more time to outline your answer.

1L Year

Stick to the schedule you made. Do the readings you are supposed to, on the days you are supposed to do them. You can make changes as needed, but make sure you always have the time to stay caught up. If you fall behind, you will probably never make the readings back up (not the end of the world if it happens once or twice, as supplements can fill in the gaps, but if you miss too much and you’ll be in trouble).

As for preparing for class, all I did was read the casebook. I read the cases, took reading notes of what I thought was important, and then struggled to grasp the importance in class. At first, the Professor always seemed way ahead of me, but I soon got better. I also think the struggle in class leads to active learning and “aha” moments, that cement the legal rules in your head better. If I ever felt like I got completely lost, then I turned to the supplements AFTER class to try and figure out what was going on. Furthermore, if you miss something, you will come across it again when you outline with your notes and supplements (discussed below).

As for class, go to every one. To avoid looking like a gunner, make sure you don’t answer all of the questions; here and there is ok, but if you feel like you are raising your hand to ANSWER questions all the time, you should sit back and let your classmates contribute. However, don’t let the fear of looking like a gunner prevent you from ASKING questions. Anything you are confused about is ok; and almost any question won’t be a dumb one. However, avoid the odd, drawn-out hypothetical that has little to no bearing on what is being learned…

As for outlining, I didn’t start until Thanksgiving. This is what worked for me, but everyone might be different. I liked waiting because when I got to exams, the material was all fresh in my head. If you decide to start earlier in the semester, I would look at the syllabus, find where there is a major break in material (e.g., in torts, the breaks between Intentional, Negligence, and Strict Liability). Once you finish one of these major sections, then start outlining.

When you’re outlining, remember that the goal is to use this on an exam. Don’t get bogged down in the details, but focus on the RULES that you can apply to new fact patterns. I think supplements are very useful when it comes to this. I like to take my notes, particularly what the professor said during class, and use them as a guide. Then I find the specific points in the supplement and condense everything into an analytical framework that can be used when that issue appears on an exam. My outlines are usually around 20 pages, though sometimes they reached into the 30’s.

When it comes to exams, the real trick is to know what to expect. Make sure you have taken a number of practice exams in the course. As far as examsmanship, Getting to Maybe really describes what you need to do. In short, you need to discuss both sides of every issue you find. Finally, you should write as much as you can, but it shouldn’t be a brain dump. Everything you put down should be on point.

OCI Tips

I’m going to keep this relatively short and outline my strategy. First, I did a lot of research using the NALP forms when deciding which firms to bid on, and how to order those bids. I found all the hard, objective evidence I was interested in, and ranked the firms according to that. At this point I would focus mainly on the objective characteristics, and not get too involved with quality of life and other such subjective characteristics. Trying to figure all of that out for hundreds of firms would take forever. Once I had all the firms ranked, I worked with career services to develop a proper bid strategy based on what GPA’s the firm had targeted in the past.

Once I knew my bids, preparing for the interviews isn’t very hard. I might glance at the website, however, I found this information to be hit or miss at best. At a few interviews I mentioned a fact I’d found from the website only to be met with blank expressions and a “oh, I didn’t know that” response. I found the 3-4 page Vault profiles (your school likely has an online subscription), Chambers Associates, and the NALP form to be the best sources of information. From these I would find 3-4 points for each firm, and then try to work them in during the interview if I could do so naturally.

Besides firm information, you also need to have talking points. You need past experiences that you can reference and use for examples during the interview. No matter what the question asked, if you have a bag of 4-5 experiences you can find one to fit the question. If you don’t have a lot of unique experience, try to get one. Volunteer somewhere this summer before law school that you can talk about. Try to get an interesting summer job after 1L. It can be almost anything, but it needs to be unique. This will help the interviewer remember you.

Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now… I’m sure I left a lot of things out, so if you have any questions I will be answering them from time to time over the next few days.

Cheers.

[forza]

Finally, I would HIGHLY recommend that you increase your typing speed as much as possible. If you don’t know how to touch type—LEARN. There are many online drills you can find using Google, there are games you can download, classes you can sign up for, whatever, but become as fast as you can. A hard truth of law school is that in many classes, the number of words you type on the exam (as long as they are on point) will determine your grade. Even if you’re in a class with word limits, a faster typing speed means you have more time to outline your answer.

+1

Be the keyboard on test day.

[keg411]

Finally, I would HIGHLY recommend that you increase your typing speed as much as possible. If you don’t know how to touch type—LEARN. There are many online drills you can find using Google, there are games you can download, classes you can sign up for, whatever, but become as fast as you can. A hard truth of law school is that in many classes, the number of words you type on the exam (as long as they are on point) will determine your grade. Even if you’re in a class with word limits, a faster typing speed means you have more time to outline your answer.

+1

Be the keyboard on test day.

I'll +1 this too. Typing fast gave me time to check over my exams and make corrections, whereas other people were writing until the end and didn't have time to go back.

[vamedic03]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

[solidsnake]

OCI Tips


Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.


Cheers.

titcr. this is life advice, folks. don't show up to an interview, ever, wearing a backpack (unless you're interviewing for a position with Outward Bound).

[forza]

OCI Tips


Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.


Cheers.

titcr. this is life advice, folks. don't show up to an interview, ever, wearing a backpack (unless you're interviewing for a position with Outward Bound).

This happens? Awesome.

[solidsnake]

OCI Tips


Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.


Cheers.

titcr. this is life advice, folks. don't show up to an interview, ever, wearing a backpack (unless you're interviewing for a position with Outward Bound).

This happens? Awesome.

Saw it with my own eyes at a ccn eip. Sad.

[forza]

OCI Tips


Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.


Cheers.

titcr. this is life advice, folks. don't show up to an interview, ever, wearing a backpack (unless you're interviewing for a position with Outward Bound).

This happens? Awesome.

Saw it with my own eyes at a ccn eip. Sad.

[AreJay711]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

[holdencaulfield]

Great post.

[California Babe]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

If you can't type as fast as you can think about what you want to type then you should improve your typing speed. Being able to put thoughts down as fast as you can form them should be your goal.

[Helmholtz]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I used to type your speed before LS and spent the summer practicing (am around 70-75 WPM now). I don't have any grades back yet, but I felt like my typing speed was absolutely necessary to get the major points I wanted to get down in a couple of my tests.

[forza]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I don't think any hard and fast WPM figure is necessary, but touch typing most certainly is. I found myself typing while simultaneously glancing at my attack outlines many times throughout the exam. Plus, your essay will be less messy/error-prone if you don't have to be looking down at your keyboard while you type.

[98234872348]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I don't think any hard and fast WPM figure is necessary, but touch typing most certainly is. I found myself typing while simultaneously glancing at my attack outlines many times throughout the exam. Plus, your essay will be less messy/error-prone if you don't have to be looking down at your keyboard while you type.

I've spoken about this before, but I'll say it here again. If you can't type over 100 wpm and you have time to take a typing class, do it. It will be worth it not only for exams and note taking in class (of course, don't spend too much time taking notes in class, but it's good to be fast if you want to type some specific language) but also in general. I think it's behooving of someone working in a position that will require doing a lot of writing to be able to type proficiently.

[Helmholtz]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I don't think any hard and fast WPM figure is necessary, but touch typing most certainly is. I found myself typing while simultaneously glancing at my attack outlines many times throughout the exam. Plus, your essay will be less messy/error-prone if you don't have to be looking down at your keyboard while you type.

I've spoken about this before, but I'll say it here again. If you can't type over 100 wpm and you have time to take a typing class, do it. It will be worth it not only for exams and note taking in class (of course, don't spend too much time taking notes in class, but it's good to be fast if you want to type some specific language) but also in general. I think it's behooving of someone working in a position that will require doing a lot of writing to be able to type proficiently.

Agreed. Especially compared to all the other crap that 0L's sometimes waste their time with in "prep" for law school, building up typing speed is a pretty wise time investment IMO.

[vamedic03]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I don't think any hard and fast WPM figure is necessary, but touch typing most certainly is. I found myself typing while simultaneously glancing at my attack outlines many times throughout the exam. Plus, your essay will be less messy/error-prone if you don't have to be looking down at your keyboard while you type.

I've spoken about this before, but I'll say it here again. If you can't type over 100 wpm and you have time to take a typing class, do it. It will be worth it not only for exams and note taking in class (of course, don't spend too much time taking notes in class, but it's good to be fast if you want to type some specific language) but also in general. I think it's behooving of someone working in a position that will require doing a lot of writing to be able to type proficiently.

Really? I can type at about 50-60 wpm (sustained) and I've never had a problem on any exam with typing speed or for note taking.

As long as you have basic typing skills (we had typing class in middle school), there is no need to take a typing class or work on typing speed.

[98234872348]

Really? I can type at about 50-60 wpm (sustained) and I've never had a problem on any exam with typing speed or for note taking.

As long as you have basic typing skills (we had typing class in middle school), there is no need to take a typing class or work on typing speed.

I'm not necessarily saying that any "problem" is going to present itself. However, generally speaking, I think it's better to be learning to type more quickly the summer before 1L rather than trying to decipher the Glannon E&Es. I'm not saying that you can't succeed in law school without a requisite typing speed, but, being able to type quickly will save you time on exams (and on a lot of exams, every last second counts), which, I think, makes it worth expending a bit of time working on. My advice is, if you feel like you have to be doing something to prepare for law school, spending a couple of hours a week increasing your typing speed will likely benefit you in law school and your eventual career.

[ResolutePear]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

Typing should be second nature to you.

For instance, I don't need to look or think about where I am going to type. I think 100% about the subject material and say it in my head - it's like driving a car.. at first you have to put some thought into steering, gas, brake, etc.

Indeed, *speed* is overrated, but the fact that you're typing at that level means you'll usually be able to type as fast as you can think. I can't comment on how useful speed is, because I tend to think slower than 95-110 wpm. I'll put it out there though, that I am saddened by the adoption of these new keyboards as my old IBM Model M, pictured below, teaches your fingers far better keyboard etiquette than those found today on laptops and 95% of desktop keyboards used outside of places heavily reliant on data entry.

[98234872348]

I think typing speed is a bit overrated. So long as you can type 30-40 wpm, you'll be more than fine.

Typing should be second nature to you.

For instance, I don't need to look or think about where I am going to type. I think 100% about the subject material and say it in my head - it's like driving a car.. at first you have to put some thought into steering, gas, brake, etc.

Indeed, *speed* is overrated, but the fact that you're typing at that level means you'll usually be able to type as fast as you can think. I can't comment on how useful speed is, because I tend to think slower than 95-110 wpm. I'll put it out there though, that I am saddened by the adoption of these new keyboards as my old IBM Model M, pictured below, teaches your fingers far better keyboard ettitquette than those found today on laptops and 95% of desktop keyboards used outside of places heavily reliant on data entry.

I can type about 10-15 wpm faster on a keyboard like this than I can on my laptop.

[ResolutePear]

What does anyone else think about this? I type 34 WPM but am using Mavis Beacon to learn to touch type. I just want to know if it is fine working 1-2 hours a day on or is something I need to invest serious, urgent time on.

I don't think any hard and fast WPM figure is necessary, but touch typing most certainly is. I found myself typing while simultaneously glancing at my attack outlines many times throughout the exam. Plus, your essay will be less messy/error-prone if you don't have to be looking down at your keyboard while you type.

I've spoken about this before, but I'll say it here again. If you can't type over 100 wpm and you have time to take a typing class, do it. It will be worth it not only for exams and note taking in class (of course, don't spend too much time taking notes in class, but it's good to be fast if you want to type some specific language) but also in general. I think it's behooving of someone working in a position that will require doing a lot of writing to be able to type proficiently.

Really? I can type at about 50-60 wpm (sustained) and I've never had a problem on any exam with typing speed or for note taking.

As long as you have basic typing skills (we had typing class in middle school), there is no need to take a typing class or work on typing speed.

This. Unless your idea of law strictly correlates with data entry, typing speed is irrelevant... you know, as long as it's faster than ~35wpm. This begs the question, though: would they accommodate students who have documented treatment of arthritis during law school exams?

A better skill than typing would be learning Microsoft Office in-and-out in every way. It won't impact your scholarly experience much - in which case you'll probably want to use TeX anyways.. but, I think it's embarrassing asking for help on something trivial as Word and Excel in the workplace.

[Lawl Shcool]

OCI Tips


Dress the part. Make sure everything about you is polished. First impressions are the key here. If you look lawyerly, then the interviewer will be ready to listen to you. If you look like a kid still, then you will have to work harder.


Cheers.

titcr. this is life advice, folks. don't show up to an interview, ever, wearing a backpack (unless you're interviewing for a position with Outward Bound).

This happens? Awesome.

Saw it with my own eyes at a ccn eip. Sad.

This goes too far. I had to bring my backpack to several interviews because I was coming straight from or to class. I often would use it as a way to make friends in a hospitality suite. Go in like 15 min before your interview, shmooze with the recruiters, ask them if you can leave your bag while you interview (they always say yes), then return after to pick it up and chat up the recruiters a little more. I would even do this if I was interviewing with a diff firm. Seemed to work fine for me.

[vamedic03]

A better skill than typing would be learning Microsoft Office in-and-out in every way. It won't impact your scholarly experience much - in which case you'll probably want to use TeX anyways.. but, I think it's embarrassing asking for help on something trivial as Word and Excel in the workplace.

If I was a 0L again, I would take the free time I had the month before school started to really learn Word and Excel. Especially Excel - it's such a powerful program that I can only barely use.

[ResolutePear]

A better skill than typing would be learning Microsoft Office in-and-out in every way. It won't impact your scholarly experience much - in which case you'll probably want to use TeX anyways.. but, I think it's embarrassing asking for help on something trivial as Word and Excel in the workplace.

If I was a 0L again, I would take the free time I had the month before school started to really learn Word and Excel. Especially Excel - it's such a powerful program that I can only barely use.

If time permits, you can always do a comprehensive no-credit Microsoft Office class. Or credit - not sure if they allow it. You'll learn more than you think if the community college teaching it is reputable.

[keg411]

A better skill than typing would be learning Microsoft Office in-and-out in every way. It won't impact your scholarly experience much - in which case you'll probably want to use TeX anyways.. but, I think it's embarrassing asking for help on something trivial as Word and Excel in the workplace.

If I was a 0L again, I would take the free time I had the month before school started to really learn Word and Excel. Especially Excel - it's such a powerful program that I can only barely use.

I had a class for my major back in undergrad where we had to learn Microsoft Office applications (it was called "Computer Information Systems"). Ended up being extremely helpful for my job (especially Excel).

[random5483]

I had a class for my major back in undergrad where we had to learn Microsoft Office applications (it was called "Computer Information Systems"). Ended up being extremely helpful for my job (especially Excel).

I had a similar class I had to take, but I found it less useful. They taught the basics which I already knew (intermediate/advanced user for most office apps).


With regard to typing speed, I type at about 80 wpm on a regular keyboard and between 60-70 wpm on a laptop keyboard. I really wish I typed faster. I type incredibly fast for using 2 fingers 90% of the time. I occasionally use up to four. I am tempted to take a typing class, but I doubt it would be useful now since I type closer to 30 wpm when I try to use more fingers.


For any 0Ls out there, work on your typing speed. Typing > any substantive studying.