UVA Law Students Taking Questions Forum

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thebrownnote

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by thebrownnote » Thu Oct 12, 2017 5:33 pm

Nagster5 wrote:
Law2020! wrote:Is participating in Moot Court as a 2L and not as a 1L still beneficial for one’s resume, even though OGI interviews would have already occurred?
Depends on if you want to do something post-OGI where it might help, like clerking or going to a firm that hires primarily post-clerkship. It's certainly not going to help if you just get a job from OGI and head straight there.
It could help you during OGI because Lile allows you to put it on your resume over the summer if you've already committed to competing in the fall. That said, I'm not sure it actually will help, but you never know what's going to help and what's not (other than law review and good grades, pretty much everyone agrees that's going to help).

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LawMan16

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by LawMan16 » Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:15 pm

On a scale of Rutherglen to Abraham, does anyone have a sense of what Collins's cold calls are like in his Evidence class?

Appreciate any insight. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather this week.

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anon sequitur

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by anon sequitur » Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:17 pm

I’ve had all three that you mention, and I only had to speak maybe once in evidence with Collins. He’s nice, the classroom is big and as I recall he has some sort of system to get around to everyone, but if you fuck up or don’t have much to say, he will just move on.

albanach

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by albanach » Wed Nov 08, 2017 3:19 pm

LawMan16 wrote:On a scale of Rutherglen to Abraham, does anyone have a sense of what Collins's cold calls are like in his Evidence class?

Appreciate any insight. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather this week.
There are people who don't take Mitchell for evidence?

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Br3v

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Br3v » Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:07 am

albanach wrote:
LawMan16 wrote:On a scale of Rutherglen to Abraham, does anyone have a sense of what Collins's cold calls are like in his Evidence class?

Appreciate any insight. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather this week.
There are people who don't take Mitchell for evidence?
Collins for Evidence is also credited

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Student of Law

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Student of Law » Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:31 am

Collins does not ordinarily cold call.
Br3v wrote:
albanach wrote:
LawMan16 wrote:On a scale of Rutherglen to Abraham, does anyone have a sense of what Collins's cold calls are like in his Evidence class?

Appreciate any insight. Hope everyone is enjoying the cooler weather this week.
There are people who don't take Mitchell for evidence?
Collins for Evidence is also credited

albanach

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by albanach » Fri Nov 10, 2017 9:32 am

Student of Law wrote:Collins does not ordinarily cold call.
At least when I was there, Mitchell's class had 130+ in it. Every seat was taken. Not a lot of time for any individual to be on call.

Regardless of the cold calls (which I don't recall being high pressure) it was entertaining.

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Nagster5

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Nagster5 » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:36 am

albanach wrote:
Student of Law wrote:Collins does not ordinarily cold call.
At least when I was there, Mitchell's class had 130+ in it. Every seat was taken. Not a lot of time for any individual to be on call.

Regardless of the cold calls (which I don't recall being high pressure) it was entertaining.
Did you have your classes in caplin? The regular classrooms only fit ~60 comfortably.

albanach

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by albanach » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:15 pm

Nagster5 wrote:
Did you have your classes in caplin? The regular classrooms only fit ~60 comfortably.
WB 152&154 are larger than that. They can hold three section classes.

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rhododactylos

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by rhododactylos » Fri Nov 10, 2017 11:45 pm

albanach wrote:
Nagster5 wrote:
Did you have your classes in caplin? The regular classrooms only fit ~60 comfortably.
WB 152&154 are larger than that. They can hold three section classes.
SL 278 too. That can comfortably fit over 100.

Foodz

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Foodz » Sat Nov 18, 2017 4:30 pm

Hi I currently have prof Nelson for Fed courts as my visiting prof- does anyone have any outlines/tips for his exam? I would greatly appreciate it

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Nagster5

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Nagster5 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 1:39 am

Foodz wrote:Hi I currently have prof Nelson for Fed courts as my visiting prof- does anyone have any outlines/tips for his exam? I would greatly appreciate it
I dont have an outline for fedcourts, but he is the least "hide the ball" professor Ive ever had. If your outline is just a transcript of what he said in class, you'll do well.

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OakBrook2021

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by OakBrook2021 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:01 pm

Q for current students and recent grads: what grades (in terms of %) are competitive for non-feeder COA clerkships as well as district court clerkships (excluding the super "prestigious" districts)? Also, is clerking for a federal judge a reasonable goal to have coming in to UVA?

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Nagster5

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Nagster5 » Sun Nov 19, 2017 4:20 pm

OakBrook2021 wrote:Q for current students and recent grads: what grades (in terms of %) are competitive for non-feeder COA clerkships as well as district court clerkships (excluding the super "prestigious" districts)? Also, is clerking for a federal judge a reasonable goal to have coming in to UVA?
Very reasonable goal if you're not picky (which it doesn't sound like you are). Grades required depend entirely on the judge, but it's definitely doable to land a fed clerkship with median grades, and possible but obviously harder with below median grades. A couple judges don't even look at grades, and some value your post JD work experience more than grades. The clerkship office here is fantastic and always brags that they've landed everyone who didn't give up with a clerkship, even if it took a year or two after graduation.

pulp_1343

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by pulp_1343 » Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:27 pm

thanks
Last edited by pulp_1343 on Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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principalagent

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by principalagent » Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:49 pm

Can anyone speak to the faculty mentorship piece of the Dillard? And if Dillard Scholars have better chances of receiving clerkships or speak to other off-Grounds benefits during and post law school?

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swampman

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by swampman » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:23 pm

principalagent wrote:Can anyone speak to the faculty mentorship piece of the Dillard? And if Dillard Scholars have better chances of receiving clerkships or speak to other off-Grounds benefits during and post law school?
Forming good relationships with faculty is very important for clerkship placement, especially at a high level. If you naturally struggle with that, a formalized mentorship program is helpful. But don't expect to have a big leg up on everyone else -- generally speaking UVA professors are extremely easy to form relationships with, you don't need to be a Dillard to get in the same room as them. And ultimately, their willingness to recommend you will depend almost entirely on their perception of your competence and intelligence, i.e. your performance in their classes and ability to have an intelligent conversation. Similarly, it's a nice line on your resume, but all it really means is you had impressive grades, test scores and resume, which someone will already know by looking at your resume, so it doesn't matter a whole lot -- law school grades and personality will matter 100x more.

The perks are nice. But take the scholarship for the money, not the perks. Personally, I don't know anyone who has regretted it.

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AZ123

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by AZ123 » Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:01 am

principalagent wrote:Can anyone speak to the faculty mentorship piece of the Dillard? And if Dillard Scholars have better chances of receiving clerkships or speak to other off-Grounds benefits during and post law school?
Current Dillard here. The faculty mentor is nice, but not a huge deal IMO. The money is the most important part (and you should definitely accept the Dillard if offered, it's one of the best law school outcomes possible). The mentorship can be as helpful as you want it to be. I've met with mine once or twice and he/she was very helpful, I just didn't feel a need to meet with him/her too many times since I didn't have anything to discuss really. I can see how a strong mentor relationship would be valuable if you are looking at clerkships though, and if you put in the effort to get to know your mentor I'm sure it would pay off. I don't know if there are too many off-grounds benefits, but having a named, full-tuition scholarship is certainly a nice resume line that can help during job interviews.

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rhododactylos

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by rhododactylos » Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:53 pm

principalagent wrote:Can anyone speak to the faculty mentorship piece of the Dillard? And if Dillard Scholars have better chances of receiving clerkships or speak to other off-Grounds benefits during and post law school?
Echoing the previous two comments—I was not a Dillard but from my perspective it seemed like 99% of the benefit was the money. In my class (‘17), there was little correlation between the Dillards and the people who finished at the top of the class/obtained prefstigious clerkships. That’s not to say that there weren’t Dillards in that top group—but the majority of that group were non-Dillards.

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Nagster5

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Nagster5 » Wed Nov 29, 2017 11:04 pm

Pretty crazy to not take a Dillard IMO, unless you have a full ride elsewhere and don't want DC. Congratulations!

Student of Law

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Student of Law » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:30 am

Nagster5 wrote:Pretty crazy to not take a Dillard IMO, unless you have a full ride elsewhere and don't want DC. Congratulations!
+1

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Ques

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Ques » Thu Nov 30, 2017 4:16 am

Would a decidedly leftward-leaning student (not a textualist, for instance) have trouble making connections with the professors most connected to judges at UVA? I know that UVA has very high clerkship numbers––clerkship being a goal of mine––but I worry that these numbers stem mostly from conservative students clerking with conservative justices. If anyone has any insight on this––and UVA's political climate, among both professoriate and student body––I would appreciate it.

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by Student of Law » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:38 am

Ques wrote:Would a decidedly leftward-leaning student (not a textualist, for instance) have trouble making connections with the professors most connected to judges at UVA? I know that UVA has very high clerkship numbers––clerkship being a goal of mine––but I worry that these numbers stem mostly from conservative students clerking with conservative justices. If anyone has any insight on this––and UVA's political climate, among both professoriate and student body––I would appreciate it.
I had similar fears as a liberal about UVA being too conservative. Those fears were unfounded. Although UVA may be more conservative than the average T14 school, liberal students and professors still outnumber conservatives by a significant margin. One the nice things about UVA, though, is that both liberal and conservative students can find an outlet and, I think, benefit from hearing each other's perspective.

There are plenty of liberal professors with excellent connections to judges and plenty of liberal students––even with unimpressive grades––that are clerking for federal judges. In many cases, the political leanings of students are not important. For example, in my class, two decidedly liberal students are clerking for a traditionally conservative feeder judge.

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by RedWhite&Blonde » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:16 pm

Hi! Does anyone have a Duffy admin outline/any advice?

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ilpsm

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Re: UVA Law Students Taking Questions

Post by ilpsm » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:29 pm

Nagster5 wrote:Pretty crazy to not take a Dillard IMO, unless you have a full ride elsewhere and don't want DC. Congratulations!
I'm thinking the same but I definitely don't want DC and would prefer NY - would you or anyone else mind speaking to how well UVA places in NY? It appears the plurality of students end up in NY biglaw but I'm not sure if they're still at a disadvantage with regard to """top""" firms (so many quotes because I truthfully don't know at all how it works in law just yet and don't want to seem like a jerk, all I know is public accounting and there is definitely a difference between big 4 firms and the rest).
Last edited by ilpsm on Sat Jan 27, 2018 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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